CHAPEL HILL – A pair of four-game losing streaks are now saddled on North Carolina’s lap after the Tar Heels lost at home to Georgia Tech, 41-34, on Saturday afternoon at Kenan Stadium.
For a UNC team that started the season 3-0, it was its fourth straight loss and it was Carolina’s fourth consecutive loss to the Yellow Jackets. And, like the last two, this game came down to the final possession.
The Tar Heels fell to 3-4 overall and 0-3 in the ACC while the Yellow Jackets improved to 5-2 and 3-2. UNC is one of three ACC teams that are winless in the league, joining NC State and California, both of which are also 0-3.
As we do following every contest, we take you inside the game from UNC’s loss to Georgia Tech:
Note: We appreciate readers’ patience for a delay in this content. We made an editorial decision Saturday to not post any game-related content from football or the basketball scrimmage until Sunday out of respect for the passing of Tylee Craft.
*The Tar Heels allowed Georgia Tech 116 rushing yards in the fourth quarter bringing then total over the last two years to 362 yards on the ground for the Yellow Jackets in the fourth quarter of last year’s game combined with Saturday.
*Staying on that, Tech has run for 617 yards in the last five quarters against the Tar Heels.
*GT had ten runs that went for 10 or more yards: 37; 68; 14; 20; 12; 14; 11; 28; 14; and 10. Plus, Tech had eight other runs between 7 and 9 yards. So, that’s 18 rushing plays that gained at least 7 yards, and the average on those 18 attempts was 15.6 yards per attempt.
*In addition, UNC has now faced three running QBs, including Alonza Barnett from JMU and Eli Holstein from Pitt, and they have combined to run the ball 34 times for 282 yards (8.3 average) and five touchdowns.
---This includes only 2 sacks for 11 lost yards, both of which came against JMU.
*Carolina registered no sacks against GT for the second consecutive week.
*UNC’s special teams had as good a 1:37 stretch as one will find, as in the third quarter, Noah Burnette drilled a 50-yard field goal, and after the defense forced a quick three-and-out, the Heels almost blocked the Tech punt. No worries, as Alijah Huzzie returned it 69 yards for a touchdown. The PAT turned helped turn what was a 27-14 game with less than three minutes remaining in the third quarter to a 27-24 game with 1:10 left in the period.
*That was Huzzie’s second punt return for a score as a Tar Heel.
*Omarion Hampton reached the 100-yard mark once again, banging, bruising, and darting his way to 137 yards on only 18 attempts, his second fewest of the season. He ran it just 11 times in a win over Charlotte after missing the second half with an injury. He ran the ball 19 times in the 70-50 loss to JMU, but that the Tar Heels trailed by 36 points in the third quarter meant they essentially abandoned the run game at that point in an attempt to come back.
---Crazy stat, but eight of Hampton’s runs gained one or no yards.
---Of course, 71 yards came on one run in the second quarter.
*The increased use of Jacolby Criswell’s legs Saturday was a good move by UNC OC Chip Lindsey. Criswell ran for 73 yards on 13 attempts, and this include three sacks for minus-21 yards. So, removing the sacks, Criswell ran 10 times for 94 yards and two touchdowns. Some of his chunk runs: 7; 15; 9; 9; 20; and 11.
*Criswell stayed the course with his completion percentage, as he was 17-for-31 (55%) with 209 yards and a TD. For the season, he is now 81-for-142 (57%) with 1,098 yards, 7 TDs, and 3 INTs.
*Two signs that the coaching staff has not lost the players, as some have suggested: The Heels got off to a quality start. It was 7-7 after one quarter and Carolina led in total yards 135-73 and in first downs 7-4.
---The other example is that the Heels trailed by 13 points in the third quarter before cutting the margin to three and then by 10 points in the fourth quarter only to tie the game with less than a minute remaining.
*Carolina was flagged just three times Saturday, and in the last two games has only eight penalties. This came after a two-game span in which the Tar Heels were flagged 27 times.
*The Tar Heels finally scored a fourth-quarter touchdown against a P4 team, but it took a lot of work. They had a 1st-and-goal at the GT 1-yard-line more than midway through the final period but could not punch it in on the first three attempts before Criswell just crossing the goal line on 4th-and-1. This was significant because up to that snap, UNC went a span of 93:36 in the fourth quarters against P4 teams without scoring a TD.
---The last fourth-quarter TD against a P4 before that was with 7:03 remaining in a loss at Clemson last November. The only points for the Heels in that span were two field goals at Minnesota.
