CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (PSF)—UNC Football advances to 5-0 for the first time in 26 years and moves up to #12 in the rankings after beating Syracuse 7-40 Saturday at Kenan Stadium.

Kenan was filled Saturday afternoon with fans electric about this home ACC matchup. The Tar Heels were coming off their bye week and Syracuse was coming off their first loss of the season against Clemson.

The stadium was electric, especially because two days prior the NCAA announced that Tez Walker was now eligible to play. Tez is a transfer wide receiver from Kent State who was originally deemed ineligible by the NCAA because he had transferred twice, even though he did not play at his first university. After almost two months of appealing his eligibility to the NCAA, they finally granted it to him.

Scoring Summary:

UNC received the opening kickoff and scored a 29-yard field goal to start the game with points on the board. They then went and scored on every possession in the first half.  

On their second possession, UNC was fourth and three and had to punt, but the punt was blocked and recovered by punter Ben Kiernan who ran for the first down. The offense came back out and quarterback Drake Maye had a one-yard touchdown run.

After a quick three-and-out for Syracuse, the offense was back on the field where Maye connected with tight end Bryson Nesbit for a 23-yard touchdown.

A few minutes later, Maye threw a 48-yard bomb to his favorite target, Nate McCollum, which set up tight end John Copenhaver’s 1-yard touchdown reception.

With seven seconds left in the first half, UNC scored a 24-yard field goal to make the score 0-27 going into the locker room.

Syracuse received the second-half kickoff and running back LeQuint Allen rushed for a one-yard touchdown. This would be the first and only time Syracuse would score in this game.

UNC answered by scoring a 36-yard field goal after a huge 32-yard catch by McCollum.

After forcing Syracuse to punt, Maye threw to wide receiver Kobe Paysour who juggled the catch and then ran it in for a 77-yard touchdown.

Syracuse had the ball for less than a minute before defensive back Alijah Huzzie intercepted Syracuse quarterback Garrett Shrader on the Syracuse 36. Unfortunately, UNC did not capitalize on this turnover as Maye fumbled and Syracuse recovered it.

Syracuse did not take advantage of the fumble and punted yet again. UNC then went on to score a 31-yard field goal to make the score 7-40.

Maye was taken out of the game with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter. Maye finished the day with 442 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, 55 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. He had 497 yards total, which puts him fourth for the most total yards in school history.

Syracuse followed suit and put in their backups for the remainder of the game. Syracuse backup quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson was intercepted by UNC freshman linebacker Amare Campbell- his first college interception- for the last “real” play of the game.

Key Takeaways:

Maye displayed that he is a top tier quarterback in the NCAA and that he should continue being in the conversation for the Heisman.

Maye also utilized many of his players today. It was nice to see guys who are not usually targeted make good plays and show that UNC’s offense is “well-rounded.” They also utilized a faster tempo for this game, going no-huddle for many of the plays, which allowed them to exploit Syracuse’s defense more.

Tez Walker came into the game toward the end of the first quarter. He finished the day with six receptions for 43 yards. He said he “just felt blessed to be out there” after everything. UNC Football Head Coach Mack Brown said he “wanted to work him [Tez] in” so that he did not feel “overwhelmed” especially because of all the emotion around his story.

UNC has a passing offensive style, but the run game was fantastic this game where they rushed for 202 yards. Sophomore Omarion Hampton is UNC’s number one rusher, and he finished with 15 carries for 78 yards against Syracuse.

UNC’s defense shut down the strong offense of Syracuse and held them to only 92 yards rushing and 129 yards passing. With this, they also held them to only 11 first downs, which is three times less than the number of first downs UNC had. The two turnovers were also significant in this game.

Would also like to highlight UNC’s kicker, Noah Burnette, who was 4/4 for field goals and 4/4 for extra points.

Looking Forward:

UNC stays undefeated and moved from #14 to #12 in the rankings going into Week 7.

UNC will play #25 Miami, who is coming off a heartbreaking loss to Georgia Tech, at home Saturday night. UNC needs to stay focused and not get cocky, especially since Miami might be coming into this game with vengeance.