Middle Tennessee State appeared poised to challenge North Carolina in the first quarter, when it kicked off the game with a 68-yard drive, but an overturned call and an interception helped turn the half in UNC’s favor, and the Tar Heels lead 23-0 at halftime.
The Blue Raiders drove down the field with relative ease on their first drive, and senior quarterback Logan Kilgore connected with wide receiver Kyle Griswold on a 20-yard touchdown pass, but the play was overturned and the ball was spotted inside the one yard line.
UNC stuffed the Blue Raiders on first down, and an MTSU false start moved the ball back to the seven, setting up a Tre Boston interception on 3rd-and-goal.
From that point, it was all UNC with the Tar Heels racking up 326 yards of offense and finding the end zone three times in the first half.
Sophomore running back Romar Morris scored twice on a 26-yard run and a one-yard touchdown, and Renner dove for his third career rushing touchdown on a one-yard run.
Renner completed 11 of his 14 pass attempts for 219 yards in the first half, snapping a streak of 140 pass attempts without an interception in the second quarter when an errant throw found the hands of MTSU’s Sammy Seamster.
Morris recorded nine carries for 43 yards in the first half.
The Tar Heels ended the half with a 39-yard field goal from junior kicker Thomas Moore to take a 23-point lead.
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