A week after struggling to get into a consistent offensive rhythm, the North Carolina Tar Heels showcased their typically-explosive offensive during Saturday’s home football opener against Charlotte.
UNC went scoreless on its first drive of the game, then scored on three consecutive possessions and took a 21-6 lead into halftime. North Carolina starting quarterback Conner Harrell found tight end Bryson Nesbit for his first of three touchdowns, Nate McCollum scored on a 37-yard end-around, then Harrell ran in a score from four yards out.
It was the Tar Heels’ first scoring drive of the second half, though, that turned heads everywhere in Kenan Stadium.
Just 4:06 into the third quarter, UNC pulled off a double-reverse in which Harrell ended up with the ball. Harrell launched the ball downfield and found redshirt freshman Christian Hamilton, who then danced his way around the defense and into the end zone, for a 58-yard touchdown.
This play had North Carolina head coach Mack Brown buzzing in particular.
“That play, I thought it was going to blow up because when the corner came, I thought he hit us in the backfield, Brown told media after the game. “And Conner was poised, they were all poised and pitched it back to him. Conner made a great throw and again, it’s really hard to catch a ball when you’re not sure where everybody around you is located. They can all hit you and Christian was focused. Usually, people drop that ball. And then he was cool enough to step around. John Copenhaver was smart enough not to block in the back and we scored. I thought that pretty much ended the game because they (Charlotte) weren’t going to score many points.”
https://twitter.com/UNCFootball/status/1832536969483841944
Hamilton’s quarterback, Conner Harrell, was also happy his redshirt freshman receiver scored his first career touchdown. Harrell was also honest about the play, saying he wasn’t initially aiming for Hamilton.
“The play was really for the tight end, I didn’t want to miss the guy so I looked at the tight end first, that’s why I was a little late,” Harrell said. “But I got it to him (Christian Hamilton), thank god it was floating up there for a little while. It felt like an eternity, but got it to him and he got his first touchdown.”
Will we see the Tar Heels craft additional trick plays in next week’s home clash with NC Central?
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