Bonne, NC – North Carolina Tar Heels enter Kidd Brewer Stadium the home of the Appalachian State Mountaineers on Saturday afternoon. The Mountaineers’ fans created a hostile territory, and the atmosphere was incredible throughout this football game. On September 3, 2022, Bone, NC set a record for 40,000+ fans and the previous record was 35,125 fans when the Mountaineers play Wake Forest in 2017. North Carolina Tar Heels defeated Appalachian State Mountaineers by the score of 63 to 61 yesterday. You like offense this game was for you.
You usually make signific approvement from week one to week two on the defensive side of the ball. This wasn’t the case for Tar Heels and Mountaineers in yesterday’s game. The Tar Heels and Mountaineers’ defense combine to give up a total of 1,216 yards from rushing and passing in this game. North Carolina Tar Heels Defensive Coordinator Gene Chizik needs to go back to the drawing board.
In today’s game teams’ offense shows up to play this ball game. The Tar Heels Offense once again was led by Drake Maye. The freshman Quarter Drake Maye was 24 completions on 35 attempts for 352 yards with an average of 10.1 yards per completion 4 touchdowns with 0 Interceptions and a quarterback rating of 94.3 He also had 12 carries for 76 yards with an average of 6.3 per run with 1 touchdown and a long run of 27 yards. Caleb Hood led the Tar Heels in rushing with 6 carries for 87 yards with an average of 14.5 yards per carrying with 0 touchdowns and a long run of 71 yards. Kobe Paysour led the Tar Heels in receiving with 8 receptions for 92 yards with an average of 11.5 per catch with 1 touchdown and a long catch of 21 yards.
Chase Brice led Appalachian States Offense with 25 completions on 36 attempts for 361 yards, an average of 10.0 per completion with 6 touchdowns, 1 interception with a quarterback rating of 75.4. He also had 8 carries for 36 yards with an average of 4.5 yards per carried and a long run of 10 yards. Nate Noel led the Mountaineers with 14 carries for 116 yards with an average of 8.3 yards per carrying with 2 touchdowns and a long run of 52 yards. Dashaun Davis led Mountaineers receiving with 8 receptions for 92 yards with an average of 11.6 per catch with 1 touchdown and a long catch for 21 yards.
North Carolina Head Coach Mack Brown had this to say in his postgame interview: “I am really happy to win. I remember (at Texas) we beat Baylor, 58-54, and I was mad. And Baylor should have been mad, too. But if you win, every week is different, you take a win and go.” He continues to say “We were underdogs and hadn’t won a road game all last year. So, anybody that thinks I will be mad or disappointed over this one doesn’t understand coaching. I am excited to win against a really good team, on the road, where we had the game.” The one key point that Mack Brown says “The only thing that’s important right now is you’re 2-0. Anything less than that wasn’t going to be good. But we’re 2-0.”
Appalachian State Mountaineers Head Coach Shawn Clark had this to say in his postgame interview: “I want to say thank you to App Nation, what an incredible atmosphere we had out there today with 40,000 fans to set an all-time attendance record.” A great football game. A great football team. Why we don’t play these in-state football games every single year blows my mind, but I’m very proud of our football team. We were down 20 in the fourth, and our guys never quit. We’re going to have a helluva football team.”
The defense had two plays in this game that stand out. The first on was the Appalachian State defense forced a fumble from Tar Heel Quarterback Drake Maye. The North Carolina Tar Heels was the two-point conversion run by Chase Brice to the one-yard line that end Appalachian State’s chase to win this ball game.
I must agree with a point that Mountaineers’ Head Coach says, “Why don’t play these in-state football games every single year blow my mind.” These in-state football games could be scheduled by North Carolina Tar Heels, North Carolina State, Wake Forest, and Duke Blue Devils. North Carolina has played the Mountaineers in 2019 and 2022. They will finish up playing the Mountaineer in 2023 in Chapel Hill, NC. North Carolina State will start playing Appalachian State Mountaineers in 2025 at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, NC, and in 2026 at Carter-Finley Stadium. Wake Forest had play Appalachian State in 2017 at Kidd Brewer Stadium. They were supposed to play on September 11, 2020, but that game was pushed back to the future year during COVID-19. The only Atlantic Coast Conference team that hasn’t played Appalachian State is the Duke Blue Devils.
