Led by three touchdown passes from freshman quarterback Sam Howell and three rushing touchdowns by Michael Carter on Saturday, the UNC football team cruised to a 56-7 blowout victory over the Mercer Bears on Senior Day at Kenan Stadium.
Playing against a Mercer team (4-8) which was severely overmatched, the Tar Heels wasted no time erasing any doubt as to how this game would go. UNC recovered a fumble in the first minute of action and ultimately turned it into the game’s first touchdown on an 11-yard run by senior Antonio Williams just over a minute later.
The train just kept on rolling from there, as Howell threw all three of his touchdowns in the first half before sitting out the entire second half.
Senior Antonio Williams was one of five Tar Heel running backs to see action against Mercer. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)
With those three touchdowns, Howell broke Mitchell Trubisky’s all-time single season record at UNC and broke the FBS record for touchdown passes by a true freshman.
He threw just 13 passes against Mercer, completing 10 of them for 152 yards—66 of which came on a long touchdown throw to Dyami Brown late in the first quarter.
“There’s a number of things about Sam,” head coach Mack Brown said afterwards. “He’s been the same every week. He’s been ready to play every week. This would be a game that you would think that maybe before the NC State game, a freshman wouldn’t have the same focus. I thought he came out with great focus to start the game, and he was that way throughout.
“Our passing game right now is as good as anybody in the country,” the Hall-of-Famer added later.
Mercer had no answer for the Tar Heel rushing attack either, with Carter needing only nine carries to lead the team with a whopping 159 yards to go along with his three scores.
The win against Mercer was head coach Mack Brown’s 74th in charge of the Tar Heels, extending his own program record. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)
The junior had a 45-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, then later scored on a 60-yard scamper on the first play of the third quarter—which would ultimately turn in to his final play of the game as Brown let the backups do most of the dirty work down the stretch.
A total of five running backs saw action for the Tar Heels, with the team ending the game with a season-high 376 yards on the ground.
The UNC defense was just as sharp, holding Mercer to just 225 total yards for the entire game—by far its best performance of the season statistically.
“This was a home run for us,” Brown said. “Everything we wanted coming into this one, we got. And I’m really proud of the guys. I really feel like they’re starting to learn now, the process of winning.”
By picking up this victory, the Tar Heels now have a chance to earn their first bowl bid since 2016 if they can defeat NC State in next week’s regular season finale.
After playing the majority of their games so far down to the wire, it’s only fitting that the Tar Heels have now played their season down to the wire—needing just one victory to accomplish one of their main goals coming into what was supposed to be a rebuilding year.
“It’s fun,” Brown said. “You love games this time of the year that matter, and that are rival games. NC State’s got great players. [Head coach] Dave [Doeren]’s done a great job over there. They’ve whupped us for a while now, and it’ll be a great challenge for us on Saturday night.”
Up Next:
UNC and NC State are scheduled to kick off in Raleigh next Saturday at 7 p.m.
Game Notes:
- Junior receiver Dazz Newsome–the reigning ACC Receiver of the Week–was suspended for this game after oversleeping and missing a practice earlier this week.
- Sam Howell has now thrown for at least two touchdowns in all 11 of UNC’s games this season.
- The Tar Heels averaged 9.6 yards per play on offense.
- UNC’s five wins in 2019 are as many as it had combined over the previous two seasons.
Cover photo via Associated Press
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