Any border war in college football will be filled with emotions, but it’s fair to say the Tar Heels were playing with a little extra juice in Saturday night’s win against South Carolina.
UNC had to play without the services of preseason first team All-ACC receiver Tez Walker, whose eligibility fight has become a national story. The Tar Heels also saw the return of veteran running back British Brooks, who missed all of last season with a knee injury and hadn’t played since the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in 2021, also against the Gamecocks in Charlotte. Then, there was the news less than an hour before kickoff that defensive back DeAndre Boykins would miss the entire 2023 season with a lower-body injury.
All of that provided a backdrop for Carolina’s decisive 31-17 win over the Gamecocks. After the clock hit zero, Brooks – who proved as steady as ever with 121 all-purpose yards – finally let his emotions get to him, dropping to a knee as the teams cleared the field.
“I’ve never been prouder of a young guy,” said head coach Mack Brown. “British was down on his knee crying like a baby. He was just so proud so that he made it back, because when he hurt his knee, he didn’t think he’d ever play again for a day and a half. Then he said, ‘I want to play again.’ Well, it’s easy to say and hard to do.
“That young guy did an unbelievable job of getting healthy and playing so well tonight. And he’ll just keep getting better and better. He’s really a good player.”
“That’s my dawg, man,” said UNC edge rusher Kaimon Rucker, who turned in an outstanding performance against the Gamecocks with 5.5 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. “He’s been working his tail off to get to this point. Just to be able to put up the yards that he did, just to produce the way he did, just to get back on the field again. I couldn’t be any more prouder of my man British.”
Whether or not Walker gets back on the field in 2023 is still an open question. The Kent State transfer published an open letter to NCAA president Charlie Baker last week, which laid out the reasons Walker believes he should be immediately eligible. Brown confirmed Walker would have another meeting with an NCAA committee later this week.
So with his appeal up in the air for the time being, Walker was relegated to sideline duties for the Tar Heels on Saturday night. But Walker’s lack of pads and a helmet didn’t stop his Hall of Fame head coach from giving him some gameday tasks.
“I told Tez on the sideline, ‘[Receiver] Gavin Blackwell dropped a couple of balls. Go pick him up,'” Brown told reporters after the game. “I said, ‘You’re sitting here in a position where you know how it feels to feel bad. So pick him up. That’s your job tonight. You go coach.'”
Walker’s ensuing pep talk looks to have had an impact on Blackwell, who recovered from his earlier drops to haul in a 37-yard pass in the second half – UNC’s longest gain of the night. It set up an Omarion Hampton one-yard touchdown run on the next play.
On the defensive side, Carolina’s strong performance against the Gamecock offense was made even more surprising by the loss of Boykins, who proved to be one of the Tar Heels’ best defenders in 2022. Due to having surgery recently, Boykins did not travel with the Tar Heels to Charlotte, but senior linebacker Cedric Gray said that didn’t stop the team from giving Boykins some love.
“We actually FaceTimed him as a team after the game,” Gray said. “It’s his birthday today, so we sang him happy birthday and gave him the game ball.”
Boykins likely would have preferred to spend his birthday on the football field than sitting at home in Chapel Hill, but he needs to look no further than his teammate British Brooks, who perhaps still had tears in his eyes after walking off the field. Brooks’ comeback will no doubt inspire Boykins in his journey back from his own knee injury.
And Boykins can look to Walker, too, whose actions Saturday night transcended his unfortunate circumstances. Though the team would love to have both Boykins and Walker in the fold for the rest of the year, the win against the Gamecocks proved the Tar Heels – for one happy night at least – were greater than the sum of their parts.
Featured image via Associated Press/Erik Verduzco
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