By Doc Kennedy

For a while Saturday night, it looked like UNC had gone back in time, and it wasn’t because of the ‘90s retro uniforms. For much of the first half, Carolina looked like the undisciplined teams of the early 2020s, complete with blown coverages, poor line play, head-scratching coaching decisions and mind-numbing penalties.

Then the third quarter happened. 

After a half where UNC had a hard time keeping Drake Maye upright due to Miami’s intense pressure and giving up two touchdowns to fall behind after leading 7–0, Carolina finally slowed down the Hurricane rush with a steady diet of Omarion Hampton to tie the game at 14. UNC got a stop and a bizarre sequence to end the first half ensued where Carolina had the ball with 82 seconds left and three timeouts. The Heels threw three passes, completing only one, and punted the ball back to the Canes after a 12-second possession. Miami then drove down the field, saving their lone timeout to kick a go-ahead field goal as the half ended. Fortunately, UNC got the ball to start the third quarter, and that’s when the magic began.

Carolina mixed up their play-calling, and after Tez Walker’s long touchdown reception to give UNC back the lead they would not again surrender, the Heels got a pair of stops and again Walker scored on a pass reception on 3rd-and-20 to push the lead to 28–17 and Miami would never seriously threaten again. Carolina dominated the Canes in the period, outgaining them 181–32 on the way to building a 38–7 lead before taking their foot off the gas and cruising to a 41–31 win.

There was a lot of buzz this week about this being the kind of game that UNC usually loses. Coming into the game, UNC was 1–10–1 vs. ranked opponents after the sixth week of the season. And for a while in the first half, when Miami was flying all over the field and Maye was running for his life, it looked like it might happen again. But the defense asserted itself coming out of the locker room, the offense made adjustments, and UNC is now 6–0 for only the eighthh time in school history, and for the first time since, you guessed it, 1997, the last year of Mack Brown 1.0.

So, with that in mind, here is the streak-busting version of the Good, Bad, and Ugly Report:

Good

Tez Walker

Walker had his coming out party tonight, catching six balls for 132 yards and three touchdowns, to go with a run of 19 yards. All accounts said this guy was special, but now we have seen why. He completely changes the complexion of UNC’s offense by being a deep threat that was lacking before.

Omarion Hampton

The bruising Tar Heel running back rushed 24 times for 197 yards and a touchdown, just missing out on his second 200+ yard game of the season. He also caught two passes for 20 yards and another score. Miami led the nation in rushing defense coming into the night, allowing only 58 yards per game. UNC put 235 yards on the Canes and controlled the second half from the ground.

Turnovers

Turnovers often tell the tale of a game, more than the stat sheet, which was pretty even. UNC forced four Miami turnovers, two fumbles and two interceptions, while not turning the ball over themselves. One of the Hurricane fumbles was in the end zone, thwarting a Miami touchdown, and the other three ended key drives. 

Bad

UNC’s pass protection

UNC’s offensive line had a hard time keeping Drake Maye on his feet for a good part of the night, surrendering five sacks and keeping the clock in the QB’s head on fast-forward for most of the game. And while the O-line did a good job helping establish the run game, they also gave up six more tackles for losses beyond the five sacks as well as five holding penalties. Fortunately, Miami has one of the best defensive fronts the Heels will see all year, but you still want to see a better performance.

Injuries

UNC announced earlier this week that wide receiver Kobe Paysour was out indefinitely with a broken foot and defensive lineman Travis Shaw was apparently injured in pregame warmups and did not play vs. the Canes. Obviously the addition of Walker bolsters the receiving corps but Paysour is a reliable receiver with big-play potential and Shaw had been playing very well of late and was certainly missed on the defensive front. Carolina will need both of them — and avoid any other key injuries — over the second half of the season.

Ugly

Penalties

Hard to find words for a stat line of 14 penalties for 147 yards, and the Hurricanes declined two Carolina infractions. When your average is over 10 yards per penalty, that’s not good in any sense. For the most part, these were not of the false start variety. These were holds that erased big gains or defensive fouls that kept drives alive. UNC had really improved in this area, averaging only 48 penalty yards per game. Here’s hoping the Heels clean that up before next Saturday.

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Somewhat surprisingly, Carolina makes the turn at the halfway point of the season at 6–0, 3–0 in the ACC, and ends their three-game homestand by hosting Virginia in The South’s Oldest Rivalry next week, again under the lights at 6:30. UNC’s next two games, against the 1–5 Hoos and at the Heels’ own personal Bermuda Triangle in Atlanta to face the up-and-down 3–3 Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech, are solidly in Admiral Ackbar “it’s a trap!” territory. Get past those two plus Campbell at home and then Carolina’s last three games against Duke, at Clemson, and at N.C. State loom large for a berth in the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte and even larger discussions about what lies beyond. But for now, UNC fans should bask in an undefeated start because they only come along about every 20 years or so.

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