3 things we learned from UNC football’s ‘perfect opening game’ against Florida A&M
North Carolina coach Mack Brown called his team’s 56-24 win over Florida A&M on Saturday the “perfect opening game.” The Tar Heels were pushed just enough by the Rattlers and responded by outscoring them 21-0 in the fourth quarter.
Carolina had many players in new roles beginning with redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Maye making his first start. He answered the call with five touchdown passes, becoming the first player in program history to do so in a season opener and first career start.
Led by Maye, Carolina rolled up 608 yards in total offense. It only surpassed that mark twice all of last season.
Here are three other things we learned about the Tar Heels from their season opener:
Defense already talking adjustments
It really wasn’t a bad first outing by Carolina’s defense — it allowed the Rattlers just 335 total yards including just 56 rushing yards. By comparison, last season UNC held opponents to less than 350 total yards just four times and only twice stopped them from surpassing 100 yards rushing.
But the Heels’ performance felt a bit underwhelming midway through the third quarter when FAMU pulled within 11, 35-24. With all the talk of the 25 ineligible players the Rattlers had entering the game, there was a wrong assumption made that UNC would dominate.
FAMU didn’t play like a vulnerable foe at all.
“We definitely got a lot out of this game, it was a good opponent to go against on Week 1,” UNC linebacker Cedric Gray said. “They gave us a lot of different wrinkles, a lot of stuff to learn from. Like I said, we made mistakes, we faced a little bit of adversity, but it’s good to get that early on in the season so you can see how you can adjust to it. It can only benefit us later down the line.”
Rattlers quarterback Jeremy Moussa, like Maye, was in a competition to earn the starting job and was just named the starter this week. Moussa played sparingly at Hawaii and Vanderbilt before transferring to FAMU.
Saturday night he played with poise and the Rattlers used a quick-hit passing game along with a no-huddle, tempo offense to keep Carolina a bit off balance defensively.
The Heels recorded three sacks and two takeaways, something they accomplished only three times all of last season.
“I do think that we’ve got some work to do, but the defensive staff’s never had a game together,” Brown said. “Coach (Gene) Chizik hasn’t called defenses for five years. I think we’ll all see a tremendous amount of improvement in a short time because I knew they weren’t very happy there.”
Power lives up to his name
There was no disappointment in watching linebacker Power Echols’ effort.
The sophomore from Charlotte is the first person most defensive players think of when they talk about who makes the unit go. Cornerback Storm Duck, who had his first interception since the 2019 Military Bowl, said everyone feeds off Echols in the locker room because of his upbeat demeanor and the way he flies around on the field.
“He loves to play, he never gets tired,” Brown said. “He’s like an Energizer bunny out there and he loves to hit people. I thought he made a lot of plays.”
It didn’t take long in his first career start for Echols to show everyone at Kenan Stadium why he’s earned that reputation. Echols led the team with nine solo tackles and 10 tackles overall.
“I love the game, I play with passion all over my body, like my heart is on my sleeve,” Echols said. “I just go out there and try to dominate. I work so hard at what I do. I put so much into my craft, that when I go out there and perform I’m giving everything I got.”
Hampton has arrived
Running back Omarion Hampton was not among the eight early enrollees who got a semester head start —including participating in spring practice — on their collegiate careers. That still didn’t prevent him from having a historic night against the Rattlers.
The 6-foot, 220-pound native of Clayton, who played at Cleveland High School, rushed for 101 yards and two touchdowns. He became the first UNC player since Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice in 1946 to rush for more than 100 yards in a debut.
“I don’t know much (about Justice), but that is crazy,” said Hampton, noting that he knows Justice was good enough to have a statue raised in front of the football office.
D.J. Jones started in the backfield. Hampton was the second player to record a carry. But he sure looked like a player who could move into the starting role and be the Heels’ featured back.
Brown called Hampton a “difference maker” because of his size, speed and strength. Six of Hampton’s carries were for 10 yards or more including his 25-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
“I knew he was like that from the first scrimmage we had in fall camp,” receiver Josh Downs said. “It didn’t surprise me that he was gonna come out there and play like that. He’s a freshman, but you look at his build, he looks like he’s a fifth-year senior, so that speaks for itself.”
Running back is arguably the deepest position on the team. Elijah Green came in on the final drive just to run out the clock and he popped a 46-yard run and nearly led the Heels to another score. The competition to play is what Brown is counting on to motivate his backs to stay sharp. That’s why Brown said he’s keeping an eye on how Hampton handles the success he had against FAMU.
“Tomorrow will be interesting, Tuesday’s practice will be interesting to see if he’s walking around with a little swagger or if he goes back to work,” Brown said. “We have told them that you got to produce every day if you’re going to keep the job.”
This story was originally published August 28, 2022 at 8:58 AM.