UNC football's Elijah Hood knows his chances will come

The North Carolina football team rushed the ball 33 times during Saturday’s 50-14 dismantling of Wake Forest. UNC’s best running back received only eight of those carries.

But for Elijah Hood, the Tar Heels’ sophomore tailback, eight carries were all he needed to assert his dominance against the Demon Deacons.

Making the most of his limited opportunities, Hood rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown, averaging 12.6 yards per carry.

Hood’s stats dwarfed those of any other player who ran the ball on Saturday. But even when Coach Larry Fedora was asked about his halfback’s performance, he referenced Hood’s few touches unprompted.

“The guy plays hard, runs hard and does a great job in protection. You ask anybody on the team, and he’s just a great teammate,” Fedora said. “He doesn’t care if he carries the ball or not.”

For much of the past week, Hood and the rest of the Tar Heels heard about Wake Forest’s defense. Ranked No. 15 in the nation in total defense entering Saturday’s contest, the Demon Deacons possessed the best defense UNC had faced this season.

And on the Tar Heels’ opening drive, the UNC coaching staff made sure the ball was in Hood’s hands. The sophomore touched the ball on North Carolina’s first three plays from scrimmage and tallied 32 total yards.

Marquise Williams threw an interception on the fourth play of the drive, but Hood’s three chunk plays set the tone for the UNC offense.

“After that, we knew we were going to be able to move the football,” Hood said. “They kind of just got hit in the face real quick with those three touches, like, ‘Oh, wow, these guys are coming hard.’”

But 11 plays and a quarter passed before Hood touched the ball again. The offense muddled through two possessions before tying the score at 7 on a 57-yard touchdown catch by Mack Hollins.

Hood received only one carry on UNC’s next drive, which concluded with a 13-yard rushing touchdown by Williams. But Hood capitalized on his next opportunity.

On the Tar Heels’ next possession, the halfback ripped off back-to-back runs of 29 and 36 yards on his way to the end zone. The two-play touchdown drive lasted only 21 seconds.

“(The offensive line) took out the linebacker, and I was able to bounce it and take it to the second level,” said Hood of his touchdown run. “Once I got to the second level, their safeties didn’t really look like they wanted to come down on me too much. So you make one guy miss, and you get to the end zone.”

As impressive as Hood was, he only received three more handoffs the rest of the game. But his contributions didn’t stop with running the ball.

With Hood by his side in pass protection, Williams was sacked twice and never hurried, even against the Demon Deacons’ various blitzes.

“He’s a physical back, not just running the ball but in pass protection,” said Williams, whose 12 carries led the team and accounted for 59 yards. “When he’s back there, I know no one is going to come off that side because he’s going to protect me.”

In four games this season against Power 5 teams, Hood has rushed for 428 yards on 49 carries, an average of 8.7 yards per carry. But even when he’s not getting the ball, his trust remains in the offense.

“I’m not really that worried about it,” said Hood of his carries. “I know my touches are coming when they need to come ... Anything that’s happening out there is supposed to happen for a reason.”

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