CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The North Carolina Tar Heels suffered a 17-13 loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks in front of 51,664 in attendance at Bank of America Stadium on Thursday.
The inaugural Belk Bowl Classic featured a border battle between the two teams for the second time in the last three seasons, and ended with the same result for the Tar Heels, a loss to the Gamecocks to open the season.
While South Carolina beat North Carolina 27-10 back in 2013, this year’s result almost worked to the Tar Heels’ favor.
However, even while leading 13-10 at halftime, and holding an opponent to 17 points or fewer for the first time since 2011, it was turnovers, specifically three interceptions, that denied the Tar Heels from converting the offense it needed to earn the win.
After South Carolina’s Shon Carson rushed for 48 yards to put the Gamecocks ahead with 12:45 to play in the fourth quarter, UNC quarterback Marquise Williams put together a 13-play, 80-yard drive with 8:56 to play that put his team in a position to retake the lead.
However, after Williams was sacked and with fourth and goal to go, Skai Moore’s second interception in the end zone ultimately ended the quarterback’s attempt for North Carolina to regain the lead with 3:29 to go.
The Gamecocks earned two first downs on their final possession, and never gave the Tar Heels the opportunity to get their offense back on the field for the remainder of the game.
Offensive Keys: Wide receiver Bug Howard scored North Carolina’s lone touchdown and caught a career-high six passes for a career-high 114 yards in the process – besting previous career marks of five catches and 79 yards.
Tailback Elijah Hood rushed for a career-high 138 yards on 12 carries for the Tar Heels, and almost doubled his previous career high of 76 yards.
While Howard and Hood showed promise for the UNC offense to best the Gamecocks, Williams (19-31, 232 yards, 1 TD) threw three interceptions for the first time in his college career.
Two of those picks came in the end zone and the other at the Gamecocks 17-yard line.
Place-kicker Nick Weiler converted both of his field goal attempts from 47 and 38 yards out during the first half, a positive sign considering last season he made just six field goals with his longest coming from 30 yards.
Defensive Keys: Linebacker Jeff Schoettmer and safey Donnie Miles led the Tar Heels with 12 tackles apiece.
Schoettmer fell one short of a career high of 13 tackles, while Miles bested a previous career-best of 10 takedowns.
What’s next: North Carolina will face North Carolina A&T in its home opener at Kenan Stadium on Saturday with kickoff at 6 p.m..
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