CHAPEL HILL — From sputtering in the beginning to high-flying by the end, North Carolina settled into the silence of these extraordinary surroundings and hinted at looking the part of what’s expected this football season.
The 18th-ranked Tar Heels put the squeeze on Syracuse in the second half and broke free for a 31-6 victory at empty Kenan Stadium, the 50,000 vacant seats here due to coronavirus providing the muted backdrop to an opening game unlike any other.
Sam Howell threw for 295 yards and a touchdown, and Javonte Williams ran for three scores in the fourth quarter. North Carolina led 7-6 in the second half, before riding fourth straight scores in a matter of 9½ minutes of game time to win going away.
“Opening games are always crazy any way,” Tar Heels coach Mack Brown said. “And then you add the pandemic to it, all the things that have happened with the social injustice and the roller coaster that these kids and coaches across the country have been on.”
Six months and one day after North Carolina and Syracuse played the last game that preceded the shutdown of the Atlantic Coast Conference basketball tournament because of the pandemic, the Tar Heels and Orange kicked off their football campaigns here on this hushed campus.
No beehive of activity and anticipatory energy like normal game days, particularly the openers for seasons wrapped in lofty expectations. But rather quiet streets and barren parking lots around the stadium giving way to cardboard cutouts of fans inside — and an erratic performance on the field in spots for North Carolina, billed as a potential ACC contender.
“We just had to get back in our rhythm,” Williams said. “Once the second half started we came together and made plays.
“I feel like (Syracuse) got tired in the second half. Once we started scoring, it seemed like they kind of faded away a little bit.”
The Tar Heels’ defense showed up, delivering seven quarterback sacks and 11 tackles for lost yardage. North Carolina allowed its fewest points in any football game since Sept. 29, 2012. Among ACC opponents, Syracuse’s output marked the fewest points the Tar Heels have allowed in a league game since Nov. 7, 2009.
North Carolina led 7-3 at halftime, and had to feel fortunate to be in that position with Syracuse whiffing on chances like Andre Szmyt’s missed 29-yard field goal during the closing seconds of the first half.
Earlier in the second quarter, Syracuse’s Sharod Johnson, looking back over his shoulder, let what couldn’t been a simple touchdown catch sail through his outstretched hands in the corner of the end zone, after he had separated from Tar Heels defensive back Trey Morrison. The Orange settled for a successful Szmyt field goal there.
This opening game began with North Carolina looking the part of a nationally ranked team that’s billed to become a factor in the ACC race this season, and perhaps a challenger to projected frontrunners Clemson and Notre Dame.
Howell’s 11-yard touchdown pass to tight end Garrett Walston put the Tar Heels up 7-0 less than 4½ minutes into the season, capping an eventful first possession of the year that provided a preview of the high and lows to come.
Howell was sacked on the second play of the day, before Michael Carter had a 41-yard burst wiped out by a holding penalty. North Carolina then bounced back with Howell hitting Dazz Newsome for 18 yards to convert a fourth-and-7 that kept the drive moving toward the end zone.
“Offensively I thought we probably scored too quickly and felt like it was going to be an easy day,” Brown said, “and then had some lapses.”