UNC Football: McCollum’s big day helps put the Gophers away
It was a coming-out party for Nate McCollum, as his career day helped lead the UNC football program to a victory over Minnesota.
Welcome to Chapel Hill, Nate McCollum!
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After being limited in his UNC football debut a week ago, McCollum, who was more active in the game plan leading up to this week, put together a career day to help the Tar Heels defeat non-conference foe Minnesota on Saturday afternoon.
Right away, Drake Maye showed that McCollum was going to be his go-to guy, as he had seven catches after one-quarter of play. He finished one reception shy of tying the program’s single-game record, as he ended the game with 15 catches for 165 yards and a score.
North Carolina got on the board right away as Maye connected with McCollum for a 46-yard score on the opening drive of the game. This put pressure on the Golden Gophers, who like to run the ball and control the time of possession.
The Tar Heels forced the Golden Gophers to go out of their usual comfort zone, as they forced two interceptions that came in some big spots.
For the second time in his college career (and for the first time in front of the home fans in Chapel Hill), Drake Maye threw for 400+ yards. However, he did make some bad decisions, as he had back-to-back drives that resulted in interceptions.
Minnesota’s defense is one of the best in the country, having allowed just 16 points over their first two games of the season. They focused on stopping the Tar Heels’ running game, forcing the passing game to beat them.
Well, North Carolina did just that.
Each game the Tar Heels have won thus far have been led by different factors.
The defense starred in the win against South Carolina.
The run game (mostly Omarion Hampton) carried the Tar Heels against Appalachian State.
The passing game (with the career day from McCollum) was the reason that the UNC football program is currently sitting at 3-0.
Although North Carolina had chances to blow this game out of the water early, they let Minnesota hang around a bit. They were able to finally pull away in the fourth quarter when British Brooks capped off a five-minute drive to seal the deal.
Non-conference play is done for the UNC football program for now, as the Tar Heels will take on Pittsburgh to kick off ACC play. The Tar Heels head into conference play with a 3-0 record, the third time that the program has started the regular season with three straight victories over the last 12 years.
Based on what we’ve seen thus far, we’ll have to wait and see which group spearheads the Tar Heels attempt at picking up victory No. 4 next weekend on the road.
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