Senior Day was a great success on Saturday afternoon at Kenan Stadium, as the 17th-ranked Tar Heels hardly needed to break a sweat in a 49-9 blowout victory over the Western Carolina Catamounts.
UNC (7-3) was simply much more gifted than its opponent, which plays at the lower-division FCS level of the sport.
Quarterback Sam Howell completed 20 of his 23 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns, as he and the rest of the starters on offense needed just the first half to build a 42-3 lead.
The Tar Heels also received three rushing touchdowns from Michael Carter, who gained 73 yards on just eight carries in his final game in Chapel Hill.
Western Carolina (0-4) was simply overpowered by the high-octane UNC offense, as the Tar Heels sliced their way through the Catamount defense like butter on their way to six touchdowns in seven first-half drives.
The one early drive that didn’t end in a touchdown was capped by a fumble that Western Carolina turned into a field goal, its only points until returning another fumble for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
That obviously was not enough to keep head coach Mack Brown and company from earning their seventh victory of the season, matching their win total from last year.
“We had better players than they do,” Brown told reporters afterwards. “Everybody knew that coming into the game. The question was, ‘Would you dominate the game like you’re supposed to?’”
For a group of seniors who won just five games combined in the two seasons prior to Brown’s return as head coach, they all got to end their Kenan Stadium careers on a winning note and get some playing time with the outcome decided so early.
“For the first time in my 32 years as a head coach, I didn’t start the first offense to start the second half,” Brown said. “I’ve always done that to start the third quarter. Today, I just thought we were far enough ahead. They weren’t gonna score enough points. The game was over. We needed to see a lot of the other guys. So, everybody on the team played.”
With Senior Day and the season’s only non-conference game now taken care of, the Tar Heels can now turn their focus to the regular season finale next weekend at No. 10 Miami.
UNC won’t be able to earn a berth in the ACC title game, but it will give the Tar Heels a chance to close out the year with a true signature victory after coming up short last week against No. 2 Notre Dame.
“I love the way this schedule ended up,” Brown said. “We had the tough national game. We had the lesser team coming in from the FCS. And now it’s time to go back and play two top-10 teams in three weeks. That’s a perfect way for us to finish.”
Up Next:
The Tar Heels end their regular season next Saturday on the road at No. 10 Miami in a game that has yet to have a kickoff time set.
Game Notes:
- Due to COVID-19 protocols, Senior Day festivities were a bit different. Rather than having their parents on the field with them, each senior was recognized on the field and had prepared messages played for them on the video board.
- Javonte Williams carried the ball just three times for eight yards with the UNC starters sitting out the second half. Most of his damage was done in the passing game with three catches for 48 yards.
- Sam Howell extended his streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass to 23, the longest active streak among all FBS quarterbacks.
- The Tar Heels used four quarterbacks total against Western Carolina, as Jacolby Criswell, Jace Ruder and Jefferson Boaz all saw time behind center in the second half.
Photo via ACC Media
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