Youth Movement Leads UNC Football Past Charlotte in Home Opener

For head coach Mack Brown and the Tar Heels, the kids are all right.

Carolina defeated visiting Charlotte 38-20 at Kenan Stadium in UNC’s 2024 home opener on Saturday afternoon. It was also the first career home start for redshirt sophomore quarterback Conner Harrell, who threw two touchdowns and rushed for another.

“I want to congratulate our team, and thank our fans and our students,” Brown said afterward. “Our students are so unbelievable. A lot of people came to say ‘thank you’ for last week’s hard-fought win on the road against Minnesota.”

One of Harrell’s touchdown passes came on a trick play to Christian Hamilton, who reeled in a 58-yard pass and bowled his way into the end zone. It was the first collegiate touchdown for Hamilton, a true freshman receiver from Harrisburg, N.C., and Carolina’s longest play of the day.

“I was a little late [on the throw],” Harrell said of the play after the game. “But I got it to him, thank God. It was floating up there for a while. It felt like eternity. But I got it to him and [Hamilton] got his first touchdown.”

“I thought it was never gonna come down,” Brown said. “And poor old Christian Hamilton waiting on it forever. And that’s hard to catch a ball that wide open.”

True freshman running back Davion Gause joined in the fun in the second half. Gause filled in for starter Omarion Hampton, who left the game after just 11 carries and did not return (Hampton was available for the second half but did not play). Gause finished the day with team highs in carries (16), yards (105, more rushing yards than the entire 49er team) and scored his first career collegiate touchdown late in the game. As a team, the Tar Heels rushed 45 times for 269 yards.

“He is really cool. He’s mature. He’s tough,” Brown said of Gause. “He is not emotional at all. We’ve seen that in the spring. We see it every day in practice. When you put him in a situation, he looks like an older player.”

Carolina dealt with multiple injuries before and during the game. Running back Darwin Barlow and defensive end Kaimon Rucker both didn’t dress, and the program said Rucker will undergo a procedure which will keep him out for at least “a couple weeks.” According to Brown, the injury occurred during a weight room session on Thursday.

During the game, offensive lineman Austin Blaske left with a lower-body injury and did not return, while tight end Bryson Nesbit missed the second half with an upper-body injury. Brown expressed confidence all of the injured Tar Heels would return in little or no time.

“It was good that we were forced to play without three of our best players,” the head coach said. “That’s just kind of the day it was.”

Carolina is now 2-0 on the young season. The Tar Heels will be back in action when they host North Carolina Central at Kenan Stadium next Saturday at 6 p.m.

 

Featured image via UNC Football on Twitter

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