Coming into the 2020 season all the hype surrounding North Carolina was about quarterback Sam Howell and his weapons on offense.
They showed up for the No. 18 Tar Heels against Syracuse, but it took a while. But it was UNC's less-heralded defense that played solid from start to finish as the Heels defeated the Orange, 31-6, in the season opener for both teams.
Junior running back Javonte Williams scored on a 1-yard run for North Carolina on the first play of the fourth quarter to put the team up 17-7. That capped a six-play drive that saw Howell go 7 for 8 through the air. UNC's previous drive went 12 plays. The Tar Heels didn't score, but it did show that the Heels were getting into a rhythm.
Good thing the defense brought its A game. UNC's defense recorded seven sacks, 11 tackles for loss and stuffed the run game. Syracuse only averaged 2.8 yards per play, and Carolina held it out of the end zone, something it didn't do at all last season.
"I'm really proud of how everyone played out there," sophomore defensive lineman Tomari Fox said about the performance of the defense. Fox finished with two tackles for loss but credited his teammates around him for their effort as well.
"Honestly, it was everyone else around me, it just so happen to be me that was there," Fox said. "Anybody could have made those plays."
Slowly but surely the UNC offense started to pick up steam. Williams scored his second touchdown of the fourth quarter with 11:33 remaining, putting the home team in control, 24-6.
Williams finished with 57 yards rushing and three scores. It was the Carolina ground game that settled the team down, taking some pressure off Howell, who might be a Heisman finalist at season's end.
He hit tight end Garrett Walston for an 11-yard touchdown on the first drive of the game, but the Heels' offense looked pedestrian for the next two-and-a-half quarters. UNC's first drive covered 65 yards, but only picked up 50 yards total in its next three possessions. Howell also threw two interceptions, one in the first quarter, another in the third, but the Heels' defense held each time. Head coach Mack Brown felt like the quick score on the opening drive might have given his team false hope that it would be an easy day.
"We had some lapses against a new defense," Brown said. "They (the Orange) were moving all over the place, and in the second half we settled down and became the offense we wanted to be coming into the game."
In the second half, big doses of Williams and Carter got things going. Carter, UNC's top returning rusher, picked up 12 yards on two carries on a scoring drive in the third that ended in a Grayson Atkins field goal. On the next drive Carter broke for a 45-yard gain and Williams scored four plays later.
On the ensuing drive Carter caught a swing pass from Howell and picked up 12. Two plays later the duo connected for a gain of 23 to the 1 and Williams finished it up with a 6-yard score.
Williams pulled off the hat trick on the next drive, scoring again from 6-yards away.
North Carolina scored on four consecutive drives to start the second half.
"We just had to get back in our rhythm," Williams said. "Once the second half started we just came together and made plays."
Syracuse (0-1, 0-1) missed out on chances to gain momentum in the first half. Nykeim Johnson took a punt to the end zone in the first quarter, but it was called back because of a block in the back. Quarterback Tommy DeVito had a pass slip right out of the hands of a wide open receiver in the end zone in the second quarter and the Orange missed a field goal to end the second quarter.
Dazz Newsome, UNC's dynamic wide receiver, put a punt on the ground in the first half, but the Tar Heels' defense forced a punt, another missed opportunity by Syracuse.
After Howell threw his second interception of the day on UNC's first drive of the second half, the Tar Heels' defense got the ball back and that's when things started to roll. Carolina scored 21 straight in the fourth and Howell retired early, finishing with 295 yards through the air. Howell connected with eight different receivers, led by Dyami Brown, who caught six passes for 94 yards. The two turnovers aside, Howell credited the slow start to the Tar Heels getting in their own way more often than not. The mistakes that were made can be fixed, the sophomore quarterback believes.
"I think there are a lot of things we could have cleaned up," Howell said. "We were killing drives with one play, one mistake."
Carter and Williams combined for 135 rushing yards. The UNC defense held Syracuse to 68 yards on the ground. The scary part is, according to Fox, they didn't play anywhere close to their potential.
"All of us know we were not perfect today," Fox said. "If we just use that as motivation to come in everyday and give everything we got, I think our ceiling is through the roof. You can't put a cap on us. We have a lot of talented guys out there."
