Tar Heels hand the 49ers a 20-3 decision in a rebound effort

SPORTS

North Carolina’s football team bounced back from their thrashing at the hands of the TCU Horned Frogs with a wide margin of victory over in-state opponent UNC-Charlotte.

UNC opened the game with a touchdown for the second week in a row on their first drive.

After an abysmal start last week, starting quarterback Gio Lopez came out hot, completing two shorter passes before throwing a 51-yard touchdown pass to junior wideout Chris Culliver. It was a play-action pass out of the shotgun and Culliver broke loose on a go route down the left side of the field.

Culliver left the field injured and holding his left arm in the 2nd quarter and did not return. He recorded 3 catches for 74 yards and a touchdown before his injury. Carolina’s Head Coach and Patriots legend Bill Belichick commented after the game saying,

“Hopefully, it isn’t anything too serious. He just wasn’t able to finish. We’ll see. He’s a tough kid, so we’ll see how it goes.”

Lopez ended the game 17-of-25 for 155 yards and a touchdown. The Heels slowed down after that opening drive but there was certainly encouragement for the Tar Heel faithful after the week 1 come apart in primetime.

The Heels added a field goal in the first and a Davion Gause rushing touchdown from Davion Gause in the 2nd to end the half up 17-3.

The game would end with only one more field goal being scored by the Heels. Charlotte posed no threat offensively last week as the game ended 20-3.

Guiding UNC-Charlotte was former UNC starter Connor Harrel. Harrel took over for the injured Max Johnson midway through last season’s UNC vs. Minnesota opener, started two games, and then was benched in favor of last year’s primary starter, Jacoby Criswell. He only threw for 140 yards on 17 of 29 passes. Charlotte seems to be struggling as usual and has only scored 14 points through their first two games.

Charlotte’s rushing game fared no better, rushing 28 times for only 22 yards. Averaging less than a yard per carry is not encouraging for any offense and a statistical rarity, especially against a program not recently heralded for a rushing defense.

UNC has questions for its rushing game as well. The Heels’ rushing attack was varied and they do not have a clear solution in the backfield yet. Seven Tar Heels took carries in the game, including Gio Lopez and wide receiver Jordan Shipp. Freshman Demon June led all backs in carries and yardage with 9 touches for 52 yards.

Given Charlotte’s own issues and the TCU pounding, fans can not put too much stock in this performance as any kind of a “bounceback” victory.

Carolina will get another chance to figure out their identity with a game against FCS opponent Richmond this Saturday at 3:30 pm. They will need to get some key reps in before facing Clemson the week after.

While the Clemson Tigers have not lived up to expectations with a close loss to LSU and a close shave against Troy, they are still an intimidating opponent and are still the Vegas favorites to win the ACC. Belichick has his work cut out prepping his team for that matchup on Oct. 4th.

Thomas Hicks is a journalist with video, PR, and writing experience who studied at UNC and the Hussman School of Journalism and Media. Thomas is always looking for work and the next story! He loves working with his camera or with his pen. This reporter can be contacted at thomasjhicks55@gmail.com, LinkedIn: Thomas Hicks and X: ThomasJ_H