After suffering a letdown on the road against Georgia Tech last weekend, the North Carolina football team (3-2, 2-2 ACC) kept the victory bell Saturday, routing rival Duke (3-2, 0-1 ACC), 38-7.
What happened?
Both offenses were held silent late into the first quarter until junior Sam Howell tossed a 75-yard touchdown pass to graduate transfer running back Ty Chandler on a wheel route to give the Tar Heels an early 7-0 lead.
On their first drive of the second quarter, the Blue Devils got the ball moving, picking up two first downs on two rushes. After throwing two incompletions on their third set of downs, sophomore defensive lineman Kevin Hester was able to bust through the line for UNC to force a fumble on a 3-yard sack. It was recovered by senior safety Trey Morrison and returned 63 yards for a touchdown to extend the Tar Heel lead to 14.
Midway through the second, the UNC offense struck again on its second drive of the quarter, scoring on a two-yard touchdown pass to sophomore tight end Kamari Morales. The red zone catch for Morales marked his third straight game with a touchdown reception.
On their last drive of the quarter, the Tar Heels marched the ball down the field for 54 yards on nine plays, but were forced to settle with a field goal to make the score 24-0 heading into halftime. After being held scoreless in the first half, the Blue Devils put themselves on the scoreboard on their first play of the second half with an 80-yard touchdown catch from junior receiver Jalon Calhoun.
Early in the fourth quarter, the UNC offense responded, capping off an 83-yard drive with a 14-yard rushing touchdown from Chandler to extend the lead back to 24. To cap things off, the Tar Heel offense added another score midway through the fourth quarter when Howell connected with sophomore receiver Josh Downs for a 63-yard touchdown.
Who stood out?
Chandler led the way for the UNC offense, scoring a touchdown on the ground and through the air. The shifty Tar Heel running back accounted for 140 total yards, with 87 receiving yards and 53 rushing yards. Sophomore receiver Josh Downs also had another outstanding game, catching eight passes for 168 yards and one touchdown.
