Carolina Conquers Doak Campbell!

The North Carolina Tar Heels (5-4, 2-3 ACC), donning their ’90s road throwbacks for the second successful game in a row, left Tallahassee with grins on their faces Saturday evening after a resounding 35-11 victory over the dismal Florida State Seminoles (1-8, 1-7 ACC). Carolina controlled and won every phase of the game, dramatically outgaining FSU on the ground and through the air to the tune of 500 all-purpose yards vs. a meager 201 for the Seminoles. Yardage aside, the magnitude of UNC’s dominance was perhaps most readily illustrated by the Tar Heels’ ability to get off the field on 3rd down. FSU permitted Criswell, Hampton, & co. to move the chains on 11 of 16 3rd down plays, while Carolina’s defense let the Noles convert only twice on 10 attempts. UNC’s offensive and defensive lines covered themselves with glory once again. Not only was the UNC rushing game a thing of beauty, but Jacolby Criswell was sacked just once, while Carolina got to both Seminole signal callers a total of seven times and frustrated an FSU offense which got to make use of the ball for merely one third of the game (time of possession: UNC 39:43 – FSU 20:17).

Saturday represented a continuation of really sound team football by the Heels, but it was also a grand day for individual achievements. RB Omarion Hampton was expected to have a solid stat line against a struggling FSU rush defense. Hampton, however, decided that good wasn’t good enough and proceeded to score all five of UNC’s touchdowns while passing the great Natrone Means (present – and delighted – on the UNC sideline as an offensive analyst) on the program’s career rushing list. Hampton’s final line was masterful: 32 carries for 172 yards (5.4 YPC), 4 rushing touchdowns, with 3 catches for 93 yards (mostly after the catch and much after contact) and 1 passing touchdown. QB Jacolby Criswell, whose skills as a passer were sparingly called upon after halftime, had an efficient day with zero turnovers: 13/17, 211 yards, and one touchdown. When he did have to make key decisions in the pocket to keep drives alive, he chose wisely. Five of his 13 completions came on 3rd down passes during the first half, all of which were crucial to giving UNC an 11-point halftime advantage. On the other side of the ball, DL Beau Atkinson had himself a game by racking up 3.5 sacks and 4.5 tackles-for-loss. Atkinson wasn’t alone in causing anguish for the FSU offense, however, as Amare Campbell, Kaimon Rucker, Jahvaree Ritzie, Power Echols, Des Evans, & Kevin Hester all contributed to putting Seminoles on the ground in the backfield during the course of the afternoon. Rucker’s two half-sacks brought the graduate pass rusher to a career sack total of 21, tying Tar Heel legend Lawrence Taylor – the greatest defensive football player of all time – for sixth all-time in sacks at UNC. In other news, Mack Brown finally got over the hump many said he would never clear: for the first time in his 36 years as a head coach, he defeated his alma mater.

Quarter-by-Quarter

Carolina kicked off to Florida State at 3:35 pm and the Noles began their first drive with QB Brock Glenn under center. That drive would conclude as a three-and-out with a dangerous near-interception on 3rd down. The inaugural Tar Heel drive began from the UNC 24 and, after a few short gains on the ground by Hampton and Criswell, was also a three-and-out punt. FSU would strike first. On the Seminoles’ second drive of the day, RB Lawrance Toafili picked up two yards before Glenn and WR Hykeem Williams connected downfield for a 33-yard gain. Had it not been for Alijah Huzzie closing for the tackle at the UNC 39, Williams would have made it all the way to the end zone. Adequately chastened by this explosive play, the Carolina defense locked in and three plays later Florida State’s K Ryan Fitzgerald attempted and hit a 56-yard field goal from the Tar Heel 38. Carolina’s next drive began on a brilliant 49-yard punt return by WR Nate McCollum to midfield. From there, offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey decided to call for a deep shot which ultimately fell incomplete. Hampton rumbled to the FSU 44 on 2nd down and would have converted 3rd on a short pass from Criswell had it not been for an ineligible man downfield penalty on RT Treyvon Green. Backed up a bit for 3rd & 9, Criswell found WR Kobe Paysour for a 24-yard gain to make it 1st down at the FSU 26. Criswell converted yet another 1st down on the next play, completing a pass to TE John Copenhaver for 16 yards. It was 1st & goal from the FSU 10, and over the next three plays Carolina managed to get to the FSU 1. On 4th down, Coach Brown decided, sensibly enough, that it if Hampton was given the ball, he’d probably bulldoze his way in and score. The Florida State defense had other plans, however, and stoutly plugged the gap in front of Hampton to take over on downs. Subsequently, the Seminole offense got out from the shadow of their own goalposts on a defensive pass interference penalty, but after a sack had to punt on 4th & 18 from the 11. Carolina began their next effort at their own 46, courtesy of an 8-yard Alijah Huzzie return, but C Austin Blaske would be flagged for a hold on the next play to make it 1st & 20 from the 36. From there, Criswell hit Hampton for a short gain, then a shot downfield to McCollum was broken up on 2nd down. On 3rd & 14, the Tar Heel signal caller found Hampton, who promptly stiff-armed a defender and dashed to the FSU 20 for a 38-yard gain. Three plays later, the first quarter would end on a 14-yard reception by Copenhaver to make it 1st & goal from the FSU 6. Q1: FSU 3, UNC 0

The second quarter commenced, predictably, with the ball in Hampton’s hands, and over two downs he picked up five yards to give Carolina 3rd down from the FSU 1. A QB keeper was stuffed by the Florida State defense, but they were offside and when the down was replayed, Hampton had the honor of plowing into the end zone for the Heels’ first points – and a lead they would never relinquish. FSU’s next drive would be led by backup true freshman QB Luke Kromenhoek, who has been getting his turn in several recent games to try to spark the Seminole offense. On 3rd & 8, he demonstrated why by rushing for 13 yards to pick up 1st down – one of only two 3rd downs the Noles would convert all day. Toafili gained 12 yards rushing on the next play before the drive stalled out around midfield on a Hester sack and a downfield incompletion that sailed wildly out-of-bounds. The Tar Heels began the following drive, a drive that would last 8:11, from their own 7. After short gains by Hampton, Criswell made FSU pay on 3rd & 4 with a 10-yard completion to WR Christian Hamilton, whose turn it was to wear and honor Tylee Craft’s no. 13 jersey. Hampton, Copenhaver, backup RB Davion Gause, and WR Paul Billups combined to help get the Tar Heels to the 46, before a 17-yard pass to Paysour put them back in Seminole territory. Hampton broke another 15-yard rush before Paysour came up with an 18-yard reception to put Carolina on the FSU 5. From there, it was a predictable couple handoffs to Hampton, who scored his second touchdown to give the Heels the 14-3 lead that they would take to the locker room. FSU, led again by Kromenhoek, was derailed by a pair of Atkinson sacks and punted after less than a minute with the ball. Carolina got it back with 0:50 on the clock at their own 42 and – after Criswell was taken down by DL Darrell Jackson Jr. for FSU’s lone sack of the game – drove to the FSU 37 to setup for a field goal. K Noah Burnette missed the 54-yard attempt wide right and the Tar Heels retained an 11-point lead at the break. Q2: UNC 14, FSU 0 (UNC leads 14-3)

Carolina began the second half running the ball, as Hampton and Criswell traded rush attempts for a 1st down. Gause, in to spell Hampton, broke an 18-yard carry for a 1st down at the FSU 45. From there, TE Jake Johnson, brother of injured QB Max Johnson, took a Criswell pass 14 yards to set up 1st down at the 31. On the very next play, Hampton carried and barreled the rest of the way for a touchdown. Another FSU drive was unceremoniously dispatched with a sack on 3rd down, but Carolina had no better luck on the drive which followed. After these dueling three-and-outs, Florida State put Brock Glenn back into the game and he paid dividends right away. On 1st down from the FSU 15, Glenn found WR Malik Benson for a 50-yard gain. From the Carolina 35, FSU ran the ball three times all to end up with 4th & 3 from the 28. Head coach Mike Norvell decided that with the scoreboard reading 21-3 in favor of the Tar Heels, a field goal wasn’t going to cut it. On that 4th down play, Glenn hit FSU WR Ja’Khi Douglas, who beat his man one-on-one to reel in a touchdown catch in the left corner of the end zone. The Noles went for two and RB Lawayne McCoy punched it in to cut UNC’s lead to ten. On the very next play from scrimmage, Carolina answered with an explosive gain. Hampton rushed 43 yards to the FSU 32 and was brought down with a horse collar tackle which added a free 15 to his sterling effort. From the FSU 17, it was Hampton again. And then it was Hampton again. And again. And again. And again. All tolled, six Hampton rushes brought Carolina back to where they’d been on their second drive of the game: 4th & goal at the FSU 1. This time, Hampton would not be denied. His seventh touch on as many plays was as predictable as it was unstoppable and the Heels went up 28-11. Brock Glenn and the trailing Noles advanced the ball on FSU’s subsequent drive to the 50 as the third quarter came to a close. Q3: UNC 14, FSU 8 (UNC leads 28-11)

Glenn bookended an Amare Campbell sack with two incompletions to bring up 4th & 11 at the FSU 49, from which another incompletion returned the ball to Carolina. With nearly 14 minutes to play, the Heels demonstrated the killer instinct that they seemed to miss in the first two months of the season. FSU DL Marvin Jones Jr. took Hampton down for a 2-yard loss which Hampton gained right back on 2nd down. On 3rd & 10 from the FSU 49, Criswell was pressured and dumped the ball to Hampton with a nifty shuttle pass. The Tar Heel running back evaded multiple defenders who never quite got the angle they were looking for and scored a highlight reel 49-yard touchdown – his, and the Heels’, fifth of the day. Down 35-11, Luke Kromenhoek was back under center for FSU. Unfortunately for him, the Seminole offense was returned to the bench faster than you can say, “Tallahassee,” by Carolina junior S Will Hardy, who intercepted an attempt to stretch the field on 2nd down. The Heels then burned four minutes and moved the ball up to their own 46 on a series of Hampton and Gause runs before punting back to FSU for the final Seminole drive of the game. Florida State found a whiff of success as Kromenhoek connected with Toafili for a 32-yard gain on 1st down and then with WR Elijah Moore for four yards to make it 2nd & 6 at the Carolina 46. From there, Kromenhoek was picked off again while trying to engineer a big play – this time by Huzzie at the UNC 15. QB Conner Harrell took the field for the last 6:28 of the game and – with the help of Gause and RBs Darwin Barlow and Charleston French – succeeded in salting the game away on nine consecutive rush attempts, including a 16-yard gain by Harrell himself. Q4: UNC 7, FSU 0 (UNC wins 35-11)

The Bottom Line

Saturday’s win marks Carolina’s first week with an above-.500 record since the end of September. It also puts the Heels one win away from bowl eligibility. The upcoming schedule – home against Wake Forest (4-4, 2-2 ACC), at Boston College (4-4, 1-3 ACC), and home against NC State (5-4, 2-3 ACC) – is as attractive as it is dangerous, but the Heels need just one in order to earn a game in December. As of now, Carolina is on pace to do better than that. Coming off the first bye week, the team is as healthy as any Tar Heel football team has been in a while. Moreover, they’ve played a more physical style on both sides of the ball than Carolina fans and coaches are used to witnessing, have protected the football, and have won with contributions up-and-down the roster. Ugly though their 2024 resume is when taken as a whole, the Tar Heels are not a team opponents should want to play in the final month of the season.

While it was jubilation and quiet competence from their counterparts in Carolina blue, the Florida State Seminoles perpetuated their shambles of a season for one more week. Let’s get the good news out of the way: the Noles made a few big plays, Brock Glenn had an okay line considering the number of drives he was given (6/11, 123 yards, 1 TD), and the defense made one very impressive goal line stand early in the game. The bad is more interesting and more extensive: seven sacks against, 42 team rushing yards on 28 attempts, getting outgained by 299 yards, losing the turnover battle 2-0, and being destroyed in time-of-possession. It was an ugly day, but the big picture is uglier. FSU’s final conference record, 1-7, is the program’s worst ever and they have one plausible win remaining on their schedule: a home date with the 1-8 FCS Charleston Southern Buccaneers. Even if they could manage to upset Notre Dame or rival Florida, it would be lipstick on a pig… cold comfort to the Seminole faithful as they watch unbeaten in-state rival Miami reign alone atop the ACC. What’s worse is there’s little reason to believe that next year will be back to normal. Since the start of the season, FSU has seen all three of its 2025 WR commits renege on their commitments, with a further two four-star recruits seeking scholarships elsewhere. The Noles still have a top-fifty class (as of this writing) and will likely backfill many positions via the transfer portal, as has become customary under the Norvell administration. Still, one wonders how much room a Florida State head coach has for error after going from 13-1 and an Orange Bowl to a likely 2-10 and national embarrassment. The portal giveth and the portal taketh away.

Up Next

UNC gets its second bye week of the season next weekend before playing the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Chapel Hill on November 16th, while Florida State travels to South Bend, Indiana to face the top ten Notre Dame Fighting Irish on November 9th.