ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The North Carolina football team (7-6) defeated Temple (8-5) in Friday's Military Bowl in a 55-13 blowout, the team's first bowl win since 2013.
The game saw three UNC players hit 1000 yards for the season, and first-year quarterback Sam Howell take third place in all-time passing touchdowns by an ACC quarterback.
What happened?
After forcing a quick 3-and-out on Temple's second drive of the game, North Carolina needed just two plays and 27 seconds to score. Howell took off for another 24-yard run, and then turned around and threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Dyami Brown for a quick 7-0 lead.
After a missed Owl field goal attempt, the Tar Heel offense stalled in the red zone, but a 26-yard field goal put UNC up 10-0.
Temple answered with a touchdown, but missed the extra point attempt to make it 10-6.
When North Carolina got the ball back, it fed Javonte Williams to chip away at Temple's defense before a big throw from Howell to Corrales got the Tar Heels in scoring position. A deflected pass to Dazz Newsome resulted in a touchdown after a review that showed the junior receiver dragging his toes in the end zone before falling out of bounds.
On UNC's next drive, Michael Carter rushed up the middle of the field for 22 yards to get the Tar Heels within scoring distance while the clock ran down. That set up a field goal to put UNC up 20-6 at halftime.
North Carolina broke open the game in the third quarter. After a few runs by Javonte Williams and two pass to Dyami Brown, Antonio Williams punched in UNC's third touchdown. On the first play of Temple's drive, Storm Duck caught his second career interception and returned it for North Carolina's first defensive touchdown since 2016.
