By Doc Kennedy

Sometimes things happen in college football that are simply unexpected. UNC’s dominating 40-7 win over Syracuse in Chapel Hill certainly falls in that category. It’s not that Carolina won the game; the Heels were an eight-point favorite and had a 61% chance to win, according to the ESPN FPI index. But I don’t think anyone anticipated such a dominating performance on both sides of the ball, leading to UNC’s biggest margin of victory since beating Georgia State 59–17 in 2021.

The defense set the pace, dominating the Orange in the first half. Carolina held Syracuse to 70 total yards on only 22 plays, and only gave up 221 yards for the entire game. Perhaps more important, the Tar Heels’ concern about containing a mobile quarterback in the Orange’s Garrett Shrader turned out to be unfounded, as Shrader only had 28 yards on the ground.

The UNC offense was also impressive, amassing 644 total yards and scoring on eight of its nine possessions. The offense was buoyed by the season debut of Tez Walker, who was finally declared eligible by the NCAA this week and quickly showed why the Tar Heels wanted him on the field. In addition, Drake Maye found 11 receivers on the way to his 3rd career game over 400 yards passing.

With this in mind, here is the Syracuse edition of the Good, Bad, and Ugly Report:

Good

Drake Maye

Maye just missed 500 yards of total offense, throwing for 442 yards and three scores, and ran for 55 yards and another touchdown. Days like this for an undefeated team will vault Maye back into the Heisman conversation.

Tez Walker

Just being on the field was a victory after his long-documented NCAA eligibility saga, but Walker also contributed six catches for 43 yards, including a leaping, toe-tapping grab that showed what he is capable of when he gets into game shape.

UNC’s receivers not named Tez Walker

There were 10 other Tar Heels who caught passes from Maye, including Nate McCollum (7/ for 135 yards), Kobe Paysour (3 for 100 yards, 1 touchdown) and Bryson Nesbit (5 for 79 yards, 1 touchdown). Paysour provided the highlight of the afternoon when he tipped a pass to himself and caught the carom for a 77-yard touchdown pass.

Noah Burnette

Burnette knocked in four field goals and has been perfect since returning to place-kicking duties after losing his starting job in preseason.

UNC’s defense

The defensive side of the ball looked more like the unit that controlled the line of scrimmage in the season opener against South Carolina. The defense sacked Shrader twice and held the Orange to 221 total yards, only 92 of which were on the ground. UNC also picked off Syracuse twice.

Bad

Red zone efficiency

It’s hard to nit-pick a 40–7 win, but one area of concern is that Carolina only scored a touchdown on two of seven trips into the red zone. Four times, UNC had to settle for a Burnette field goal, including twice on goal-to-go situations, and once fumbled the ball away on fourth down. The Heels need to come away with seven points, especially when the competition gets tougher.

Ugly

UNC’s punting game

For the second time this season, punter Ben Kiernan had a kick blocked. And though he alertly picked up the ball and after a big collision was awarded a first down, punting has become an adventure for Carolina. Again, these are the kinds of things a top-15 team simply cannot do regularly.

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As the “first time since 1997 and Mack Brown 1.0” train continues chugging, Carolina and its first time in 26 years 5–0 record host Miami, which somehow lost 23–20 at home to Georgia Tech. Tyler Van Dyke will try to rebound from a three-interception game against the Jackets and prove the upset was a fluke. It could be a good test for just how much improved the Tar Heels are. The UNC offense is surely on the rise to improve even more with Walker in the mix, while the defense remains the weekly wild card. Be sure to tune in for a potential top-15 battle next week.

Doc Kennedy is an alum and longtime UNC fan, and a former high school and college basketball coach who wrote this report for years on Tar Heel Blog.

Photo via @UNCFootball