Football Rolls Past Charlotte, 38-20

Saturday, September 7

Chapel Hill

3:30 PM

North Carolina

2-0 , 0-0

Charlotte

0-2 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Charlotte

North Carolina

Bryson Nesbit celebrates his first-quarter touchdown reception.

Photo by: Andy Mead

September 7, 2024 | Football

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By: Matt Bowers

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.— North Carolina's defense allowed just 49 rushing yards as the Tar Heels beat in-state foe Charlotte, 38-20, on Saturday afternoon at Kenan Stadium.

Meanwhile, UNC piled up 269 yards on the ground to dominate time of possession and essentially control the action from start to finish.

After Charlotte scored an early second-half touchdown to pull within 21-13, Carolina scored 17 unanswered points to put things out of reach at 38-13 with 6:39 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Tar Heels won their seventh consecutive home opener and have started the season 2-0 for the third year in a row.

Conner Harrell made his second career start at quarterback and was efficient leading the Carolina offense. He completed 16 of 25 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns, connecting on 64 percent of his attempts.

"Conner did a lot of really good things," head coach Mack Brown said. "We were six for 11 on third down. We ran for 269 yards. We threw it for 221 yards, and we can do a better job in that area, but I thought that this will be a great teachable moment game for him. I'm sure he was anxious, because this is the first time he's ever started at home."

Davion Gause ran 16 times for 105 yards and a touchdown for UNC, with Omarion Hampton adding 77 yards on 11 attempts and Harrell rushing for 39 yards and a score. Nate McCollum had a 37-yard TD run on his only rushing attempt.

Ten different Tar Heels caught passes in a balanced attack that totaled 490 offensive yards.

"I thought we had a good game, obviously I'm excited for the win," Harrell said. "I think there are some drives that obviously I want back, some plays I want back, just thinking about it now, but we got a lot to build off of which was good. I think we ran the ball really well, we had some chances that passed in the past game, I think we've just got to build off of this week."

Carolina limited the 49ers to 49 yards rushing on 25 carries. After allowing just 78 yards on the ground in its season-opening win at Minnesota, UNC has allowed only 127 total rushing yards in its 2-0 start to the 2024 season.

The Tar Heels racked up 28 first downs to just 13 for Charlotte, and the 49ers converted just 2 of 14 third-down attempts.

How It Happened
First Half
• The Tar Heels took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter on a 30-yard scoring pass from Harrell to Bryson Nesbit down the left sideline.
• A 49ers field goal with 4:43 left in the first quarter made the score 7-3 until Nate McCollum's 37-yard scoring run made it 14-3, capping a five-play, 75-yard drive in just 1:27.
• Charlotte hit another field goal early in the second quarter before Harrell scored his second career rushing touchdown, taking it in from four yards out to finish a masterful,.13-play, 75-yard drive in 6:29.
• UNC piled up 160 rushing yards before halftime while giving up just 12. The Tar Heels allowed only 15 rushing yards in the second half of last week's win at Minnesota, meaning Carolina gave up only 27 yards on the ground in back-to-back halves.

Second Half
• Charlotte drove for a touchdown in the opening minutes of the third quarter to cut the UNC lead to 21-13. The Tar Heels responded with a 58-yard scoring toss from Harrell to Christian Hamilton on a reverse, flea-flicker trick play. That scored capped a two-play, 74-yard drive to make the score 28-13.
• Noah Burnette's 44-yard field goal and a one-yard TD dive by Gause gave Carolina a 38-13 lead with under six minutes to play before the 49ers scored a late touchdown.

Inside the Box Score
• Saturday marked the first-ever meeting between Carolina and Charlotte.
• The winningest active head coach in the nation, Brown's career record now stands at 284-149-1.
• Carolina is 72-8 under Brown when scoring 30-plus points.

Up Next
Carolina will play the second of three consecutive games at Kenan Stadium when it hosts NC Central next Saturday Sept. 14 at 6 p.m.

Tickets are available now.

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