The No. 18 North Carolina football team won its third straight game Saturday in Chapel Hill, knocking off Georgia Tech 48-20. The team also registered 636 total yards of offense — the most this season.
The Tar Heels built an early lead behind running back Elijah Hood’s strong ground game. The junior from Charlotte scored UNC’s first two touchdowns of the game, the second a 36-yard dash on fourth down near midfield. UNC never trailed in the game.
But despite an early lead, Georgia Tech didn’t go away easily at first. An 83-yard pass down the left sideline from quarterback Justin Thomas to Clinton Lynch — the longest play UNC has allowed so far this season — cut UNC’s lead to just three in the second quarter.
That was as close as the Yellow Jackets came to leveling the score. The Tar Heels took a 10-point lead into halftime, and from there they asserted their dominance. Two second-half fumbles stunted Georgia Tech drives and gave UNC a chance to open the score up. By the time starting quarterback Mitch Trubisky and Elijah Hood came out in the fourth quarter, the game was already well out of reach.
In the first quarter, Hood was UNC’s offense. Hood’s first carry from scrimmage, the second play of the game, was a 45-yard run gashing through the middle of Georgia Tech’s defense. He ended the drive in a similarly-impressive fashion, spinning into the end zone for a short touchdown.
His first-quarter statline ended at 114 yards and two touchdowns on just seven carries. It was the first time in Hood’s career that he registered 100 yards rushing in a single quarter. After not logging a carry in the second quarter, Hood picked back up in the second half, scoring another touchdown in the third. He finished the game with 168 yards and three scores on 12 carries.
When Hood wasn’t carrying the Tar Heels offensively, Trubisky was. After mostly handing off to Hood in the first quarter, Trubisky took back the reins to the offense in the second quarter.
Perhaps the best example of that came on his deep touchdown to Howard in the second half. After faking a pitch to his right, Trubisky unloaded down the right sideline to a streaking Howard, still wearing No. 13 for injured teammate Mack Hollins. Howard caught the ball in stride and pumped his legs all the way into the end zone for a 68-yard score. Trubisky tacked on a rushing touchdown later in the game before coming out in the fourth quarter. He finished with 329 yards passing and another 44 on the ground.
Midway through the third quarter. UNC built a small lead early in the first quarter, but for the rest of the game, the two teams had traded scores on a consistent basis.
That was until, his team down 14 with about four minutes left in the third quarter, Georgia Tech’s Dedrick Mills had the game’s first turnover. Mills carried the ball straight up the middle into a sea of arms and stout frames. He disappeared under the mass of light blue jerseys.
Then a second later, the ball emerged, no longer in Mills’ arms but alone, bumbling and rolling on the grass near midfield. No one lunged for it at first, but Myles Dorn eventually did to give UNC the ball inside Georgia Tech’s half.
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A few plays later T.J. Logan dove and extended into the end zone to push UNC’s lead to three scores. The Yellow Jackets never got the game back within striking distance.
The win keeps UNC in the race for the ACC Coastal Division title. The Tar Heels lost to No. 23 Virginia Tech on Oct. 8 in Chapel Hill, and ever since, the Hokies have held the tiebreaker over UNC in the divisional standings.
To keep pace with Virginia Tech, UNC has needed to win out, and a win over the Yellow Jackets keeps UNC’s hope of a second straight ACC Championship Game berth alive.
The Tar Heels have a short turnaround this week — they’ll head to Durham to face Duke at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday
