Gameday Live Blog/Open Thread: Mercer at Carolina

Good afternoon from rainy Kenan Stadium where North Carolina will wrap up its home slate against Mercer.

The Tar Heels (4-6) are still alive for the postseason and could move closer to that goal with a win over the Bears (4-7), an FCS program out of the SoCon.

In a game that shouldn't be close, here are five things to watch for Carolina as well as a look at Myles Dorn's path to senior day, which might have changed if not for a knee injury last season.

Check out Twitter for live updates, with deeper analysis and observation posted here throughout the game, and feel free to drop a comment below.

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Pregame

UNC WR Dazz Newsome will not play today. He's suspended after he overslept and missed practice one day this week.

First Quarter

14:50 — Surprise, surprise. Chazz Surratt makes a play, recovering a fumble after Don Chapman knocked the ball lose on Mercer's first offensive play. We've gotten somewhat used to it now, but man, what a season Surratt is having.

Antonio Williams, one of the most respected guys on the team, goes 11 yards for his first touchdown of the season in his final game at Kenan.

UNC leads 7-0, 13:30 1Q.
— Barnt (@barntwn) November 23, 2019

1:46 — Didn't take long for this one to get ugly, which is exactly how it should be for Carolina. Good teams come out in these games, take care of business and get starters off the field before anyone can get hurt.

Heels lead 21-0 after Sam Howell connects with Dyami Brown for a 66-yard touchdown. The freshman tied Mitch Trubisky's single-season school record with his 30th passing touchdown of the season.

Second Quarter

Sam Howell is the 8th freshman in the BCS/CFP era (since 1998) with 30 TD passes.

He and Lawrence are the only true freshmen.

Jameis Winston (40)
Sam Bradford (36)
J.T. Barrett (34)
Marcus Mariota (32)
Sam Darnold (31)
Sam Howell (30)
Trevor Lawrence (30)
Brent Stockstill (30)
— Bryan Ives (@awaytoworthy) November 23, 2019

11:46 — Sam Howell hits Jake Bargas for a 4-yard TD pass, and Howell now owns the UNC single-season record for passing touchdowns with 31. Heels lead 28-0, 11:46 2Q.

Per UNC's research, Howell's 31 touchdowns are an NCAA record for a true freshman.

Howell 33 yards to Emery Simmons for his first career TD catch. UNC leads 35-0, 10:09, 2Q.

Howell is 5/5 for 120 yards and 3 TD.
— Barnt (@barntwn) November 23, 2019

This seems pretty good. Is it good?

3:22 — Michael Carter runs one in from 9 yards out, and UNC's lead is now 42-0, 3:22 2Q.

HALF: Carolina 42, Mercer 0

Third Quarter

14:41 — Sam Howell's day as done as backup QB Vincent Amendola takes over, and Michael Carter immediately goes 60 yards to the house for a TD.

Heels lead 49-0 and it's raining even harder. Let's get this over with everyone healthy.

6:30 — Wondering how hard it's been raining here? Check out this shot from James Guillory of USA TODAY Sports.F

Fourth Quarter

10:50 — Things are moving along slowly and this could be a three-hour football game!

Among the reserves that have come in, freshman running back Josh Henderson has broken a couple of nice runs. He's at 82 yards on eight carries with a long of 35.