UNC Football Moments After – UNC vs. Georgia Tech 41-34 Loss
UNC Tar Heels Football Team Makes a Late Comeback to Tie the Game Then Gives It Away
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina football team looked to put an end to their three-game losing streak on Saturday afternoon. The Tar Heels got off to an interesting start early in this game against the Yellow Jackets. On their first two offensive drives of the game, North Carolina punted and on the very next possession there was a costly fumble by quarterback Jacolby Criswell that gave Georgia Tech great field position. Georgia Tech would cash in on the short field and score a touchdown to give them a 7-0 lead.
Defensively, UNC was stout in the first quarter forcing three punts on three of Georgia Tech’s first four offensive possessions. Late in the first quarter and in the second quarter, both offenses finally got going. Georgia Tech started to run effectively, particularly with their outside runs and read-option runs where the quarterback kept the ball. Meanwhile, North Carolina had a great balance going between the run and pass game and was efficiently moving the ball down the field. However, just like in previous weeks, penalties and missed opportunities would cost Carolina mightily.
UNC had a field goal blocked and had a costly penalty that negated an Omarion Hampton 43-yard run, which would ultimately force a punt on that drive. Costly mistakes by the Tar Heels negated two drives that could’ve ended in points. On top of that, after a touchdown drive that would bring them within 3 points with about 34 seconds left in the first half, the Carolina defense allowed Georgia Tech to drive right down the field and kick a field goal to put them up 20-14 going into halftime. The Tar Heels continue to struggle with situational football and making plays when it counts as they had all season long.
In the second half, North Carolina needed some momentum after ending the first half on a sour note. The Heels would get the ball first on offense and go on to march right down the field as they had for most of the first half. But instead of kicking a field goal, which would’ve cut the lead to 3, the UNC coaching staff would decide to go for it on fourth down and would not convert. That decision would come back to haunt the Tar Heels later in the game. Georgia Tech capitalized on every mistake North Carolina made in this game. After that missed field goal by UNC, the Yellow Jackets would go on to score a touchdown to push their lead to 27-17.
The story of the second half was about North Carolina’s defense’s inability to stop the run. Georgia Tech rushed for 371 yards in the game including their quarterback having over 100 yards rushing. North Carolina had no answers for Georgia Tech’s outside runs all game long and the Yellow Jackets just emphatically ran it down the Tar Heels’ throats. Even when North Carolina got some momentum after a punt return touchdown by Alijah Huzzie that followed a field goal to cut Georgia Tech’s lead to 3, UNC’s defense could never get enough stops to help them take the lead.
Led by Jacolby Criswell and Omarion Hampton, the Tar Heels’ offense did everything they could to get them back in the game. Jacolby Criswell had two rushing touchdowns and Omarion Hampton had 139 yards rushing to carry the load for the Heels. Late in the fourth quarter, with a chance to take the lead, John Copenhaver dropped a touchdown pass that would’ve given the Tar Heels the lead but instead they had to settle for a field goal to tie the game 34-34 with 44 seconds left on the clock. Carolina’s defense would ultimately let the team down and allow a 68-yard rushing touchdown by Georgia Tech’s running back Jamal Haynes to clinch a 41-34 win for the Yellow Jackets. North Carolina’s porous run defense was an Achilles’ heel for the Heels all game long and their trend of bad defense continues, extending the losing streak to four games.
UNC Game Stats
UNC Total Offense- 417 yards
Rushing 216 Passing 201
UNC Passing: Jacolby Criswell 17/31 209 yards 1TD
UNC Rushing: Omarion Hampton 18-137 yards, Jacolby Criswell 13-73 yards
UNC Receiving: JJ Jones 3-64 yards 1TD
Georgia Tech Total Offense- 505 yards
Georgia Tech Passing: Haynes King 11/22 127 yards
Georgia Tech Rushing: Jamal Haynes 19-170 yards 2TDs, Haynes King 11-107 yards 2TDs, Chad Alexander 10-61 yards
Georgia Tech Receiving: Luke Harpring 2-36 yards
UNC Bright Spots
Jacolby Criswell threw 209 yards and one touchdown. Criswell also had 13 rushes for 73 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
Omarion Hampton had 18 carries for 137 yards
JJ Jones had 3 receptions for 64 yards and one touchdown.
Alijah Huzzie had a 69-yard punt return touchdown.
Needs Work
The coaching staff must do a better job of preparing the team and putting these guys in a better position to win and be successful on the field. The lack of in-game adjustments by the coaching staff is puzzling. Another team can dominate them in either the passing game or running game, but no adjustments are made. Defensive players are constantly out of position and making critical mistakes allowing explosive plays to opposing offenses just about every week. When will there be a change in that department? Instead of taking the field goal in the red zone, the coaching staff would rather go for it on fourth down when they do not have any dominant receivers that can consistently get open or a defense that can stop the opposing offense. That is just poor decision-making when the team doesn’t have any room for error. The coaches need to make sure every decision they are making is putting their team in a better position to win, not the opposite.
The defensive line must be better at rushing the passer and making plays in the backfield. Everyone on defense must be better against opposing rushing attacks. It starts with being more disciplined. Because of their alignment on defense and their poor decision-making to take bad angles, it allows opponents to have more explosive plays. This must be addressed. Defensive coordinator Geoff Collins needs to go back to being more aggressive defensively and putting these players in a position to disrupt and wreak havoc on these offenses. If not, these offenses will continue to torch them.
Offensive coordinator Chip Lindsay needs to find ways to counter the pressures and blitzes from opposing defenses with his play-calling. Teams start bringing pressure and it completely wrecks the offense. He also needs to do a better job his play-calling in critical situations on third and fourth downs. They cannot afford to have bad play calls in those situations.
The offensive line must be better in pass protection. They have done a terrible job against the blitz and are allowing free runners to hit the quarterback on multiple occasions during the game. Identifying blitzes and implementing more 6- or 7-man protections and plays that will get the ball out of the quarterback’s hands quicker in those situations should all be priorities for Offensive Coordinator Chip Lindsay and his offensive staff.
Final Observations
North Carolina falls to 3-4 and is now under .500 for the first time since 2021. The Tar Heels’ season is just falling apart. It starts with the coaching staff, and it trickles down to the players, but the Heels have just underperformed and have not played their best football this season. UNC is not a bad football team. They just make critical mistakes and errors at the worst possible times. The coaching staff have not had this team prepared enough to overcome adversity. They wilt and fall apart whenever something goes wrong. They beat themselves often and it reflects the culture and standard or the lack thereof, that the coaching staff has built for this program.
UNC football is at a crossroads and probably should clean house at this point and start fresh. Mack Brown and his staff have done a decent job but haven’t put this program in the position that the fans, the athletic department, and even himself expected. The coaches haven’t shown the ability to motivate these players and get them to play their best from week to week. One week the passing defense is awful, and the run defense is good and the next week the run defense is awful, and the passing defense is good. There’s no consistency in their play defensively and it hasn’t been in Mack Brown’s second stint as head coach with three different defensive coordinators. It’s unacceptable because North Carolina’s offense has always been good but for this team to reach their potential they have to play complimentary football.
It starts with hiring the right coaches to get that job done. Mack Brown and his staff have also been horrific with their in-game management, whether that be adjustments, play calling, clock management and just making simple decisions like kicking a field goal in the red zone to help put your team in a better position to win. It will be interesting to see how this team and coaching staff approach the rest of the season because there are major decisions to be made, but the season must go on. There are still winnable games on this schedule, but it will be up to Mack and his staff to get this team ready to play and maybe even play their best football yet. They have a bye week next week, so they have ample time to decide what type of football team they want to be going forward.