Courtesy GoHeels.com
by Daniel Forcella
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. –Omarion Hampton amassed a career-high 265 all-purpose yards and became the first Tar Heel since 1981 to score five touchdowns in a game, leading North Carolina to a 35-11 victory over Florida State on Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium.
The Carolina defense was dominant for the second straight week, holding the Seminoles to just one touchdown and 201 total yards. After holding Virginia 288 last weekend, it marked the first time since 2007 that the Tar Heels held their opponent to under 300 yards of total offense in consecutive road games.
Led by Beau Atkinson’s 3.5 sacks, Carolina finished with seven in the game and allowed just 42 rushing yards to the Seminoles.
Offensively, it took the Heels a quarter to get going, but behind Hampton’s impressive day, it didn’t take long to put the game out of reach.
Hampton finished with 172 rushing yards on 32 carries, finding the end zone four times on the ground. He added three catches for 93 yards, including a 49-yard touchdown reception on a shovel pass from Jacolby Criswell.
Criswell was extremely efficient in the first half, going 11-for-14 with 148 passing yards to give Carolina a 14-3 lead at the break.
A pair of fourth-quarter interceptions from Will Hardy and Alijah Huzzie put a bow on the victory, as the benches cleared for the final few minutes.
The Tar Heels (5-4, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) picked up back-to-back road wins for the first time since 2022, while the Seminoles (1-8, 1-7) lost their fifth straight game.
How It Happened
First Quarter
• After failed drives by each team to start the game, Florida State got on the board first with a 56-yard field goal with 9:36 on the clock. It tied for the longest field made against Carolina, matching NC State’s Damon Hartman, who also connected from 56 against the Tar Heels in 1990.
• The Tar Heels’ best chance to score in the first quarter came on the ensuing drive when they reached the 1-yard line, but failed to find the end zone on fourth down and gave the ball back to the Seminoles.
Second Quarter
• A drive that started at the end of the first, the Heels’ first opportunity of the second quarter was successful, as Hampton scored from one yard out and gave Carolina its first lead of the game. They did not relinquish the lead all day.
• Hampton scored again on the next drive, a 93-yard, eight minute and 11 second drive that culminated in the running back’s second score of the game, this time from two yards out.
• Carolina got the ball back once more in the second, but after gaining 21 yards, a Noah Burnette field goal attempt from 54 yards went wide as time expired.
• The Heels gave up just 26 yards of offense in the second quarter.
• Beau Atkinson had all 3.5 of his sacks in the first half. It matches the second most sacks in a game by a Carolina defender.
Third Quarter
• The Tar Heels got the ball first to start the second half and went 75 yards, scoring on Hampton’s 31 yard touchdown, his third of the game.
• Florida State recorded its lone touchdown of the game with 6:27 to play in the third when Brock Glenn found Ja’Khi Douglas for a 28-yard score. After a successful two-point conversion, the Tar Heels led 21-11.
• The Seminole momentum didn’t last long, though, as Carolina came back on the next drive and gave the ball to Hampton on seven consecutive snaps before he pushed his way in from the one yard line and made it 28-11 in favor of the Heels.
Fourth Quarter
• The final score of the game came early in the fourth. After two short runs by Hampton, Criswell hit his running back with a shovel pass that went 49 yards into the end zone to make it 35-11 with 12:26 left in the game.
• The defense kept fighting though, intercepting the Seminoles on their next two possessions, the first by Hardy and the second by Huzzie, to secure the victory.
Up Next
Carolina will be off next weekend, before returning home for the first time since Oct. 12 when the Heels host Wake Forest on Saturday, Nov. 16.
