For the sixth consecutive season, the Tar Heels will be heading to a bowl game. After a 3-4 start, the team has reeled off three straight wins, culminated by a 31-24 victory over rival Wake Forest on Saturday night. Here are our biggest takeaways from the program’s fourth consecutive victory over the Demon Deacons.
Omarion Hampton Shows Just How Special He Is Once Again
The Tar Heel offense wasn’t exactly the well-oiled machine it was in the previous two games, forcing them to rely on their workhorse running back to move the ball. Hampton, as he did for the majority of the first half of this season, put the team on his back and carried them to victory, running for a career-high 244 yards on 35 carries and scoring the game-sealing touchdown on a play where he somehow was able to stay on his feet after hurdling over the line of scrimmage. His performance now has him fifth in program history in rushing yards and tied for third in program history in rushing touchdowns with former quarterback Marquise Williams. Hampton won’t get the recognition that Ashton Jeanty will, but these last two games have been a statement that he is in the conversation as one of the best running backs in the nation and one of the best to ever put on a Tar Heel uniform.
Travis Shaw Puts Together Career Performance
It seems like every week now a different member of the defensive line is having a career performance and this week it was Travis Shaw’s turn. Shaw was a dominant force in the middle of the Tar Heel defense all night, racking up four total tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss and causing major problems for the Demon Deacons rushing attack. His most impactful play came late in the fourth quarter, though, when he jumped on a fumble from Wake Forest quarterback Michael Kern to set up the game-sealing touchdown for Hampton. He has taken a big step forward this season and this performance was the peak so far. Hopefully, this will be something that he carries over into next week against a dynamic Boston College rushing attack.
Turnovers Were The Difference In The Game
When you tell the story of this game, the +2 turnover margin will be the main thing to point to as to why the Tar Heels came out on top. Each of the three second half turnovers was important for a Tar Heel defense that wasn’t nearly as dominant as they were in the previous two games. Power Echols' interception return for a touchdown gave the team a little bit of breathing room early in the second half and Shaw’s fumble eventually helped them do the same late. A ‘bend don’t break’ defense was what we were hoping this unit could be this year and this game showed why that is a valid recipe for success.
Offensive Play Caller and Line Struggle
The biggest issues for the offense in this game were the play-calling and performance of the offensive line. Chip Lindsey’s choice to not lean on the running game in the red zone early in the game was frustrating as was his conservative play calling throughout the night on third down. To be fair to him, he had to navigate an offense that had one of their worst performances of the season in this one. Early in the game, the group had trouble in pass protection, allowing four sacks on the first two drives of the game. In the second half, those struggles shifted to the run game where they started getting pushed around and limited the success of Hampton during the most important stretch of the game. Both of these elements of the offense will have to be better next week if the team wants to emerge victorious in Chestnut Hill.
This Team Just Keeps Swinging
The words that Tylee Craft lived by during his cancer battle have become the mantra for this team and it showed up again on Saturday. This was far from the perfect performance, but through all of the adversity, the team kept swinging and made the plays they needed to take home the win. With two tough, but winnable games remaining, the team will need to battle through adversity the way they did in this one to take home victories in those contests.
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