Tar Heels hold Gamecocks to three second-half points in season-opening victory

UNC rode a strong ground game, significantly improved defense and two Drake Maye touchdown passes to a 31-17 win over South Carolina.

UNC football fans waited seemingly forever for a performance like tonight’s.

The Tar Heels showed tremendous effort on both sides of the football, limited the big plays they gave up and created some of their own.

That all led to a 31-17 victory over the University of South Carolina, on Saturday night, under the bright lights of Bank of America Stadium in uptown Charlotte.

This was UNC’s first win in the series since 2019, its fourth win in 11 tries against the Gamecocks, plus its second consecutive season starting with a victory.

How did the Heels do it tonight?

They went into halftime with a slight, 17-14 advantage, then came out looking like a whole new team.

UNC was up in South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler’s grill all night, sacking him nine times and forcing him to make a plethora of bad throws. The ground game, led by British Brooks gaining 103 yards in his first game action since 2021, found the end zone twice and racked up 168 yards. Despite his two interceptions, Drake Maye enjoyed a solid showing, completing 24/32 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns.

The Tar Heels’ first score of the game came on the first of Omarion Hampton’s two, goal-line touchdown runs just over five minutes into the game, then the last score came on John Copenhaver’s SportsCenter Top 10-worthy TD reception with six minutes remaining in the third quarter.

If there was one glaring takeaway from tonight’s win, it was undoubtedly the defense – for several reasons.

The Heels’ nine sacks was more than half their 2022 total – 17. Kaimon Rucker and Amari Gainer, the Florida State transfer, led the way with two apiece.

UNC’s defense held the Gamecocks to three – yes, you read that correctly – three second-half points. This was even with Spencer Rattler, the 2021 Preseason Heisman Trophy favorite at Oklahoma, under center.

In comparison – the 2022 Tar Heel defense allowed the sixth-most yards in the entire FBS.

Next up for UNC is its Kenan Stadium opener, as it hosts App State on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 5:15 p.m. This is a rematch of last year’s historic Labor Day weekend matchup, when the Heels and Mountaineers combined for 62 fourth-quarter points.

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