The bye week didn’t slow down the North Carolina Tar Heels offense as they cruised past Syracuse 40-7 on Saturday to move to 5-0 on the season.
The Tar Heels were able to grab control of the game in the first half and never really look back. After they were held to a field goal on the opening drive, Maye led the Tar Heels to three touchdown drives, racking up 280 passing yards in the first half en route to a 27-20 lead.
UNC as a team had 424 total yards in the first half and dominated time of possession 20:39 to 9:21.
As Maye and the offense rolled in the first half, North Carolina’s defense really put the clamps down on the Syracuse offense. The Orange had no answer for the Tar Heels’ defense at all as they converted on just one of five third downs in that first half.
They were also held to 70 total yards by the Tar Heels’ defense.
The second half was much of the same despite Syracuse scoring on their opening drive to make it 27-7. That’s the closest the Orange would get the rest of the way with the Tar Heels being in control for the full 60 minutes.
UNC put the stamp on the win when Drake Maye hit Kobe Paysour for a 77-yard touchdown. That made the game 37-7 and was sandwiched by two more Noah Burnette field goals.
Maye hit the 400-yard passing mark for the third time in his career, finishing with 442 yards and 3 touchdowns on the day. Omarion Hampton led the way rushing with 15 carries for 78 yards. Maye added 55 yards.
Nate McCollum (135 yards) and Paysour (100 yards) both went over 100 receiving yards for the game while Tez Walker had six receptions for 43 yards in his debut.
UNC will now host a ranked and unbeaten Miami team next Saturday in Chapel Hill.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.