UNC Tar Heels Football Team’s Offense Falters in the Second Half and They Lose in the Closing Minutes to Oregon

by Derrick Clyburn

The North Carolina football team traveled to San Diego, CA to play in the Holiday Bowl against Oregon on Wednesday night. The first half had fireworks on the offensive side of the ball with Oregon getting big plays on the ground and the Tar Heels making big plays through the air.

Drake Maye was throwing dimes in the first half spreading the ball around to seven different receivers and the defense came up with some bigs stop. Including an amazing shoe-tip interception by Power Echols which led to Drake Maye’s third touchdown pass of the half to Kobe Paysour. North Carolina led 21-14 at the half.

In the second half, it became a defensive battle. Neither team scored in the third quarter but Oregon got some opportunities due to North Carolina’s offense stalling. Bo Nix got hot down the stretch with the passing game and the Ducks scored two touchdowns which sealed the game with 19 seconds left.

UNC Game Stats

UNC Total Offense- 322 yards

Rushing 116 Passing 206

UNC Passing: Drake Maye 18-35-206 yards 3 TDs

UNC Rushing: Elijah Green 17-50 yards, Drake Maye 12-49 yards

UNC Receiving: Kobe Paysour 7-98 yards 1 TD, Bryson Nesbit 3-37 yards 1 TD, Andre Greene Jr. 3-26 yards 1 TD

Oregon Total Offense– 414 yards

Oregon Passing: Bo Nix 23-35-205 yards 2 TDs, 1 INT

Oregon Rushing: Bucky Irving 13-149 yards 2 TDs

Oregon Receiving: Chase Cota 3-26 yards 1 TD, T. Ferguson 5-84 yards 1 TD

UNC Bright Spots

Drake Maye threw for 206 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran 49 yards.

Kobe Paysour had 7 catches for 98 yards and one touchdown.

Bryson Nesbit had 3 catches for 37 yards and one touchdown.

Needs Work

The defensive line needs to do a better job of getting penetration in the backfield and getting more pressure on the quarterback which results in sacks. They are giving the opposing quarterback entirely too much time in the pocket

The rushing defense has to be much better. They need to do a better job of tackling in space and being in their gaps to stop huge running plays.

When it’s time to put the game away offensively, the offensive play-calling cannot be conservative because it allows teams to hang around. It can give the opponent new life and a chance actually to win the game, which is what happened.

Final Observations

North Carolina gave a gallant effort but came up short. Drake Maye had great first half but struggled in the second half to the adjustments made by the Oregon defense and the Tar Heels had to settle for field goals. Drake was 18 of 35 attempts which is uncharacteristic of how he usually plays. The defense made enough stops for the Tar Heels to capitalize on their lead but the offense bogged down. Maybe the effect of not having an Offensive Coordinator played a factor down the stretch.

UNC ends the season 9-5, with 4 straight losses. This is not how they wanted to wrap up their season but they still have a bright future with a Heisman Trophy Candidate, a loaded running backs, and receivers room coming back. The focus now is on the 2023 season.