On a day when a steady mist fell in Chapel Hill under the remnants of Hurricane Ian, it was Drake Maye who reigned supreme. The redshirt freshman quarterback accounted for five total touchdowns against Virginia Tech Saturday afternoon, leading Carolina to a 41-10 bounce-back win.
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“Really proud of our team. I was proud of our fans,” UNC head coach Mack Brown said afterward. “A lot of our fans were there. I was surprised. I thought it’d look more like a COVID game with the horrible storm that came through. I told the players, ‘You’re gonna have to create your own energy.’ When we came back out, I was pleasantly surprised.”
The win is UNC’s second consecutive over the Hokies in Chapel Hill, something which hasn’t happened since 1938. Virginia Tech had won five of the previous six meetings and two of three in Brown’s second stint with the Tar Heels.
The Hokies took an early 3-0 lead on a first-quarter field goal, but would not come close to the lead again. After punting on their opening drive, the Tar Heels scored on seven of their next eight, five of which ended in the end zone. Touchdown receptions by tight end Kamari Morales and receiver Antoine Green, as well as a rush from Maye, ballooned the UNC advantage to 21-3 midway through the second quarter. An interception by linebacker Cedric Gray, his second of the young season, aided in the offensive outburst.
Virginia Tech answered with a touchdown of its own and looked poised to enter the half with momentum, but Carolina put together a scoring drive in 28 seconds to end the half, kicking a 44-yard field goal as time expired. The Tar Heels promptly scored 17 unanswered points in the third quarter, expanding the advantage to 41-10 with the help of two more touchdowns from Maye: one rushing, one passing.
“I’m continually impressed with Drake’s football IQ,” Brown said. “He has a great grasp of when to leave the pocket, how many he has to get, getting that and getting down.”
But a mental lapse from the young quarterback could’ve soured the day in a flash. On a run along the sideline, Maye leapt to try and gain additional yardage near the end zone, but fell hard on his side and stayed down for a few moments afterward. Hearts were in mouths all around Kenan Stadium, but Maye eventually got up and jogged back to the sideline to cheers. He came back in for the next drive and tossed a touchdown pass to tight end Bryson Nesbit, his third and final of the day.
“I didn’t think I could actually make it,” Maye said of the play. “I’ve just got to be smarter. I got the wind knocked out of me. I hope it didn’t look like I was overreacting. It’s hard when you can’t breathe.”
“He doesn’t need to be doing that,” said receiver Josh Downs, who finished with eight catches for 120 yards, both team bests. “He really should’ve just ran out of bounds, but knowing Drake, he’s always gonna fight for that extra yard. He plays the game like every play’s his last play.”
Maye has accounted for at least five total touchdowns in four of the Tar Heels’ five games this season. The day also marked the first time the UNC defense shut out an opponent through an entire half. The Hokies did not score in the third or fourth quarters.
“Defensively, we saw a game where we’d been seeing quarters,” Brown said. “They put a whole game together. They held Virginia Tech to 99 yards rushing. Forced a turnover… and really played great defense throughout the night. Really, really proud of them.”
“We knew we were good enough,” said Virginia transfer linebacker Noah Taylor, no doubt playing with extra fire against his old rivals. “We knew what we could do on the field. It was never panic, it was like, ‘Yeah, this is what we’re supposed to do.’ We’ve always come with that swag and that confidence that we played with today.”
Confidence seemed to be the theme for the UNC defense, a unit which forced a season-high seven punts, forced an additional turnover on downs and held an opponent to 10 points or fewer for the first time since a win against Duke last season. It was certainly a feel-good performance for the unit, which held a players-only meeting earlier in the week following the loss to Notre Dame.
“Tonight, I thought they walked onto the field thinking three-and-out,” Brown said. “They have not had that confidence, and that should really help them moving forward.”
The win moves UNC to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in ACC play, and avenges the team’s season-opening defeat in Blacksburg a season ago. The Tar Heels won’t be back in Kenan Stadium for another four weeks, as the team will now take trips to Miami and Duke before enjoying its second bye week of the season. The game with the Hurricanes is scheduled to kick off at 4 p.m. next Saturday and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Featured image via The News & Observer/Robert Willett
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