Five takeaways from UNC's 47-10 loss to Miami on Thursday night
UNC quarterback Chazz Surratt(12) gets sacked by Duke players on Saturday.
The North Carolina football team didn’t have much time to enjoy its 38-35 victory over Pittsburgh, the team’s first of the season.
A Thursday night tilt in South Florida with the No. 16 Miami Hurricanes awaited the Tar Heels, who entered the game as a 17.5-point underdog against the preseason favorite to win the ACC’s Coastal Division.
And just like last season, UNC lost to Miami, falling 47-10. With the loss, North Carolina is 1-3 for a second consecutive season.
Here are five takeaways the Tar Heels’ defeat to the Hurricanes.
1. Elliott starts, Surratt comes off the bench, both turn the ball over
After unsurprisingly remaining mum on the matter during the week, UNC head coach Larry Fedora decided to stick with Nathan Elliott as his starter after the redshirt junior performed well against Pitt.
But it didn’t take long for Surratt to see the field.
After Miami sacked Elliott and forced a fumble which it returned for a touchdown on UNC’s second drive of the game, Surratt entered on the ensuing series for his first appearance of the season.
And while it looked like Surratt’s drive would end in a three-and-out, the series was prolonged due to an unsportsmanlike penalty by Miami, and the signal caller took advantage. A faster quarterback than Elliott, Surratt scored UNC’s first touchdown of the game with a 17-yard touchdown on a read-option play.
But like Elliott, Surratt wasn’t immune to turnovers. On a third-and-17 screen play on his second drive, Surratt tossed the ball right to Miami defensive lineman Joe Jackson, who only had to complete a simple jog in order to reach the end zone and put on the Hurricanes’ famed Turnover Chain, which made multiple appearances Thursday night.
Surratt remained at quarterback for the rest of the first half – except for one play when his helmet came off – and he burned the Miami defense with his feet on multiple occasions, as he recorded 69 rushing yards on nine carries. But just as notable was UNC’s inability to throw the ball, a problem that became more pronounced as the Tar Heels’ deficit grew.
Between Miami’s strip-and-score of Elliott and pick-six of Surratt, UNC was dreadfully inefficient in the passing game during the first half.
Miami took a 33-10 lead into the halftime break, as Elliott and Surratt combined for just 39 yards on 8-of-16 passing.
Elliott saw more action during the second half and finished 16-of-25 for 104 yards, but Surratt returned late in the third quarter and threw his second pick-six on UNC’s first play of the fourth quarter.
A cardinal sin for any quarterback is to be careless with the ball; the Tar Heels' two-man rotation gave it up six times.
2. Michael Carter looks healthy and unafraid of contact
After a promising first-year campaign, sophomore running back Michael Carter looked good in his season debut against Pitt, as he hauled in a 31-yard touchdown catch.
Against the Hurricanes, Carter ran as if the wrist injury that kept him out of UNC’s opening two games was all but gone.
A physical runner who possesses speed once he gets going in the open field, Carter led UNC with 75 rushing yards on seven carries. Like he often did last season, Carter proved himself to be a big play threat.
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On UNC’s first offensive series, a 30-yard run by Carter set up a Tar Heel field goal, and he later scampered for 16 yards on a jet sweep on a drive that concluded with a touchdown run by Surratt.
Unfortunately for Carter, UNC’s misfortunes in the passing game allowed the Hurricanes to focus on the run, and his role in the game shrunk as the Tar Heels went down by multiple scores and were forced to throw more often.
Running back Michael Carter (8) carries the ball against California on Sept. 2.
3. Big plays burn UNC defense
In recent seasons, a propensity for giving up backbreaking plays has doomed the Tar Heels defensively.
After performing impressively in the second half against Pitt, UNC struggled to contain Miami’s offense, which was led by first-time starting quarterback N’Kosi Perry and two talented running backs.
Perry, who replaced Malik Rosier in the Hurricanes’ game against Florida International a week ago, completed 8-of-12 passes for 125 yards.
Perry had completions for 28 and 42 yards, and Miami was just as dangerous in the running game, as the duo of DeeJay Dallas and Travis Homer ran for a combined 202 rushing yards on 25 carries. Homer’s longest run of the night, a 56-yard scamper, set up the Hurricanes' first touchdown, and Dallas also shined.
Often free to run with space on the perimeter, Dallas ran through arm tackles on multiple occasions and had three carries of at least 17 yards in the second quarter.
After halftime, Miami’s offense slowed down, albeit with a large lead in hand. UNC forced two turnovers in the third quarter, the first of which was a fumble recovery by defensive tackle Jeremiah Clarke after a sack by defensive end Malik Carney, who was back in action after sitting out the East Carolina and Pitt games as part of his staggered four-game suspension. Later on, first-year defensive back Bryson Richardson came down with a tip-drill interception, the first of his career.
Both plays were small consolations on an otherwise frustrating night for the Tar Heels. Yet, the UNC defense only surrendered five more points to the Hurricanes than the UNC offense did because of turnovers.
4. Tar Heels struggle in scoring position
UNC had six offensive possessions on which it reached at least Miami’s 39-yard line. The Tar Heels had chances to finish drives with points, but mostly couldn’t. On those six possessions, UNC came up with only 10 combined points.
On its opening series, UNC looked poised to open the game with a touchdown after a big run by Carter deep into the red zone, but had to settle for a chip-shot field goal.
5. Momentum from Pitt win lost
A short week with a trip to face a Miami team that many pegged as the ACC’s second best during the preseason meant that the Tar Heels had to quickly flip the page from its annual triumph over Pitt (the Tar Heels are 6-0 against the Panthers since they joined the ACC).
And while UNC was a heavy underdog against the Hurricanes, Thursday’s game offered Fedora’s team an opportunity to prove that some of the good things it did against Pitt could become constants.
Instead, the Tar Heel offense often went backwards or turned the ball over, and UNC’s defense was picked apart in the first half after stymying a lesser opponent during the second half a week ago.
Summed up in a Tweet, former Tar Heel Ryan Switzer wrote, the Tar Heels were "Hard to watch."
