Nowhere to Run
North Carolina rushed 24 times for just 70 yards. Benjamin Hall had the most yards gained at just 29 on six attempts. Gio Lopez was the leading carrier with eight carries. Demon June was blown up two yards behind the line of scrimmage on UNC's first offensive play. It only went downhill from there.
We're thousands of miles away from that first drive against TCU where Carolina ran the ball for chunks at a time, with a sprinkling of deep tosses to Jordan Shipp to keep the safeties honest, and punctuated by a tough Caleb Hood touchdown run.
At the end of the season, Hood had to medically retire, UNC can't get push at the line of scrimmage, and the running game still has not established an identity, pecking order, or functional/repeatable game plan. When Bill Belichick makes changes this offseason, he has to make progress with the offensive line and running game. The program can't improve if these two areas remain weak links.