By R.L. Bynum

ATLANTA — Given that Bobby Dodd Stadium has been a house of horrors over the years for Carolina, a visit three days before Halloween turned out to be as scary as expected.

The combination of Omarion Hampton’s relentless running and the worst rushing defense in the ACC haunted Georgia Tech. But ghastly UNC defense in the second and fourth quarters made this just the latest forgettable trip to Atlanta.

The Yellow Jackets rallied against No. 17 UNC for the second consecutive season, winning 46–42 below a full moon on Saturday night. Carolina’s 11th loss in the last 13 games in Atlanta led to a massive field storming by the homecoming crowd.

“The start of the second half, we’re in great shape and they adjusted and ran the ball and we couldn’t stop it,” UNC coach Mack Brown said.

A bad night got worse with the play that sealed Tech’s victory.

Carolina wide receiver Tez Walker absorbed a big hit and fumbled after making a 36-yard reception with 2:54 left. Walker went down with an apparent injury, leading teammates to pray for him on the field. He eventually was helped to the sideline.

Brown said that Walker was aware and talking after he returned to the bench area but had no specifics on his condition. Walker was taken to a hospital for further evaluation but took a commercial flight back to Chapel Hill on Sunday morning.

“Just got to make something happen,” UNC quarterback Drake Maye said. “At the end of the game, we’ve got a chance for a score that wins it. I’ve got to make a play and make something happen.”

UNC (6–2, 3–2 ACC) gave up 24 points in the second quarter and 22 in the final quarter as the defense struggled mightily to stop the Jackets’ running attack.

“We ran well enough tonight and played good enough on offense but it was really bad defense,” Brown said.

The Jackets (4–4, 3–1), who rallied from a 17-point deficit at Kenan Stadium last season, came into the game giving up 227.6 rushing yards per game, and Carolina exploited that with Hampton (153 rushing yards and two touchdowns) — who topped 100 yards for three consecutive games for the first time in his career — and British Brooks (56 yards and one touchdown).

But the exploitation was ultimately worse by Georgia Tech as running back Dontae Smith ran for 162 yards and one touchdown and the Jackets rolled up 637 total yards, 350 on the ground.

“I’ve been doing this for 35 years and I’ve never seen two quarters that bad [on defense] and two quarters so good,” Brown said.

Maye was largely efficient but would have had bigger numbers if not for drops, overthrows and uncalled pass interference penalties. He still threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, completing 17 of 25 passes for 310 yards.

“I feel like we’re moving the ball; just little things here and there that ended up biting us,” Maye said. “Holdings were huge penalties and the false-starts. The guys are playing their butts off up front. I felt like I was throwing it pretty good.

“Just devastated,” Maye said of how he would characterize the loss. “We worked so hard, we love each other, playing for each other. And that’s all we got. Still got a lot to play for.”

Hampton powered most of UNC’s opening drive with 48 of the 75 yards on five carries. Maye connected with tight end Bryson Nesbit in the end zone, a 25-yard touchdown pass on third-and-13.

Carolina’s defense stopped Georgia Tech on fourth-down tries in the Jackets’ next two possessions, with Amari Gainer stopping Jackets running back Jamal Haynes on a fourth-and-2 to end the first drive. UNC drove 46 for a touchdown. Hampton shook off a would-be tackler behind the line of scrimmage and turned a 3-yard loss into a 17-yard scoring run.

The Jackets finally broke through in the first 2½ minutes of the second quarter on a 42-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Haynes King to Malik Rutherford off a bubble screen pass.

Nesbit’s 46-yard reception ignited a quick UNC response. British Brooks followed up a big 14-yard run in a third-and-6 with a 7-yard touchdown run on the next play to put the Heels up 21–7.

Georgia Tech finally converted a fourth-down try, with King finding a wide-open Brett Seither down the left sideline on a fourth-and-two. The 35-yard scoring play trimmed the lead to seven, then the Jackets drove 86 yards for another King-to-Rutherford TD connection, this one for 14 yards, to tie it at 21 with 2:46 left in the first half.

“I think one of the biggest things, especially in thefirst half, that I think we didn’t handle real well was tempo,” Cedric Gray said. “A lot of times when we were trying to set up, guys were running around.”

Carolina went 87 yards for Hampton’s 3-yard touchdown run with 45 seconds left. On that drive, Walker pulled down his first two receptions — for 32 and 8 yards.

Aidan Birr’s 40-yard field goal as time expired for Tech cut UNC’s halftime lead to 28–24.

UNC’s Don Chapman intercepted a tipped ball and just got his left foot inbounds to end the Jackets’ first drive after halftime. Hampton took a shovel pass on a third-and-18 from the UNC 33 and dashed 29 yards. Five plays later, Maye’s 14-yard touchdown run gave the Tar Heels a 35–24 lead with 6:03 left in the third quarter.

Carolina’s defense reverted to its second-quarter form, giving up an 88-yard, 9-play scoring drive. Hayes ran nine yards for the touchdown and added a two-point conversion run.

Doc Chapman returned the ensuing kickoff 55 yards and, two plays later — 49 seconds after the Jackets touchdown — caught a 35-yard touchdown pass.

Just as quickly, 33 seconds later, Smith ran 70 yards for a touchdown, and UNC’s lead was back down to three.

Noah Burnette was wide right on a 39-yard field-goal attempt, his first miss in 12 tries this season with seven minutes left.

The Jackets took their first lead of the game on 5-yard touchdown pass from King to Brett Seither with 4:28 left.

NOTES — Carolina returns home for its final non-conference regular-season game at noon Saturday (ACC Network) to face Campbell in the first meeting between the schools. The Camels (4–4) lost Saturday at Richmond 44–13. … Hampton is the first Tar Heel to rush for 100 yards against Georgia Tech since Javonte Williams in 2019. … Since the start of 2022, Maye has thrown 32 touchdowns and only one interception in the red zone. … Maye has 1,019 career rushing yards. He is only the fourth Tar Heel quarterback since 1980 to have over 1,000 rushing yards. The other three are Ronald Curry, Marquise Williams and Sam Howell. … UNC’s Tom Maginness had a third-quarter punt blocked, the third blocked Carolina punt this season. … It was UNC’s fifth game this season with at least 40 points, and fourth in the last five games. … Georgia Tech’s rushing total was its highest against an FBS opponent since 2021. … UNC gave up the most points this season, topping the previous high of 34 by Appalachian State. … Georgia Tech extended its lead in the all-time series to 33–21–3, including 21–9–1 in Atlanta. … Georgia Tech extended its lead in the all-time series to 33–21–3, including 21–9–1 in Atlanta. … Carolina has lost 11 of its last 13 games in Atlanta.

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Ga. Tech 46, No. 17 UNC 42

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ACC standings

Team	ACC	All
X — No. 5 Florida State	8–0	12–0
X — No. 9 Louisville	7–1	10–2
N.C. State	6–2	9–3
Georgia Tech	5–3	6–6
Virginia Tech	5–3	6–6
Clemson	4–4	8–4
North Carolina	4–4	8–4
Duke	4–4	7–5
Miami	3–5	7–5
Boston College	3–5	6–6
Syracuse	2–6	6–6
Pittsburgh	2–6	3–9
Virginia	2–6	3–9
Wake Forest	1–7	4–8

Friday’s result
Miami 45, Boston College 20
Saturday’s games
Kentucky 38, No. 9 Louisville 31
Duke 30, Pittsburgh 19
Syracuse 35, Wake Forest 31
No. 1 Georgia 31, Georgia Tech 23
Virginia Tech 55, Virginia 17
Clemson 16, South Carolina 7
No. 5 Florida State 24, Florida 15
N.C. State 39, North Carolina 20
Next Saturday’s ACC championship game in Charlotte
No. 9 Louisville vs. No. 5 Florida State, 8 p.m., ABC

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UNC schedule

Month/ date	Opponent/event	2023 record	UNC record in series
April
20	Spring game, 3 p.m.	—	—
August
29 (Thurs.)	at Minnesota	6–7	1–0
September
7	Charlotte	3–9	0–0
14	N.C. Central	9–3	0–0
21	James Madison	11–2	3–0
28	at Duke	8–5	65–40–4
October
5	Pittsburgh	3–9	12–5
12	Georgia Tech	7–6	22–33–3
26	at Virginia	3–9	66–58–4
November
2	at Florida State	13–1	3–17–1
16	Wake Forest	4–8	72–36–2
23	at Boston College	7–6	6–2
30	N.C. State	9–4	68–39–6

Photo via @UNCFootball