North Carolina’s rushing performance against Miami was unlike any seen in the Football Bowl Subdivision in three seasons.
Led by Michael Carter and Javonte Williams, the Tar Heels piled up 554 yards on the ground in their 62-26 win over Miami on Saturday, the most in a game matching FBS teams since Navy had 569 against Cincinnati on Sept. 23, 2017.
North Carolina averaged 10 yards per carry on 55 attempts; Navy averaged 7.9 on 72 attempts against Cincinnati.
Carter finished with 308 yards and two touchdowns and Williams had 236 yards and three TDs. Their combined 544 yards set the NCAA record for rushing by two teammates, beating the 506 by Buffalo’s Jaret Patterson (409) and Kevin Marks (97) against Kent State two weeks earlier.
Carter and Williams were the seventh pair in FBS history to go for 200 yards in the same game.
GOING ALL THE WAY
There were three 100-yard kick returns over the weekend. D.J. Taylor’s came on the opening kickoff in a 70-7 rout of Arizona and was the Arizona State’s first return for a touchdown to start a game since 2011. Jalen Virgil’s gave Appalachian State the lead in its 34-26 win over Georgia Southern. Camron Harrell’s for Southern Mississippi came in a 45-31 win over Florida Atlantic and was his first career touchdown.
RAMPAGING RUTGERS
Rutgers’ seven sacks in a 27-24 win over Maryland was a school record for a game against a Big Ten opponent.
Defensive end Mike Tverdov accounted for three of the sacks and became the fourth FBS player this season to finish with five tackles for loss.
Alabama (vs. Arkansas) and New Mexico (vs. Fresno State) had eight sacks apiece in their games. The national season high belongs to Oklahoma, which had nine against Kansas on Nov. 7.
TACKLE MACHINE
Linebacker Carlton Martial of Troy matched the national season high with 21 tackles against Coastal Carolina. It was his fifth double-digit performance in the last seven games and the highest total by a Troy player since 1999.
Mariano Sori-Marin of Minnesota had 18 tackles against Nebraska and Darius Muasau of Hawaii had 18 against UNLV.
NATIONAL LEADERS
(Minimum of 5 games)
Team offense: Scoring, Buffalo, 51.8 ppg; rushing, Buffalo, 344.6 ypg; passing, Florida, 386.4 ypg; total, UCF, 585.6 ypg.
Team defense: Scoring, Marshall, 11.4 ppg; rushing, Georgia, 69.3 ypg; passing, Army, 154.2 ypg; total, Wisconsin, 251 ypg.
Individual: Rushing, Jaret Patterson, Buffalo, 205 ypg; passing, Dillon Gabriel, UCF, 372.6 ypg; receiving, Elijah Moore, Mississippi, 149.1 ypg.
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