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North Carolina sports has a proud tradition, although admittedly, basketball comes to mind before football. While Tar Heels has had its stars and big moments on the gridiron, it's not the same as Michael Jordan and Dean Smith or even Tyler Hansborough. But in UNC's 70-50 loss to James Madison, football fans might have thought that they were seeing basketball.
After all, that many points aren't usual in a football game. We ran down UNC's football history to find out just how unusual the game was from a numbers standpoint. Here's what we learned.
Most points in a college football game featuring North Carolina
Unbelievably, Saturday's 70-50 loss wasn't the most points scored in a UNC football game. In 2022, Carolina beat Appalachian State 63-61 in a game that had 124 total points, the program record. Despite the close score, that game didn't go to overtime.
App. State scored 40 fourth-quarter points to keep the game close but missed a potential two-point conversion to tie with nine seconds left. Appalachian State outgained North Carolina 649 yards to 567. Surprisingly, there were three total punts in the game, with two by UNC.
Most points allowed in a college football game by UNC
The 70 points scored by James Madison ties UNC's all-time mark for points allowed to an opponent. East Carolina bested UNC 70-41 in the 2014 season. The Pirates rolled up 789 total yards of offense in that game, which far outstripped the 611 yards gained by James Madison on Saturday,
In fact, the 611 yards aren't even in the top 10 of yards opponents have gained against UNC. Surprisingly, the Tar Heels won a pair of the game on that list, including a 58-55 win over Wake Forest in 2021.
Most points scored in a loss by UNC
The poor North Carolina offense put up 50 points and 616 yards and lost by three scores, but there's another UNC team that could understand. In 2012, the Tar Heels again scored 50 points and lost, this time 68-50 to Georgia Tech.
As for the most points UNC has scored in total, that would be 80 points against Old Dominion in an 80-20 win in 2013. Even the worst defense would struggle to find a way to lose when the offense puts up 80 points.
Could you believe North Carolina's 70-50 loss, and do you remember any of the other high-scoring Tar Heel games? Share your thoughts and memories in the comments section below:
