North Carolina Tar Heels vs Illinois Fighting Illini Match Player Stats On Sep 10, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Sep 10, 2016

Quarterback Mitch Trubisky passed for two touchdowns and ran for two as North Carolina rebounded from a season-opening loss to Georgia with a 48-23 victory over Illinois on Saturday night in Champaign, Ill.

Trubisky was 19-of-24 passing for 265 yards and extended his string of attempts without an interception to 139 as the Tar Heels (1-1) improved to 4-0 against the Fighting Illini. Running back Elijah Hood's 62-yard touchdown run with 6:49 remaining -- his second score of the fourth quarter -- gave North Carolina a 45-23 lead.

Quarterback Wes Lunt was 17 of 35 for 127 yards and two touchdowns for Illinois (1-1), which fell to 23-3 in August/September home games since 2007. Illini running back Ke'Shawn Vaughn totaled 116 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown.

Vaughn sent the Memorial Stadium crowd into a frenzy when he broke through a huge hole on the right side of the line and raced untouched 65 yards for a touchdown on the third play from scrimmage. The Tar Heels responded less than five minutes later with the first of two Trubisky touchdown runs and the junior later threw a 24-yard scoring toss to running back T.J. Logan, helping North Carolina take a 24-16 halftime lead.

Trubisky's pass to wide receiver Mack Hollins was incomplete from the Illinois 2-yard line on the final play of the first half as coach Larry Fedora opted against a short field goal attempt.

Tar Heels kicker Nick Weiler missed a 42-yard field goal try to start the second half and after a three-and-out by the Illini, Trubisky connected with Hollins for a 20-yard touchdown. Illinois trimmed the deficit to 31-23 when Lunt threw a 7-yard TD pass to wide receiver Malik Turner on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Hood restored North Carolina's 15-point lead with a 7-yard touchdown run on the ensuing possession before his long jaunt sealed the victory.