UNC Football program takes care of business in home opener against Charlotte

Takin care of business.

That's exactly what Mack Brown and the UNC football program did on Saturday afternoon in Chapel Hill.

In front of the home crowd for the first time during the 2024 season, the Tar Heels put together a strong effort to defeat the visiting Charlotte 49ers by double-digits.

Both teams dealt with various injuries throughout, which became a major storyline in this contest. Charlotte's starting quarterback Max Brown was forced to leave the game due to what appears to be a right thumb injury, while the Tar Heels played the entire second half without tight end Bryson Nesbit (upper-body injury) and Omarion Hampton (who was available to return but was held out due to precaution).

Although injuries are never ideal, it provided some of the Tar Heels younger players the opportunity to make an impact, and they sure did.

In his first regular season start, Conner Harrell did some really good things both as a passer and a runner. He completed 16 of 25 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns through the air while adding 39 yards and an additional score on the ground.

With Hampton sidelined, freshman Davion Gause had the opportunity to make a statement, showing why the Tar Heels coaching staff has spoken so highly of him leading up to the start of the 2024 season. He scored his first collegiate touchdown and recorded his first 100+ yard rushing performance, showing that he might just very well be the future running back for the program once Hampton departs for the NFL.

North Carolina got creative offensively and benefited from it. Christian Hamilton scored his first career touchdown on a trick play double-reverse, while Nate McCollum added a 37-yard score on another reverse type of play.

Sure, it wasn't perfect by any means. There are certainly things to clean up and it's definite that the UNC football program will look to improve in various areas. However, when you look at this game as a whole, you have to be encouraged with how the offense can beat opposing defenses in various ways while the defensive unit bent but didn't necessarily break throughout (thanks in large part to some timely stops in the red zone).

As they say, a win is a win. That was the goal coming into this one, and the UNC football program was able to do just that.

Not only did they win the game, but put together a strong performance in front of the home crowd. The hope now is that they continue to build on this moving forward.