North Carolina Falls To California For The Second Straight Season

Last season North Carolina and California met in Chapel Hill for their season opener.

This season however, North Carolina visited California to open their season. The result? Another season opening loss for North Carolina and another season opening win for California.

Patrick Laird rushed for one touchdown and caught another, California's defense took advantage of a rocky outing from North Carolina quarterback Nathan Elliott, and the Golden Bears held off the Tar Heels 24-17 in the season-opener for both teams Saturday. "according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/9/1/football-tar-heels-fall-at-cal-24-17.aspx

Cameron Goode scored on a 38-yard interception return but left in the fourth quarter with a possible leg injury.   "according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/9/1/football-tar-heels-fall-at-cal-24-17.aspx

Goode's interception was one of four by the Golden Bears. Cornerback Jaylinn Hawkins had two. "according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/9/1/football-tar-heels-fall-at-cal-24-17.aspx

Cal's defense came up big on a day when the Bears rotated three quarterbacks all afternoon — often during the same series — and were limited to 119 passing yards. "according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/9/1/football-tar-heels-fall-at-cal-24-17.aspx

Ross Bowers started for the Bears but was in and out of the game. Chase Garbers threw for one touchdown while Brandon McIlwain also split time running the offense. "according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/9/1/football-tar-heels-fall-at-cal-24-17.aspx

Laird plodded his way to 95 yards on 29 carries. He had a 3-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Garbers in the third. "according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/9/1/football-tar-heels-fall-at-cal-24-17.aspx

Antonio Williams scored on a 3-yard run for North Carolina. Anthony Ratliff-Williams added a 14-yard touchdown catch. "according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/9/1/football-tar-heels-fall-at-cal-24-17.aspx

The Tar Heels trailed 24-3 before scoring a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter. "according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/9/1/football-tar-heels-fall-at-cal-24-17.aspx

Elliott's 14-yard touchdown to Ratliff-Williams with 1:13 remaining cut the lead to 24-17. "according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/9/1/football-tar-heels-fall-at-cal-24-17.aspx

North Carolina appeared to recover an onside kick but the Tar Heels were called for an illegal block. Cal recovered the next try. "according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/9/1/football-tar-heels-fall-at-cal-24-17.aspx

Elliott, who started the final three games in 2017, completed 15 of 35 passes for 144 yards and one touchdown. "according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/9/1/football-tar-heels-fall-at-cal-24-17.aspx

North Carolina had one first down in the first half and didn't cross midfield until early in the third quarter. "according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/9/1/football-tar-heels-fall-at-cal-24-17.aspx


THE TAKEAWAY
North Carolina: The Tar Heels showed some fight late but have a lot of work to do offensively. Elliott struggled all afternoon and had multiple communication issues with his receivers. Defensive end Malik Carney lost his cool early but came back and was Carolina's most effective player the rest of the way. "according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/9/1/football-tar-heels-fall-at-cal-24-17.aspx

California: Looked crisp defensively across the board, especially in the secondary, but will get a better litmus test next week against BYU. The passing game sputtered quite a bit, which could be expected when shuffling quarterbacks in and out. "according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/9/1/football-tar-heels-fall-at-cal-24-17.aspx

With the loss, North Carolina starts the season 0-1 while California begins the season with a record of 1-0. 


UP NEXT
North Carolina: The Tar Heels face in-state rival East Carolina on Saturday. "according to https://goheels.com/news/2018/9/1/football-tar-heels-fall-at-cal-24-17.aspx