UNC overcomes a rough start and gets a huge day from Mitch Trubisky on the way to a 41-14 win over Delaware.
"This is some 2014 Carolina football"
THB contributor Paul Kushner in the early moments of UNC's 41-14 win over Delaware which saw the Tar Heels struggle mightily to stop the Blue Hen rushing offense. Delaware bolted from the gate with a 72-yard touchdown run to set the tone for what would be a rough day for the Tar Heel run defense. UNC answered quickly with Marquise Williams bullying his way into the end zone on an 18 yard run to tie the game at 7-7.
For the remainder of the half the game reflected the ugly and messy weather. Nick Weiler's first miss of the season game on a 34 yard field goal attempt in the first quarter but Tar Heel kicker would connect from 46 and 26 yards to stake UNC to a 13-7 lead at the half. Despite not finding the end zone Delaware continued to gash the Tar Heel defense. On the offensive side a less than sharp passing effort by Williams led to the insertion of Mitch Trubisky into the game for the final series of the half. Trubisky went 5-7 for 68 yards as the drive ended with a Weiler field goal.
The second half opened with Trubisky still in charge of the offense. The junior QB botched the read option handoff with Hood and fumbled the ball to set Delaware up at midfield. The defense delivered a stop and in the second series of the half it became clear Williams had been benched in favor of Trubisky. An efficient drive by the Tar Heels ended with a 33 yard pass from Trubisky to Mack Hollins for a 33 yard touchdown and 20-7 lead early in the second half.
Delaware responded with a 13 play, 6:55 drive to draw back within six. Again the Blue Hens gashed the Tar Heel defense then punched it from the UNC 1 on 4th and goal to make it 20-14. With UNC feeling some game pressure, UNC responded with Trubisky again finding Hollins, this time for a 64-yard touchdown strike to push the lead back to 13 points.
After a defensive stop, UNC put together another efficient drive with Trubisky at the helm This time Trubisky showed off his ability as a rusher with runs of 11 and 17 yards. On 2nd and 8 from the Delaware 10, Trubisky pulled the handoff back out of the read option then zipped the ball to Bug Howard at the goal line to put the Tar Heels up 34-14.
UNC wasn't done with the big plays yet. Following another defensive stop, Trubisky tossed a short pass to Ryan Switzer who made one man miss, broke a tackle then found daylight for a 63-yard touchdown to conclude the scoring for the contest.
On the day, Trubisky was 17-20 for 312 yards and four touchdowns in relief of Williams. Williams did have a rushing touchdown on 31 yards on the ground. Hood led all rushers with 61 yards on 14 carries. Hollins had 100 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Quinshad Davis had 83 yards receiving, Switzer had 89 yards and a touchdown while Bug Howard also hauled in a touchdown pass.
The defense ended up giving up 279 yards rushing to the tune of 5.7 yards per carry. That, coupled with an Georgia Tech team coming off a loss and the game being played in Atlanta, could make next week very, very ugly.
