“Give the ball to Hood.” That phrase became the rallying cry of North Carolina fans and parts the media during the 2015 season. When things weren’t clicking for the Tar Heels on offense, which was a rare occurrence during their prolific run to the ACC Coastal Division title, the cure-all, according to some, was to simply give the ball to running back Elijah Hood more often. It was somewhat understandable; Hood is a beast of a back with nose for the end zone (17 rushing touchdowns a season ago), who carried the ball only 15.6 times per game. Why wouldn’t you want him to touch the ball as much as possible? This is the kind of reductive analysis that you see far too often with football: it comes down to one player or one coaching decision. It’s almost never that simple with this game. And it’s worth noting, too, that this team finished 21st in the nation at finishing drives, according to Football Study Hall — scoring 5.28 points each trip inside their opponents’ 40-yard line. Scoring was never really an issue for them.
This season, however, those same chants returned during North Carolina’s opening loss in Atlanta to Georgia, but this time, they included an additional name: T.J. Logan.
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