The Tar Heels’ 59-7 win over Campbell Saturday served as the warm-up they needed for the last three scheduled games against ACC teams, all with winning records, that will determine whether Carolina’s 2023 regular season winds up excellent (10-2), good (9-3), okay (8-4) or disappointing (7-5) for another year.
The Fighting Camels were exactly what we thought they’d be: a well-coached, small-college entry that did not belong on the field with a Power 5 opponent, receiving a six-figure guarantee for being a punching bag over three hours on a beautiful day — all of which kept thousands of fans away.
With Duke coming in for the last home game, it was remindful of Brown’s finale from his first UNC tenure, when the eighth-ranked and 9-1 Tar Heels coming off a win at Clemson blew out the Devils 50-14, after which Mack carped about the crowd. Two weeks later, he left for Texas.
The student section was a third empty and the official attendance listed at 47,667, which had to be the number of tickets sold or the person estimating fannies in the seats having severe double vision. Honoring Military Appreciation Day veterans, including assistant coach Charleton Warren and former Tar Heel Matt Merletti, was very nice — as was Brown donning a camouflage pullover with a big NC on the front. High school cheer squads from across the state added to the unusual scene that relatively few fans saw.
The game was over after a 7-7 first quarter, with the Heels outscoring the Humps 52-zip behind 318 yards of passing (244 and four touchdowns from Drake Maye) and 285 yards rushing sparked by ACC leader Omarion Hampton’s 2 TDs and 144 yards for a 9.6 average per carry. British Brooks chipped in 64 and back-up QB Conner Harrell broke off a 61-yard sprint to pay-dirt on his official audition for the job next season, as Brown emptied his bench to start getting ready for Duke.
Receiver Tez Walker returned from his scare at Georgia Tech with two receptions, both as only Touchdown Tez can catch them. The individual stats were stunning behind Bryson Nesbit’s 6 grabs for 78 yards. Young pass-catcher Doc Chapman had two receptions — one for 45 yards — and J.J. Jones had three, one for a TD that was so wide open he had time to bow for the Tar Pit in appreciation. In all, 11 players caught passes, including tight end John Copenhaver’s one for 25 and reserve Chris Culliver’s one for 41, both scores.
North Carolina wide receiver Devontez Walker (9) scores a touchdown in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Campbell in Chapel Hill, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
The Blue Devils come in for Senior Day and Maye’s home sayonara at 8 pm Saturday with a cool weather forecast right now. Duke (6-3), Clemson (5-4) and N.C. State (6-3) are a decent combined 17-10 compared to UNC’s first five ACC foes who are now 8-18. The 7-2 Heels’ four non-conference opponents are 17-19 for an overall 25-37 to date, hardly what Brown had called a tough schedule.
The defense had a field day of efficiency with five sacks for 123 yards of total losses, led by Cedric Gray’s forced fumble, two sacks, and three thrown-for-losses. Marcus Allen had the only interception of the 65 total passes, and Dez Evans (Carolina’s other No. 10) had a sack, a thrown-for-loss and a pass break-up.
The day had one public proposal by the kid who won the Coke-Dunkin contest. He said No. 1 and then popped the question. She said yes, and her row cheered, likely because they were getting free donuts if not wedding invitations.
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With little drama and the sun shining, it brought back Kenan Stadium reflections worth noting.
Two weeks and two losses ago, Walter Davis was on the field with some fellow Patterson Medal winners. It represented one of Sweet D’s great accomplishments because he struggled mightily in the classroom as a freshman before Dean Smith got him to the right tutors and advisors to save his college career. Also a Gold Medalist for Smith’s 1976 Olympic team, Davis went on to be first-team All-ACC in a loaded field (Rod Griffin, Phil Ford, Skip Brown and Kenny Carr). He was the 1978 NBA Rookie of the Year and a six-time all-star. The news of his death at 69 swept through Tar Heel Nation, hailed for being one of the smoothest and nicest players.
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As the football Heels rolled over Campbell, I tried to recall if Carolina had ever lost to any what we used to call Division I AA, or small-college, teams. I came up with the dreadful 28-3 defeat to Furman in 1999, which was part of a 3-8 season during which head coach Carl Torbush was privately fired and then rehired after beating State and Duke. Torbush and the AP writer who broke the story of the reversal exchanged harsh words after UNC held a press conference to announce Torbush was still the coach!
He was fired after the comeback 2000 season, going 6-5 for his second winning record in three years. UNC thought it could hire Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer, but it never happened and led to John Bunting who lasted 6 seasons.
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Brown followed Fedora, who followed Butch Davis, who followed Bunting who followed Torbush who succeed Mack in 1997. They have all been part of the 27-6 domination of Duke since 1990, with Brown holding an ongoing 12-game winning streak over the Blue Devils, who are playing their third-string quarterback after starter Riley Leonard and back-up Henry Belin went down with injuries.
Then comes a rare trip to Clemson, where the fans are fighting over two-time national championship coach Dabo Swinney who had 12 consecutive 10-plus win seasons but will miss the College Football Playoff for the third year in a row after six straight trips there. Dabo made national news for taking five minutes to dismantle complaints from a caller to his weekly show, which is a must-hear.
“If you can buy Clemson stock, buy a lot of it,” Swinney chirped after the 31-23 home upset of No. 15 Notre Dame Saturday with about a dozen starters out.
And after that comes State and hard-nosed coach Dave Doeren, who followed last week’s win over Clemson with a retort to ESPN pre-game guest and former Carolina Panthers star Steve Smith saying, “N.C, State, unfortunately, they’re waiting for basketball to start.” After the 24-17 upset of the Tigers, Doeren said, “Tell Steve Smith in the studio, this ain’t a basketball school, he can kiss my ass.”
So, in some ways, the 2023 season is just getting started.
Featured photo via AP Photo/Nell Redmond.
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