North Carolina suffered its second consecutive loss to open the season Saturday, falling 47-35 to No. 17 Louisville and 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson.
The Tar Heels allowed 705 yards, 35 first downs and the Cardinals had 27 plays in which they gained 10 of more yards.
But, regardless of the outcome of a game, THI’s staff will vote for our three stars following every football and basketball game, so here are our three stars:
Anthony Ratliff-Williams
The third-year sophomore wide receiver and kick returner set a UNC single-game record by racking up 199 kickoff return yards, as he brought back kickoffs for 39, 24, 99 and 24 yards. The 99 yarder was a touchdown in the third quarter. He also caught 3 passes for 41 yards with a long of 18 yards.
Jalen Dalton
A week after an embarrassing personal foul that got him kicked out of the Cal game, the junior defensive tackle redeemed himself Saturday registering 4 tackles, but 3 for a loss of yards including a sack. He also had two QB hurries. In addition, and this doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, was Dalton’s late-game hustle catching up to and bringing down Louisville running back Malik Williams, ending his 74-yard jaunt.
Tom Sheldon
“Boomer” got off four punts for an average of 53.5 yards, one going for 61 yards. He had consecutive punts that buried Louisville at its own 1-yard-line and the next at its own 13. The Cardinals ended up combining to gain 100 yards on those two ensuing possessions but failed to score any points, as UNC took over on downs. More pedestrian punts would have positioned the Cardinals to score points on both second-quarter possessions, but they didn’t and took just a 6-point lead into halftime.
Staff Voting
Anthony Ratliff-Williams 5; Jalen Dalton 3; Tom Sheldon 2; Austin Proehl 2; Andre Smith 1; Brandon Fritts 1; The QB Position 1.
