UNC Tar Heels Football Team Cruises Past Georgia St.

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

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The North Carolina Tar Heels football team after a disappointing loss in their season opener against Virginia Tech faced off against Georgia State in their first home game of the season. The Tar Heels started the game on a high note with a three and out on defense and 2 touchdowns on their first two offensive possessions. Their hot start would allow them to take an early lead and they never looked back. UNC led the game from start to finish controlling every aspect of it.

The defense was outstanding throughout the game, especially against the pass holding Georgia state to just 90 yards passing for the game. In the third quarter, the Heels broke the game open scoring 21 straight points led by Sam Howell, who threw for two touchdowns and had a rushing touchdown.

In the fourth quarter, UNC led by as many as 42 points and was able to allow their backups to get some playing time, who took full advantage on both offense and defense. Backup quarterback Jacolby Criswell threw a 47-yard touchdown and freshman linebacker Power Echols got an interception.

The Heels got their first win of the season while getting contributions from several different people and looking more like the team that we were expecting before the season started.  

UNC Game Stats 

UNC Total Offense- 607 yards 

Rushing 201 Passing 406 

UNC Passing: Sam Howell 21-29-352 yards 3TDs, Jacolby Criswell 2-2-54 yards 1TD 

UNC Rushing: Ty Chandler 15-58 yds 1TD, Sam Howell 11-104 yards 2TDs 

UNC Receiving: Antoine Green 3-117 yards 1TD, Emery Simmons 3-73 yards 1TD, Josh Downs 8-73 yards 1 TD, Kamari Morales 4-42 yards, Bryson Nesbit 1-47 yards 1TD 

Georgia State Total Offense- 271 yards 

Georgia State Passing: Cornelius Brown IV 12-26-68 yards 1INT 

Georgia State Rushing: Darren Grainger 5-56 yards, Marcus Carroll 6-19 yards 1TD, Cornelius Brown IV 9-17 yards 1TD 

Georgia State Receiving: Jamari Thrash 2-18 yards 

UNC Bright Spots 

Sam Howell threw for 352 yards and 3 touchdowns, had 104 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns. He is just the second player in UNC football history to have over 300 yards passing and over 100 yards rushing in a game. 

Ty Chandler rushed 15 times for 58 yards and one touchdown. 

Antoine Green had 3 receptions for 117 yards and one touchdown 

Emery Simmons had 3 receptions for 73 yards and one touchdown. 

Josh Downs had 8 receptions for 73 yards and one touchdown. 

Bryson Nesbit caught his first career touchdown. 

Power Echols got his career interception. 

Needs Work 

The defense has to do a better job against the run. They miss too many tackles in space and are too often not in the right defensive assignments.  

The offensive play calling needs to be much better. There are too many run plays being called instead of going more with pass plays which they have been more successful running this year.  

Final Observations 

The Tar Heels bounced back this week after an unexpected loss in their season opener. The Heels showed flashes this game of what we expect consistently from them on both sides of the football from this team going forward.  This team has inexperienced players out there on the field so the coaches have to make sure they continue to put them in a position to succeed. 

They need to continue to build and get better each week and at the end of the season, they will be right there in the mix to be in the ACC championship game. The offense is going to have to rely on several people to contribute this season.

Offensive coordinator Phil Longo will need to call plays that will get everyone involved and the offense will only get better and become more efficient. If the Heels make these adjustments and the defense continues to improve, they will be back to being one of the better teams in the country. Next up is a home game against Virginia next Saturday.