Head coach Dave Doeren of the North Carolina State Wolfpack started a firestorm after last season's 35-7 win over North Carolina by saying, "This is a blue collar school. This is a work ethic, hands-in-the-dirt school." Most fans, me included, took that as a shot directed at North Carolina. That quote was still all the rage a year later and those words never seemed to be far from the Tarheels minds.
They jumped on the Wolfpack from the opening kickoff to the end of the first quarter to the tune of 308 total yards and 35 points. Ironically, the score was 35-7 at the end of the first quarter. Tarheel linebacker Jeff Schoettmer found a certain symbolism in that score. The Tarheels did most of their damage on the ground. They had over 290 yards rushing in the first half and only had one rushing play in the entire game that lost yardage. The Tarheels played the game on the North Carolina State line of scrimmage for the entire fist quarter and held onto to win in the other three quarters.
Sophomore running back Elijah Hood had 220 yards on 21 carries and had two touchdowns. Junior running back T.J. Logan had 100 yards on only six carries and two touchdowns. North Carolina State seemed to center their defensive game plan around stopping the running ability of quarterback Marquise Williams. They did accomplish that goal as he only had 50 yards rushing and limited him to 174 yards passing. He did not need to pass.
North Carolina put it on cruise control in the second half and let North Carolina State pull to within 16 points at 42-26 but finally put them away for good. Beating North Carolina State was the last regular season goal the Tarheels had left to accomplish. There was no midfield celebration on the other team's logo, no trash talking, and no post game antics. It was a Tarheel blue collar win.
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