North Carolina Football: 3 takeaways from shootout win over Wake Forest

1. Defense was at a premium

The first half was dominated by offense from both teams. The pace was set early on and until the last few minutes of the half it didn’t slow down. The Wake Forest defense was able to stop Sam Howell and Co. at the end of the second quarter and at the beginning of the third quarter.

The third quarter began with Wake Forest holding North Carolina on its opening drive, and in the Demon Deacons’ opening drive, the Tar Heels’ defense held them to a field goal. The Tar Heels held the Demon Deacons to this field goal and a touchdown in the next Wake Forest possession, and that was it for the third quarter.

Wake Forest was able to keep North Carolina from putting any points in the books in the first and third drives of the third quarter, and only allowed the Tar Heels to score once.

However, in the fourth quarter, the Demon Deacons allowed the Tar Heels to score in every drive. The Demon Deacons didn’t just let North Carolina make it to the end zone without any effort, but the Tar Heels’ offense was just too much.

The Tar Heels’ defense proved to be too forceful for the Demon Deacons as well as the Tar Heels held onto a 35-0 scoring run, retaking the lead for good.

The first half of the game was full of excitement and energy as the teams took turns scoring touchdowns, but it also wore out the players on both sides of the ball. Wake Forest tried to keep the momentum going into the second half, but. they just couldn’t do it. They also made an earnest attempt late in the game, but it was too little too late for the Demon Deacons.