UNC Tar Heels Football Team Falters and Struggles to Stop the Yellow Jackets for their 2nd Straight Loss

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

The North Carolina football team faced off against Georgia Tech on Saturday night, looking to bounce back after their disappointing loss to Virginia last week. The Tar Heels played very well early in the game with three straight defensive stops to start the game and two touchdowns on their first two offensive drives. The Heels were flying around on defense making key plays and offensively really dominated in the running game in the first half. UNC was taking full advantage of Georgia Tech’s porous run defense which was the second-worst in the FBS coming into this game.

Omarion Hampton had 72 rushing yards after the first two drives as the Tar Heels led 14-0 after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Carolina defense started to slip and give up some explosive plays to Georgia Tech including a 42-yard touchdown pass and a 35-yard touchdown pass, which would cut the Tar Heels lead to 7. By the time their next offensive possession came around, Georgia Tech’s offense was starting to click on all cylinders as they scored points on the last four possessions to close the second half. Fortunately for UNC, offensively they were still putting up points driving up and down the field on Georgia Tech’s defense as they got whatever they wanted in the passing and running game. However, North Carolina only found themselves up 28-24 going into halftime.  

After halftime, the Tar Heels came out and went three and out on their first offensive possession. The UNC defense would step up and force an interception to give the ball back to the offense, which resulted in a touchdown. Georgia Tech’s offense was held scoreless by the Tar Heels in the third quarter. Carolina did a good job of forcing Georgia Tech’s quarterback Haynes King into tough throws and making him totally uncomfortable out there on the field. Going into the fourth quarter, the Heels were up 35-24. Georgia Tech and North Carolina would then go back and forth with touchdown drives of their own.

With about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, a 70-yard touchdown run by Georgia Tech running back Dontae Smith would completely change the game as they cut the North Carolina lead to 3. UNC would drive down the field on the very next offensive possession as the Tar Heels’ offense did all game long but missed the field goal. For the first time all game, it seemed like Georgia Tech had all the momentum because offensively the Yellowjackets found some great success running the football as the Tar Heels failed to score in the red zone for the first time in the game.

The Yellowjackets led by their running game would drive all the way down the field and score a go-ahead touchdown to put them up by 4. Carolina would have a chance to regain the lead, and once again moved the ball down the field but would fumble in the red zone, ultimately ending the game. Georgia Tech would finish the game with over 600 total yards of offense including over 300 rushing yards. The Yellowjackets exposed the North Carolina defense and completely dominated them in the trenches running all over them, leading to North Carolina’s second loss of the season.  

UNC Game Stats 

UNC Total Offense- 577 

Rushing 310 Passing 267 

UNC Passing: Drake Maye 17-25-310 yards 2TDs 

UNC Rushing: Omarion Hampton 29-153 yards 2TDs, Drake 10-58 yards 1TD, British Brooks 8-56 yards 1TD 

UNC Receiving: Bryson Nesbit 3-89 yards 1TD, Tez Walker 3-76 yards, Tychaun Chapman 1-35 yards 1TD 

Georgia Tech Total Offense- 635 yards 

Georgia Tech Passing: Haynes King 22-30-287 yards 4TDs 1INT 

Georgia Tech Rushing: Dontae Smith 22-178 yards 1TD, Haynes 8-90 yards, Jamal Haynes 14-80 yards 1TD 

Georgia Tech Receiving: Eric Singleton 8-117 yards, Malik Rutherford 6-83 yards 2TDs, Brett Sether 2-40 yards 2TDs 

UNC Bright Spots 

Drake Maye threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns 

Omarion Hampton had 29 carries for 153 yards and two touchdowns. He also 4 catches for 41 yards. 

British Brooks had 8 carries for 56 yards and one touchdown. 

Bryson Nesbit had 3 catches for 89 yards and one touchdown. 

Tez Walker had 3 catches for 76 yards. 

Tychaun Chapman got his first career touchdown. 

Needs Work 

For the second straight week, the defense gave up over 200 rushing yards to their opponent, which is totally unacceptable. The way they allowed those explosive runs in the game it looked like they never played defense on that level before. The linebacker’s play was atrocious. They were missing tackles all game long and were out of position on entirely too many plays. The defensive line wasn’t much better with them unable to put pressure on the quarterback or make any plays in the backfield, which has been a major problem over the last couple of games. 

Offensive coordinator Chip Lindsay needs to do a better job of sticking with plays that are successful and be better with play calls on third downs.  Too many times he went away from his best playmakers in this game and had very questionable play calls in critical situations. 

Final Observations 

North Carolina falls to 6-2 on the season, and now have two ACC losses. This puts them in a more difficult position to make the ACC championship with two teams ahead of them in the standings. The last two performances by this team have been very disappointing. They have not played up to their potential and have been outcoached and outplayed in both games. The coaching staff hasn’t had this team ready to play the last two weeks. It seems like they are putting too much pressure on themselves and praising their opponents too much before the game even starts.

The bottom line is they are focused on the wrong things. UNC should’ve beat both Virginia and Georgia Tech. They are much more talented than both of those teams. They haven’t matured enough as a team or a coaching staff to win these types of games and once again they haven’t handled success or expectations well.  When expectations are thrust upon their team, it seems as if they play scared and play like they don’t belong in those conversations of a consistent top-15 team in the country. The defense today looked like the defense from two years ago that was inexperienced and lacked the talent to compete at a high level. This team’s defense shouldn’t be playing that way because they have the talent, the depth, and the personnel to be one of the best defenses in the ACC. The Tar Heels must overcome this obstacle of losing games every year they’re not supposed to.  

This Tar Heel season started off with a lot of excitement and the potential for this team to ultimately do something special not only compete for an ACC Championship but even the College Playoff. However, now they find themselves in a position where they once again underperform as a team and might not reach any of their goals as a team.

North Carolina is at a crossroads. For the first time in a long time, they have a top NFL prospect at the quarterback position with an elite offense surrounding him and a competent defense. But because they can’t consistently put together performances where they play their best football or show up against mediocre teams, they will waste away the opportunity to show how good this team was or could’ve been. The coaching staff must be questioned because they are not helping this team or program take that next step to become one of the elite programs in the country. The talent and personnel are there so this team and coaching staff have their work cut out for them but need to find a way to change the narrative of this football program. Next up is Campbell on Saturday, November 4th at 12 noon.