UNC Tar Heels Football Team Makes Big Comeback Against the Deacons
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina football team looked to sweep all their North Carolina opponents this season as they took on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Saturday afternoon. In the first half, the Tar Heels did not play their best football on either side of the ball. The defense played their worst half of the season, allowing 35 points and 390 yards of total offense to the Demon Deacons. However, the offense did keep them in the game in the first half with 24 points of their own.
In the second half, the Tar Heels trailed by as many as 21 points with just over 20 minutes left in the game. In addition, the offense had been scoreless for four straight possessions. Regardless of how poor they had played up to that point, the Tar Heels did not give up on the game. Sam Howell led the comeback with 5 touchdowns drives from that point on, and the North Carolina defense stepped up as well stopping the Wake Forest offense on 5 straight possessions. This would lead the Heels to their biggest comeback victory in football school history and the sixth win of the season.
UNC Game Stats
UNC Total Offense- 742 yards
Rushing 192 Passing 550
UNC Passing: Sam Howell 32-46-550yds 6TDs 1 INT
UNC Rushing: Michael Carter 16-74 yds, Javonte Williams 13-101 yds 1TD, Sam Howell 7-21 yds 1TD
UNC Receiving: Dazz Newsome 10-189 yds 2TDs, Dyami Brown 8-163 yds 2TDs, Khafre Brown 3-87 yds, Michael Carter 4-55 yds 1TD, Garrett Walston 3-39 yds 1TD
Wake Forest Total Offense- 606 yards
Wake Forest Passing: Sam Hartman 29-45-429 yds 4TDs
Wake Forest Rushing: Christian Beal-Smith 17-120 yds, Kenneth Walker III 13-51 yds 2TDs
Wake Forest Receiving: Donavon Greene 8-170 yds 2TDs, Jaquarii Roberson 12-167 yds 2TDs, Taylor Morin 4-47 yds
UNC Bright Spots
Sam Howell threw for 550 yards, 6 touchdowns, and rushed 7 times for 21 yards and a touchdown.
Javonte Williams rushed 13 times for 101 yards and one touchdown.
Michael Carter rushed 16 times for 74 yards and had 4 receptions for 55 yards and a touchdown.
Dazz Newsome had 10 receptions for a career-high 189 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Dyami Brown had 8 receptions for 163 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Needs Work
The defense needs to continue to work on tackling in space and do a better job of knowing their assignments out there on the field. This will help them cut down on allowing the big plays.
The offensive play calling needs to be better early in the game, so they do not get behind in the game.
Final Observations
The North Carolina offense set a new school record with 742 yards of total offense on Saturday afternoon. Sam Howell also set a school record for passing yards with 550. The defense, however, does cause us to have major concerns about how they have played lately. The last couple of games the defensive players have been out of position and have struggled to complete their assignments on the field, which has resulted in them allowing entirely too many yards and points to their opponents.
The defense did step up when they needed to late in today’s game with some big plays to stop Wake Forest’s offense. However, we would like to see some consistency from their unit going forward and better preparation from the coaching staff to put them in a better position to be successful.
The offense can lead this team to where they want to ultimately be but will need the defense to be much better going forward. North Carolina is still fourth in the ACC standings and has a shot at still being one of the teams in the ACC championship game if they win out. In addition, they need Notre Dame to lose a game before the season ends. The next game will be the day after Thanksgiving. This will give the Tar Heels ample time to prepare for their remaining opponents of the season which include Miami and Notre Dame who are both ahead in the ACC standings.