Hampton's Career Day Leads 31-24 Win Over Wake Forest

Saturday, November 16

Chapel Hill

8:00 PM

North Carolina

6-4 , 3-3

Wake Forest

4-6 , 2-4

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Wake Forest

North Carolina

Omarion Hampton

Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI

November 16, 2024 | Football

Box Score Final Stats (.pdf)Postgame Notes Quotes Media Central Photo Gallery

By: Matt Bowers

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.— Omarion Hampton ran for a career-high 244 yards on a career-high 35 carries to lead North Carolina to its third win in a row, 31-24, over Wake Forest on Saturday night at Kenan Stadium.

Carolina's offense scored 14 points in under 90 seconds in the third quarter and its defense forced three second-half turnovers to break open a tied, 10-10 game. UNC scored back-to-back TDs in just 1:21 to grab a 24-10 lead with eight minutes left in the third period.

The quick, 14-point spurt allowed Hampton and the Tar Heel rushing attack to milk the clock and limit Wake's opportunities to cut into the UNC lead for much of the remainder of the game.

UNC quarterback Jacolby Criswell completed 14 of 22 passing attempts for 132 yards and a touchdown. Eight different Tar Heels caught passes, including J.J. Jones' scoring grab.

"This game was very tough," Carolina head coach Mack Brown said. "You've got to give Wake Forest a lot of credit. We didn't play as well offensively in the passing game as we have the last three weeks. Defensively, we continued to play great. We're stopping the run and running the ball. We won the turnover game tonight. And when you do that, the large majority of the time, you're going to win a game. And the kicking game was good. So I'm really, really proud of our guys."

The Demon Deacons made things interesting when backup quarterback Michael Kern hit Taylor Morin for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 1:11 to play to pull within a score at 31-24. Carolina recovered Wake's onside kick attempt and ran out the clock for the win.

Making their first home appearance in over a month, the Tar Heels won their third game in a row and improved to 6-4 overall, 3-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Wake fell to 4-6, 2-4.

UNC is bowl eligible for the sixth straight season, which is the second-longest streak in Carolina history (behind seven straight from 1992-98). This will be Carolina's 38th bowl appearance.

Hampton has rushed for 100 or more yards in nine of 10 games this fall. His 244-yard rushing day is tied for 11th-best in school history. He is the third Tar Heel to have three games with at least 200 rushing yards in his career, tying the most in school history. Mike Voight and Amos Lawrence also had three.

Hampton has 1,422 rushing yards this season, which is the fourth-most in a season by a Tar Heel. He has 38 career touchdowns, which is tied for fourth all-time at UNC with Kelvin Bryant and Marquise Williams.

Carolina improved to 76-10 all-time when scoring 30 or more points under head coach Mack Brown.

How It Happened
First Quarter
• The Demon Deacons scored the only points of the first quarter on a 33-yard field goal by Matthew Dennis, capping a nine-play, 65-yard drive with 3:21 remaining.
• Hampton had rushed for 105 yards before the end of the opening period.

Second Quarter
• On the ensuing drive after Wake's field goal, Carolina methodically went 75 yards in 11 plays over nearly six minutes and took the lead. Criswell ran it in from four yards out for a 7-3 Tar Heel advantage.
• Late in the quarter, Criswell led the Tar Heels down the field inside the Wake 10 with five seconds remaining, setting up a short field goal by Noah Burnette to make the score 10-3. The field goal completed a seven-play, 56-yard drive in 1:38 just before the halftime break.

Third Quarter
• Wake quarterback Hank Bachmeier left the game with an injury after the first offensive play of the second half.
• Kern came off the bench in relief of Bachmeier and completed a 28-yard pass to Donovan Greene on his first snap, Wake's longest play of the night to that point. Kern was 3-for-3 passing for 43 yards on his initial drive as Demond Claiborne scored his 10th rushing touchdown of the year from two yards out to tie the score at 10-10.
• Hampton was the driving force as the Tar Heels replied quickly to retake the lead, running for 53 of UNC's 75 yards on a six-play scoring drive, including ripping off a 38-yard run on third-and-one down to the WFU 28.
• Criswell connected with Jones for a 15-yard scoring toss to make the score 17-10 UNC.
• On Wake's next drive, Power Echols intercepted a Kern pass and ran it back 42 yards for a score and a 24-10 Tar Heel advantage.
• Later in the quarter, Criswell fumbled the ball and the Deacons recovered at the UNC seven yard line. Claiborne scored his second TD of the quarter on the next play, cutting the deficit to 24-17.

Fourth Quarter
• Neither team did much offensively for much of the fourth quarter until Travis Shaw strip-sacked Kern and recovered the ball at the Wake 18.
• Hampton accounted for all 23 yards on UNC's ensuing scoring drive and scored his 14th touchdown of the season from six yards away to take a commanding, 31-17, lead with 2:26 remaining.
• Wake replied with a TD with 1:15 to play when Kern hit Taylor Morin for a scoring pass.

Up Next
Carolina will play its final road game of the season when it visits Boston College next Saturday, November 23, at noon in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

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