Omarion Hampton rushed for three touchdowns and 210 yards, but North Carolina had a surprisingly difficult time pulling away from visiting North Carolina Central in a 45-10 victory Saturday night in Chapel Hill, N.C.The Tar Heels scored 21 points in an eight-minute stretch of the fourth quarter to clinch the outcome, ending up with 28 points in the last quarter to break open a 17-10 game.Quarterback Jacolby Criswell replaced North Carolina starter Conner Harrell, who didn’t get the offense moving, and at times they were rotated. Criswell was 14-for-23 for 161 yards in the air, while Harrell was 2-for-6 for 22 yards.The Tar Heels finally got some breathing room when Criswell’s short pass to tight end John Copenhaver turned into a 23-yard touchdown play with 14:12 to play. That put North Carolina up 24-10.After Kaleb Crist’s interception, North Carolina needed five plays to go 30 yards with Hampton plowing up the middle on a 4-yard scoring run.Hampton, a junior preseason All-America, had 25 carries and eclipsed the 200-yard mark on the ground for the second time in his career.The final touchdowns came on Davion Gause’s 1-yard run and Charleston French’s 45-yard run.NC Central (1-2), a Football Championship Subdivision team coming off a 22-point home loss to Elon a week earlier, was held to 167 yards of total offense.
Omarion Hampton stars as North Carolina pulls away late vs. NC Central
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