North Carolina Tar Heels vs Miami (FL) Hurricanes Match Player Stats On Oct 15, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Oct 15, 2016

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- North Carolina rode a 17-point halftime cushion to a 20-13 victory over 16th-ranked Miami in a key ACC Coastal Division matchup on Saturday afternoon.

The Tar Heels (5-2, 3-1 ACC) thus kept alive their hopes of a repeat appearance in the conference championship game while dealing the Hurricanes (4-2, 1-2) a crucial second conference setback.

Quarterback Mitch Trubisky bounced back from his worst performance of the season a week ago to go 33-of-44 passing for 299 yards and two touchdowns for the Tar Heels.

Miami's Brad Kaaya was only 16-of-31 passing for 224 yards and lost a fumble on the Hurricanes' final possession with just over a minute left.

After struggling in the first half, Miami finally gave its fans something to cheer about with a third-quarter touchdown that cut its deficit to 20-10 going into the fourth quarter when Kaaya hooked up with wide receiver Ahmmon Richards for 30 yards and tight end Chris Herndon III for 26 to set up running back Joe Yearby's 2-yard scoring run.

The defense then did its part by stopping Trubisky on a quarterback sneak from less than a yard from the goal line to open the fourth quarter to keep it a 10-point game, but the Hurricanes could add only a field goal in the remaining time.

The Tar Heels led 20-3 at the half on the strength of two short touchdown passes from Trubisky to wide receivers Austin Proehl (five yards) and Ryan Switzer (one yard) and Nick Weiler's field goals of 42 and 52 yards.

Tailback T.J. Logan had a 30-yard run to help spark the first touchdown drive and Trubisky had a 50-yard bomb to wide receiver Mack Hollins to set up the second.

The Hurricanes got their only first half points on Michael Badgley's 47-yard field goal and squandered two other opportunities with a blocked field goal and an incompletion on fourth-and-1 at Carolina's 25-line.

NOTES: North Carolina junior RB Elijah Hood, who hadn't played since sustaining an undisclosed injury in the second quarter against Florida State on Oct. 1, started for the Tar Heels. ... PK Nick Weiler's 42-yard field goal on North Carolina's first series were the first points scored in the first quarter against Miami this season. ... Miami got a break in the first quarter when North Carolina's recovery of an onside kickoff after it had scored to go up 10-0 was nullified because the Tar Heels' Corey Bell was ruled to have made an illegal block. ... The rain expected last week from Hurricane Matthew finally arrived at the 10:28 mark of the fourth quarter. ... North Carolina LB Andre Smith was ejected for targeting in the fourth quarter.