NC State falls to No. 11 UNC 45-34

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina State never gave itself a chance to end No. 11 North Carolina's long winning streak.

The Wolfpack did nothing to slow the Tar Heels early, allowing five plays of at least 30 yards - three going for touchdowns - to fall behind 35-7 in the opening quarter on the way to a 45-34 loss Saturday.

N.C. State played better after that opening burst, putting together some long offensive drives to restore some momentum and steady itself. But by then, the Wolfpack could only try to dig out of a huge hole against a team with a prolific offense.

"From the second quarter on, we started to execute better," graduate transfer Juston Burris said. "If we would have played the way we did in the last three quarters, we would have been in that game and possibly won that game."

N.C. State outscored UNC 27-10 and outgained the Tar Heels 380-245 in total yardage after the opening quarter, though that hardly mattered since the Tar Heels were in complete control. And UNC's three turnovers along with a dropped TD catch by Mack Hollins in the third quarter certainly helped the Wolfpack hang around in a game decided in those opening 15 minutes.

"I take ownership for (the first quarter)," Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said. "We weren't ready. For whatever reason, we weren't setting edges, we weren't tackling and doing the things we've normally done."

For North Carolina, Elijah Hood ran for 220 yards and two touchdowns to lead the offense.

T.J. Logan scored on runs of 42 and 40 yards, while Hood had a 39-yard run before scoring from a yard in that 35-point avalanche for the Tar Heels (11-1, 8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 14 CFP).

UNC also got TD catches from Quinshad Davis and Hollins, tying the program's single-quarter scoring record by rolling to a 35-7 lead. That was too big of a hole for the Wolfpack (7-5, 3-5), who managed to slow the Tar Heels' early run but never recovered.

UNC had already wrapped up the Coastal Division title and a trip to next week's ACC championship game to play No. 1 Clemson.

Still, the Tar Heels certainly came out with an edge, driven by the memories of last year's 35-7 loss in which the Wolfpack physically beat up the Tar Heels and ran for 388 yards.

They wasted no time reversing that score, running for 214 yards and rolling to 308 total yards in the opening period on the way to 553 for the game.

Jacoby Brissett threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more for N.C. State, which put together a couple of long drives in the second quarter to finally slow the Tar Heels' pedal-to-the-floor start.

But the Wolfpack, playing on Senior Day, got no closer than 12 points after the opening quarter until a meaningless TD in the final 2 minutes.

Winners of 11 straight, North Carolina earned the program's first 8-0 run through ACC play. The Tar Heels also became only the fourth team to match the program single-season record of 11 wins, last set in 1997 in Mack Brown's final season before taking over at Texas.

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