5 takeaways from UNC’s blowout loss to Miami on Thursday night

Well, this one was over in a hurry.

Miami whipped out its notorious “Turnover Chain” six times against North Carolina Thursday night, and the Tar Heels were defeated 47-10 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.

The Tar Heels (1-3) returned eight players who had been suspended for several games for selling their team-issued sneakers in January, including sophomore quarterback Chazz Surratt and senior defensive end Malik Carney.

But it didn’t matter.

The Hurricanes (4-1) were just too good. Three of UNC’s six turnovers were returned for touchdowns.

Surratt, who temporarily replaced junior quarterback Nathan Elliott on UNC’s third offensive possession, struggled. He scored on UNC’s first drive with a 17-yard rushing touchdown, but could not pass the ball. He finished the game 4-10, for 10 yards and three interceptions.

Elliott was 16-25 for 104 yards. But he fumbled three times, twice on exchanges to the running back, and once while he was sacked.

When asked what the most frustrating part of the loss was, junior running back Jordon Brown said, “I feel like we’re better than we played.”

Here are five takeaways from the game:

1. Miami was a better team

The Hurricanes had the No. 2 total defense heading into Thursday’s game. They averaged 11.5 tackles for loss per game, which was No. 1 in the country. Part of that could have been attributed to the lack of competition after playing LSU in Week One (Savannah State, Toledo, FIU).

But the Hurricanes showed that they are the real deal. Miami had six turnovers and scored three defensive touchdowns.

Miami also had 14 tackles that went for a loss. UNC’s average distance-to-go on third downs was more than 10 yards. UNC converts on average 33.3 percent of third downs.

“That was one of our goals going into the game, we had to be efficient on first downs,” Elliott said. “Fifty percent or more we had to be efficient and Miami, they’re really good at that...They get their opponents in third and long and that percentage is not in the offense’s favor.”

2. Fedora has a tough decision at quarterback

Neither UNC quarterback played well enough to win. Both turned the ball over three times. Surratt threw three interceptions, two that went for Pick-6’s, and Elliott fumbled three times, one that was returned for a touchdown.

The last time Surratt had played was a UNC win against Western Carolina 65-10 on Nov. 18, 2017. He was rusty and made poor decisions on some throws, but ran the ball well. He gained 78 yards on nine carries and had one touchdown. He helped UNC score its only touchdown, but he helped Miami score, too.

Elliott threw better than Surratt did, but did not score. He averaged a little more than four yards per pass. Elliott often found himself in third and long situations, which made it tough.

UNC coach Larry Fedora said the plan was to play both quarterbacks, but they did not plan to rotate both quarterbacks in and out of the game.

“We were looking for somebody to give us some consistency and take care of the football,” Fedora said.

Neither quarterback did that.

3. Points off turnovers

Miami quarterback N’Kosi Perry was 8-12 passing for 125 passing yards. He really didn’t even need to pass. Miami’s defense did all the scoring for him. Miami scored 24 of its 47 points off turnovers alone.

This game looked similar to UNC’s game against California, when UNC got down 24-3 because of four turnovers. This time, the opponent was a lot tougher.

Miami scored 33 unanswered points after UNC cut the lead to 14-10.

Miami turned the ball over twice, and UNC could not take advantage. The only way UNC was going to win this game was if it won the turnover battle. The Hurricanes dominated in that stat.

4. UNC just can’t stop the run

This makes three consecutive games where UNC has given up more than 220 rushing yards. The first was against ECU, which ran for 220 yards, then Pitt, which ran for 228 yards and now Miami. The Hurricanes rushed for 243 yards on 34 carries for a 6.7 yards per rush average.

Miami running back Travis Homer, who had 94 yards on 14 carries, set the tone with an early 56-yard run that set up Miami’s first touchdown. But he wasn’t even Miami’s leading rusher.

Sophomore DeeJay Dallas had 11 carries for 116 yards and one touchdown to lead the Hurricanes.

“We missed a lot of tackles when we needed to make them,” Carney said.

5. UNC needs to run the ball more

The numbers, 40 rushes for 215 yards, would suggest that UNC emphasized running and were successful at it. But that was not exactly the case. Surratt ran nine times for 78 yards, the majority scrambles.

UNC could have and probably should have run more, at least in the first quarter, when the game was still manageable.

Sophomore running back Michael Carter ran well. He had 82 yards on seven carries.

On UNC’s first drive, after a 30-yard run by Carter, UNC had the ball at the three-yard line. And instead of pounding the ball with 5-11, 210-pound running back Antonio Williams, or Carter, UNC threw, then ran a quarterback keeper with Elliott, and passed it again. In those three plays, UNC lost two yards, and was forced to settle for a field goal.

Had the Tar Heels scored on that drive, it could have set a different tone for the game.

Miami scored on its next drive, and instead of tying the game 7-7, Miami took the lead 7-3.

Williams had 24 yards on only four carries.

This story was originally published September 28, 2018 at 2:01 AM with the headline "5 takeaways from UNC’s blowout loss to Miami on Thursday night."