After a dominating victory over Temple, the Tar Heels want more
North Carolina’s players and coaches partied and danced on the field after the game. They hugged each other and took pictures with fans who stayed late after the Military Bowl’s post-game ceremony.
And they couldn’t stop smiling.
“To win the first bowl game since, I think 2013, these guys will remember this for the rest of their lives,” UNC coach Mack Brown said after the game.
One year ago, the Tar Heels were a bad football team. They lost 18 games in two years and won only five games. Now, at 7-6, they are a winning program. And they ended their 2019 season in dominating fashion, a 55-13 victory over Temple.
After leading 10-6 late in the second quarter, the Tar Heels scored 31 unanswered points to put this game away.
Before Friday’s game, the Tar Heels had lost their last four bowl games. Now they start a new streak.
“Seven is not enough anymore,” said Brown, who completed the first year of his second stint with the program. “You want to go to a bowl game every year and get a streak of wins.”
For the most part, UNC’s season has been up and down. They won their first two games, before losing their next three, and continued to be hot and cold from week to week.
But they finished it strong.
UNC won its last three games — against Mercer, N.C. State and Temple — by a combined 122 points. Entering this game, players’ confidence was at an all time high. Myles Dorn said they were prepared. And he knew early on that the Tar Heels would be on their A-game Friday.
How early?
“As soon as we got off the bus,” Dorn said.
‘Felt good, coming in’
In some ways, this victory shows how good UNC can be going forward. The Tar Heels played their most complete performance on both offense and defense, against a good Temple team. Temple finished the season 8-5 and had a win over then-No. 23 Memphis.
On defense, the Tar Heels forced two turnovers, scored a defensive touchdown and gave up fewer than 300 yards.
On offense, they scored 48 points, gained 534 yards, including 238 rushing yards. They were also a perfect 7-for-7 inside the red zone.
“We felt good coming in,” Howell said after the game. “We thought we had a really good plan. We had a really good week of practice and a lot of good practices before we came here. It was just a matter of going on the field and trusting our preparation.”
The Tar Heels never trailed the Owls. They led 20-6 at halftime behind UNC freshman quarterback Sam Howell’s two touchdown passes.
The first one was a 39-yard pass on a go-route to Dyami Brown, who got a step on Temple’s cornerback. The second one was a 16-yard pass to Dazz Newsome, who caught it in the back of the end zone after Temple’s Amir Tyler deflected it.
In the third quarter, the Tar Heels scored three more touchdowns to take a 41-6 lead, which essentially sealed Temple’s fate.
In the fourth quarter, with about three minutes remaining and the game well out of reach, Brown pulled Howell and the majority of his starters. Howell skipped off the field with his hands in the air, as the crowd cheered.
“It’s like Thanksgiving,” said UNC running back Michael Carter, who finished with 84 yards on 18 carries. “I’m just thankful.”
Greater expectations
Next season will come with greater expectations.
The Tar Heels are expected to be serious contenders for the ACC’s Coastal Division title in 2020. They are expected to return the majority of their offensive starters, including Howell, and some key defensive players, like Chazz Surratt and Tomon Fox.
With Brown as the head coach, the Tar Heels have confidence they otherwise lacked in the past.
They think they can go far next season.
“I know our team can be great,” Carter said. “It’s just a matter of how bad we want it, going into next season.”
This story was originally published December 27, 2019 at 7:53 PM.
