UNC Tar Heels Football Team Starts Off the Mack Brown Era with a Big Win
by Derrick Clyburn
The Tar Heels football team fought through adversity and a tough first half to pull off a 24-20 win against the South Carolina Gamecocks. The last two years have not been fun for North Carolina and its fans who have had to deal with suspensions, a M.A.S.H. unit of injuries and a team that could not finish games leading in the 4th quarter.
Along comes the return of Mack Brown with an outstanding group of assistant coaches to get the Tar Heels back on the radar in the football world. Brown’s first big catch was snatching freshman quarterback Sam Howell out of the clutches of Florida St. and making him the starter in game one.
North Carolina has always had talent and athletes throughout the years but they haven’t always finished games against power-five conference opponents. This is the first open day win for North Carolina football against a power-five opponent since 1997. Who was the Head Coach then? Mack Brown.
UNC has a great stable of running backs to go along with an up and coming freshman quarterback. Which should make this a fun season to watch.
South Carolina was favored by 10 points in this game but North Carolina had something to say about the lack of respect and underestimation by the media. The Tar Heels dominated the stats in this game. They rushed for 238 yards and past for 245 yards compared to the Gamecocks 138 yards rushing and 142 yards passing.
The defense stepped up in the second half and put a lot of pressure on the Gamecocks quarterback causing 5 punts and two interceptions.
Game Stats
UNC Total Offense – 483 Yards
Rushing 238 Passing 245
UNC Passing: Sam Howell 15-24-245yds 2TD’s
UNC Rushing: Javonte Williams 18-102yds, Michael Carter 16-77yds
UNC Receiving: Dyami Brown 4-69yds 1 TD, Dazz Newsome 4-74yds, Beau Corrales 1-17yds 1TD
USC Total Offense – 280 Yards
USC Passing: Jake Bentley 16-30-142yds
USC Rushing: Tavien Feaster 13-72yds 1TD
USC Receiving: Kyle Markway 2-37yds 1TD
Bright Spots
Javonte Williams ran for 102 yards on 18 carries and the Threesome of Antonio Williams, Michael Carter with Javonte rushed for 238 yards total.
Sam Howell in his debut threw for 245 yards with 15 completions.
Myles Wolfolk had 2 key interceptions to seal the game.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels need to play mistake-free football on both sides of the ball and continue to build from this come from behind win.
Final Observations
I’m excited that Mack is back! There is a new energy that surrounds the Tar Heels football program. The players are playing hard for the coaching staff and they seem to believe in the process. A great win to start the season off right.