CHAPEL HILL – After opening the season winning its first six games, victory has eluded North Carolina the last two weeks. And the losses came to teams that combined entered with a record of 4-9.

But with explosive second and third quarters, the Tar Heels pulled away from Campbell on Saturday, 59-7, at Kenan Stadium. It wasn’t a cakewalk initially, however.

UNC led just 14-7 late in the first half with the Camels missed a field goal, but the game also turned at that moment, and the Heels rolled.

Drake Maye was 16-for-23 with 244 yards and four touchdowns. It was the sixth time in his career and second time this season he’s thrown at least four TD passes in a game. Omarion Hampton ran for 144 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.

UNC hit the 50-point mark for the first time since a win at Appalachian State last season, a span of 20 games.

The Tar Heels improved to 7-2 while the FCS member Camels dropped to 4-5.

Here are 5 Takeaways from UNC’s win over Campbell:

Note: Tez Walker was a gametime decision Saturday. He didn’t do a lot during the week, went through warmups, and Brown said it was determined just before noon that he would play.

Hampton didn’t get a carry on the first possession, which was UNC’s worst opening series of the season, resulting in a total loss of four yards. He ran for eight and nine yards on the next drive, and scored on a 54-yard burst in the second quarter for a 14-7 UNC lead.

That run pushed him over 1,000 yards on the season and was his 11th rushing TD of the year. He later scored on a 54-yard explosion, plus had runs of 9, 9, 10, and 16 yards before his day was over.

Hampton reached the 1,000-yard mark in the ninth game, the fastest UNC player to do so since Gio Bernard did it in eight games in 2012. In addition, it was Hampton’s fourth straight 100-yard game, the lost such stretch by a Tar Heel since Bernard in 2012. Bernard did it in four consecutive games that season, and in five straight in 2011.

Hampton ran for 153 yards last week in a loss at Georgia Tech, 112 a week earlier in a home loss to Virginia, and 197 on Oct. 14 in a win over Miami at Kenan Stadium.

“I did see that,” Brown said, when asked if he saw this kind of season coming for Hampton. “I thought I’d see it last year. He sprained an ankle last year, and we weren’t as consistent up front, our running game was different than it is right now. This is the perfect running game for him, and he’s developed confidence and patience, and he’s got the rare combination of power and speed.”

Hampton now has 1,075 yards gained with a net of 1,067 yards, meaning he’s lost just eight yards on the season. He has 12 TDs and is averaging 6.1 yards per attempt.

“It’s a good honor and everything,” Hampton replied, when asked what it means to be a thousand-yard runner at a school that has produced many. “I just know I’ve got to keep pushing and just keep getter better and try to achieve more goals.”

The Camels had some success moving the ball for a while. They had 109 yards in the first quarter, and racked up 200 yards with 11 first downs through their first five possessions. The fifth drive ended after a missed field goal that would have made it 14-10 with 3:47 left in the half. At that point, the Camels had run 37 offensive plays to 23 for the Tar Heels.

The Camels had success running at the Heels, winning plenty of snaps at the line of scrimmage. They hit inside some coverage at times, too. But they struggled the rest of the way.

The score of this game was actually tied at 7-7 six minutes into the second quarter, and it was 14-7 with 3:47 remaining before halftime when Campbell missed a field goal that would have made it 14-10. And even though there were still things to pick at with the Tar Heels’ performance after that point, the truth it, they simply turned it on and pulled away in dominant fashion.

The Heels then allowed 25 yards over a four-possession stretch while the offense scored on eight of ten possessions, which included seven touchdowns and a field goal. The two times Carolina did not score it punted and botched a situation to close the first half.

Following the missed field goal, the Heels’ next nine possessions totaled 362 yards on 36 snaps, which is an average of 10.1 yards per play.

In addition, seven of UNC’s eight touchdowns went for double-digit yards: 10-yard pass; 54-yard run; 31-yard pass; 25-yard pass; 21-yard pass; 61-yard run; 41-yard pass.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Brown said. “They did what you’re supposed to do to a team they were better than and dominated them. Had a slow start; looked like a hangover from the last two weeks, which is what we needed to overcome, and dominated from the second quarter really through the rest of the game.”

The redshirt freshman QB entered the game having played eight snaps in two contests. He was in for seven in a rout of Syracuse last month, and played one snap at Pittsburgh when Drake Maye had to leave the game for a play.

Today, Harrell played much of the second half and showed some promising signs. He was 4-for-4 passing with 71 yards and a touchdown, which came on a 41-yard strike to Chris Culliver. Harrell also ran the ball twice for 61 yards, which includes a 61-yard TD run in which he showed off his impressive speed.

It was Campbell, and the game was out of hand by the time Harrell got onto the field, but his performance should infuse confidence, which will come in handy if he’s pressed for duty at any time in the coming weeks.

“I’m proud of Conner that he got to play in a regular offensive setting where he could make some plays and do some things,” Brown said.

One of the benefits of playing an out-manned FCS team at any time, but certainly later in the season, is that a number of young players got on the field today for the Tar Heels. Many would have played in an early season game, but staffs tend to leave in starters longer in those games because they need the reps together. But with UNC closing with Duke at home and at Clemson and at NC State, there wasn’t any need to keep them in too long.

So, 84 Tar Heels played at least one play, with several making their presence felt. Here are a few of them:

*True freshman Chris Culliver not only had his first career reception, but it was also a TD pass from Harrell that went 41 yards.

*True freshman DB Ayden Duncanson had two tackles in his first real action as a Tar Heel.

*True freshman jack Jaybron Harvey had a tackle, as did true freshman DB Tre Miller, plus true freshman LB Caleb Lavallee got some good snaps as did Amare Campbell.

“We got to play everybody from the latter part of the third quarter until the end of the game,” Brown said. Who later noted he was glad the regulars did their part to allow the reserves some snaps.