UNC’s T.J. Logan showing his potential

North Carolina running back T.J. Logan carried the ball twice in the first quarter of Saturday’s 45-34 win against N.C. State.

Both carries went for touchdowns, one for 40 yards and the other for 42, his fourth and fifth this season.

“I ain’t gonna lie, I had some flashbacks back to high school,” Logan, a junior, said. “It felt really good to get out there and make some plays for the team.”

What he did Saturday showed his potential when he touches the ball.

On his second rushing touchdown he started out running to the left side of the field. After about 15 yards, he cut back to the right side of the field, avoiding defenders for a 40-yard score that went untouched.

“I love it when T.J. gets to break a long one and I know what kind of speed and juice that guy has,” UNC sophomore running back Elijah Hood said. “I mean I’ve been seeing it pretty much throughout my whole high school career and through college.”

But Logan hasn’t carried the ball much this season. He averages five carries a game, has 372 rushing yards this season and sits at No. 2 on the depth chart, behind the ACC’s second-leading rusher in Hood, who had a career-high 220 yards against the Wolfpack Saturday.

Seth Littrell, UNC’s offensive coordinator, said he tries to give everybody touches, but there are a lot of playmakers on the offensive side of the ball.

He said the biggest thing is being patient and making sure UNC is distributing the football in the right way.

“I’m going to spread the ball out to as many different positions as I can,” he said. “But if the run game is working, we’re going to feed the hot hand. But each and every week has been a little different.”

With Clemson up next in the ACC championship in Charlotte Saturday, UNC coach Larry Fedora said it’s possible Logan could get more carries going forward.

“Possibly. Hey, when he’s that hot and he gets at the second level and he’s making people miss, you know he can go the distance every time,” Fedora said. “So it was nice to see that happen for him.”

Fedora said Logan is one of the hardest workers in practice, and when he talked about his work ethic, he seemed to get excited. In the hallway, when the two walked past each other, Fedora smiled a wide smile at Logan and patted him on the back.

Logan smiled back.

“We keep track of their work capacity and yardage in a week with the GPS units and T.J. is always up there,” Fedora said. “His work capacity is always as high as anybody’s out there on the field.”

Hood and Logan have different running styles. Hood is more of a power back, while Logan is a speedster. The two say they play off each other.

But Logan, who finished the game with six rushes for 100 yards and the two touchdowns said he’s not bothered by the lack of carries. He said he’s fine playing his role and stepping up when the team needs him.

“If they come my way, I’m just going to make plays regardless,” Logan said. “I don’t really care if I get five or six carries, I’m just going to make the most out of them.”

This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 11:52 AM with the headline "UNC’s T.J. Logan showing his potential."