Marquise Williams will go to sleep with the image of South Carolina middle linebacker Skai Moore in his head.

Moore intercepted Williams two times in the end zone Thursday night–including on North Carolina’s final offensive play–as the Gamecocks took advantage of multiple missed chances by the Tar Heels on their way to a 17-13 victory at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

“We had a lot of chances,” UNC head coach Larry Fedora said after the game. “We had a lot of missed opportunities offensively.

“I thought our defense did some good things,” he continued.”The only thing we didn’t do is create a takeaway. We had some opportunities on some balls on the ground and didn’t get to ’em. But we threw three picks, I think, in the red zone, and then turned it over on downs. I mean, that’s four turnovers offensively. You’re not gonna win any games [playing like that].”

For the second time in the past three seasons UNC has gotten off to an 0-1 start by way of a loss to the Gamecocks. South Carolina starts its season off 1-0, giving its head coach, Steve Spurrier, his 24th win in 26 career opening games.

In what can only be described as a shaky first outing, Williams completed 19 of his 31 passes for 232 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. The touchdown, and most of those yards–160 of them to be exact–came in the first half.

Marquise Williams was up-and-down in a game that turned into a defensive struggle. (UNC Athletics)

Marquise Williams was up-and-down in a game that turned into a defensive struggle. (UNC Athletics)

Faced with a third-and-goal situation late in the game, UNC needed to get the ball in the end zone. Instead, Williams was sacked on third down, and then threw an interception to Moore for the second time on the next play–all but sealing it for the Gamecocks.

“I gotta take care of the football when we in the score zone, Williams said. “It’s rookie mistakes that I shouldn’t have been doing tonight. And it came back to haunt us.

“Three times I made the same mistake,” he added. “It’ll haunt me for a minute, but I’ll have to bounce back strong.”

Sophomore running back Elijah Hood gave the Tar Heels a spark of life with multiple big runs in the second half, on his way to 138 yards on just 12 carries. But he did not see the field for the game’s final plays.

“It’s not my call,” Hood replied when asked if he thought he should have been more involved in crunch time. “Would I have liked to have been out there. I mean, sure. Anytime I’m out there, I’m trying to make a play.

“I feel like I trust the coaches. They felt like that personnel was best. So I was totally OK with it.”

Leading the way for South Carolina was senior tailback Shon Carson, whose 48-yard touchdown scamper in the fourth quarter provided the Gamecocks their only lead of the night–and the only one that mattered. For the night, Carson carried the ball just four times, but made the most of them, picking up 75 yards.

Early on, the Tar Heels appeared to be the better team–as the new-look Tar Heel defense impressed in its first game under new coordinator Gene Chizik. After refusing to allow South Carolina to pick up a yard on its first three plays, the momentum was clearly with the boys in baby blue.

Fresh-faced sophomore quarterback Connor Mitch struggled all night against the Tar Heels, going just 9-22 for 122 yards and a touchdown. But, unlike Williams, he did not turn the ball over.

Williams got the offense rolling on its first drive of the game, with the team picking up 58 yards on its way to the Gamecock 6-yard line. But then a pass headed for senior receiver Kendrick Singleton in the back of the end zone was picked off by Moore–foreshadowing for what was to come later on.

Then–after the first end zone interception–the UNC defense held strong again.

Offensive success continued, with Williams leading a lighting fast 91-yard touchdown drive on the team’s second possession. Bug Howard, the 6-foot-5-inch junior receiver, kicked it off with a 40-yard reception on the first play. He then punctuated things by catching a 21-yard bullet from Williams for the score, giving the Tar Heels the early lead.

Elijah Hood (34) provided the lone bright spot for UNC's offense on Thursday, putting up 138 yards on 12 carries. (UNC Athletics)

Elijah Hood (34) provided the lone bright spot for UNC’s offense on Thursday, putting up 138 yards on 12 carries. (UNC Athletics)

Immediately, though, the Gamecocks responded with an 11-play scoring drive. Junior receiver Pharoh Cooper, a preseason All-SEC first team selection, caught a 9-yard touchdown from Mitch on a slant route across the middle to even the score at 7.  The drive also took more than five minutes off the game clock, which helped give their defense some much-needed rest after showing clear signs of fatigue against the Tar Heels’ up-tempo offense.

The rest of the second quarter had the teams trading field goal attempts. UNC junior place-kicker Nick Weiler connected on a pair of attempts (47 yards and 38 yards), a pleasant sight for Tar Heel fans who watched their team fail to connect on any field goals longer than 30 yards in 2014.  South Carolina’s Elliot Fry hit one from 25 yards to tie the game at 10, but missed short from 57 at the end of the half–allowing UNC to go into the locker room ahead 13-10.

From then on, the game unexpectedly slowed into a defensive battle with neither able to break through until Carson’s fourth quarter touchdown.

“We’ve gotta get a lot better,” Fedora said about his team. “It’s just not acceptable for what we have in returning starters on offense. It’s just not acceptable”

Up Next:

A long week awaits the Tar Heels, as they’ll have a couple extra days to recover before hosting North Carolina A&T in their home opener next Saturday.

Game Notes:

  • UNC outgained South Carolina in total yardage 440-394. But the Gamecocks’ picked up 254 of their yards on the ground, allowing them to keep the Tar Heel offense off the field.
  • Time of possession was in the Gamecocks’ favor, as they held the ball for 35:38, compared to 24:22 for the Tar Heels.
  • This is the first time UNC has lost when holding an opponent to 17 points or fewer since a 13-0 defeat at NC State on Nov. 5, 2011.
  • The Tar Heels lead the all-time series 34-19-4.

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