Having had over a week to process its disappointing loss at Duke last Thursday, the UNC football team found release valve for all of its anger on Saturday in the form of The Citadel.

Although the Bulldogs arrived at Kenan Stadium as one of just two undefeated teams in the lower-tier FCS, the clearly motivated Tar Heels sent them back to Charleston with a crushing 41-7 loss.

It was the second time in a three-week span UNC faced a school with a triple-option offensive attack, after defeating Georgia Tech two weeks ago. While the Yellow Jackets were able to catch the Tar Heels off guard early on with three long passes of 40-plus yards, The Citadel seemed content trying to create a score four yards at a time.

After missing a 25-yard chip shot on their opening drive, things only got worse for the Bulldogs—as the Tar Heels began scoring on one explosive play after another.

Ryan Switzer's 72-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter gave UNC a two-score lead right out of the gate. (Jeffrey A. Camarati/ UNC Athletics)

Ryan Switzer’s 72-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter gave UNC a two-score lead right out of the gate. (Jeffrey A. Camarati/ UNC Athletics)

UNC senior receiver Ryan Switzer hauled in a 72-yard touchdown from Mitch Trubisky in the first quarter, while tailback TJ Logan made a nifty one-handed touchdown grab in the second quarter. Safety Dominquie Green broke the team’s season-long interception drought with a pick-six soon after.

Ahead 31-0 at the break, Logan added more salt to The Citadel’s wounds by coming out of the locker room with a 100-yard kick return touchdown.

Big plays from all three phases of the game were just what the Tar Heels needed to move on from last week’s loss, head coach Larry Fedora said afterwards.

“It was the only way we were gonna get that taste out of our mouths,” Fedora said. “I fully expected our guys to respond the way they did because you could tell the way they prepared in practice.

“They were locked in and practiced really well,” he continued. “When you do that, usually you’re gonna play that way.”

The result of all the big plays was that UNC only had possession of the ball for 17 minutes of game time.

Senior Dominquie Green gave UNC its first interception of the season with his pick-six in the second quarter. (Jeffrey A. Camarati/ UNC Athletics)

Senior Dominquie Green gave UNC its first interception of the season with his pick-six in the second quarter. (Jeffrey A. Camarati/ UNC Athletics)

As the clock wound down, however, the Tar Heel defensive coaches were adamant on the sidelines that they wanted a complete game—with a shutout included as part of the deal. Not until UNC had a 41-point fourth-quarter lead—and its backups in the game—did The Citadel finally break through.

By then, of course, it was far too late.

It may have come against lower-division competition, but Saturday represented one of the cleanest defensive performances the Tar Heels have put together all year—forcing four turnovers in the process.

From a spectator’s vantage point, wide receiver Ryan Switzer has been impressed with the improvement he’s seen on that side of the ball throughout the season.

“They’ve continued to grow and get better,” Switzer said of the Tar Heel defense. “And you’ve got to credit those guys for wanting to learn. The staff continually pushes them.

“You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink,” he continued. “Those guys, they want to learn and they want to be better. It’s a testament to their work ethic that they’re continuing to play well.”

Despite calling it a sloppy performance overall for the offense, Trubisky only needed to throw 20 passes on the day.

He turned those into 184 yards and three scores, as he reminded his teammates that they had built a two touchdown lead against Duke before letting it slip away.

All the help on defense and special teams buried the Bulldogs in a deep hole, which made further offensive explosion an afterthought in the second half.

Cornerback MJ Stewart recovered two fumbles against The Citadel, as the Tar Heels completely shut down the Bulldogs throughout the day. (Jeffrey A. Camarati/ UNC Athletics)

Cornerback MJ Stewart recovered two fumbles against The Citadel, as the Tar Heels completely shut down the Bulldogs throughout the day. (Jeffrey A. Camarati/ UNC Athletics)

“I was trying to talk to the guys after we got up 14, [saying] we just need to keep that killer mentality,” Trubisky said. “We just got to keep our foot on the gas pedal and just keep going and finishing in the end zone.”

Heading into the team’s final regular season game next Friday at home against NC State, this was an important win to re-establish what had been making the Tar Heels successful up to this point. A quick-strike offense mixed with opportunistic defense and special teams is exactly what Fedora wants from his guys.

Saturday was the latest example of what that looks like when it’s all working.

“We were worried about that football team,” Fedora said, when discussing The Citadel. “We knew that they were a really good football team, and that they would control the clock. Our guys were gonna have to steal a few possessions and defensively we did that—and then we made some game-changing plays on special teams that we needed.”

Up Next:

The Tar Heels conclude their regular season at home next week against NC State–a game scheduled for noon on Friday.

Game Notes:

  • UNC entered the game as the only school in any Division of the NCAA (644 teams) without an interception.  Dominquie Green’s pick-six was Carolina’s first interception return for a touchdown since Jeff Schoettmer returned one 29 yards for a score at Notre Dame in 2014.
  • The Citadel actually had more total yards and first downs than UNC did throughout the game.
  • Trubisky now has 3,403 yards of total offense this year. That is the third highest single-season total at Carolina. Marquise Williams had 4,020 in 2015 and 3,856 in 2014.
  • Logan set the UNC record with his fourth career kickoff return touchdown.  He had two in 2013 and has two this season.

 

FINAL STATS