UNC Football: Tar Heels survive on the road vs. Boston College

The UNC Football program survives a road score on Saturday, holding off Boston College to move to 2-0 on the early season

Whew. Deep breaths. It wasn’t pretty but the UNC Football program will take it as they moved to 2-0 on the year with a 26-22 road win at Chestnut Hill over Boston College.

After the Tar Heels jumped out to a 14-3 lead early thanks to a touchdown pass from Sam Howell to Khafre Brown and then a Javonte Williams run, things got sloppy and way too close for comfort for UNC fans. Boston College hung around and almost stole one on Saturday afternoon.

The Eagles would go on to score 10-straight points after Howell was intercepted at his own 5-yard line in the second quarter. It was one of the bigger mistakes by UNC on the day coming after Michael Carter didn’t catch the fair catch and pinned the Tar Heels deep in their own territory. The Eagles capitalized and cut the lead down to 14-13.

After UNC added another touchdown as Howell connected with Williams for a 41-yard touchdown, the Eagles would once again respond with a field goal with no time left in the first half as the Tar Heels took a 21-16 lead into halftime.

But the second half would be a big one in terms of missed opportunities.

Boston College hung with the Tar Heels and even had a chance to tie the game near the end as UNC played a very sloppy second half. The lone points in the third quarter came from Grayson Atkins as he connected on 35-yard field goal to give UNC a 24-16 lead. But the Eagles kept fighting and a slew of penalties ended some promising UNC drives in the fourth quarter as they had the chance to put it away.

The Eagles marched down the field late, scoring a touchdown on a 15-play, 69-yard drive that took up 5:01 off the clock late in the fourth as C.J. Lewis caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Phil Jurkovec. But on the ensuing two-point conversion, UNC defensive back Trey Morrison picked it off and returned it for a two-point conversion. The Tar Heels would seal the game as Chazz Surratt recovered the onside kick.

While it was a win, it was a sloppy one for the Tar Heels.

After that first quarter, their offense was completely out of sync and let the Eagles hang around for way too long. UNC couldn’t capitalize on promising drives in the second half with more than one chance to essentially put it away up by eight. Instead, they would go away from the run and/or commit crucial penalties.

UNC had 10 penalties accepted for 96 yards including a few big ones on the offensive line during the game. Boston College finished with 12 penalties for 110 total yards.

Howell went 14 of 26 for 225 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception on the game but really struggled to get into a rhythm in that second half. Michael Carter led the way on the ground with 121 yards on 16 carries while Williams had 57 yards on 11 carries.

Next up?

The Tar Heels return to action next week in Chapel Hill as they host Virginia Tech. This will be the first game back in Chapel Hill with fans allowed inside the stadium. Kenan will hold 7 percent capacity for the game.

The Hokies are 2-0 on the year after beating Duke on Saturday. Virginia Tech will enter the game with a 4-game win streak over the Tar Heels including an overtime thriller in 2019.

For more on the UNC Football program, please check back with Keeping It Heel.