How one UNC football RB’s ‘downhill running’ gives the Tar Heels a big lift up

North Carolina fans were roaring Saturday when Omarion Hampton broke off a 68-yard scoring run for the Tar Heels’ first touchdown.

UNC coaches may have liked his second touchdown better.

Officially, it was a 7-yard run and looked pretty mundane in the box score of the Heels’ 40-34 double-overtime win. Hampton also scored from 17 yards out in the first overtime, when he ran the ball on all three UNC plays.

But with UNC trailing 24-20 in the fourth quarter, the Heels had first and goal at the 7 after Drake Maye gunned a 57-yard completion to wideout J.J. Jones. The ball went to Hampton, who took it up the middle, collided with an ASU defender at the 4-yard line and then ran through four more players.

The last ASU player in Hampton’s path to the end zone was Shawn Collins, a 6-foot-5, 265-pound defensive end. Hampton won that final confrontation, pushing the ball across the goal line.

Coaches love those plays. Give a running back a nice crease and if he’s got the speed, he can go the distance — say, 68 yards. As Hampton put it: “When the hole opens up, you just want to hit it.”

But second-effort, tackle-breaking runs — fueled by determination, leg-churning and “want-to” — are those head coaches and offensive coordinators appreciate.

And quarterbacks.

“He’s tough to tackle,” Maye said Tuesday. “They were trying to chop tackle and put their shoulder into his lower thigh and take his legs out. I mean, nobody wants to tackle hitting him shoulder pad to shoulder pad. He’s going to run you over.

“It’s fun to watch. It’s a confidence booster.”

Hampton’s chance

Monday, Hampton was named ACC Running Back of the Week. Tuesday, Hampton added the Doak Walker Award National Player of the Week honor to his resume.

He had 26 carries and finished with 234 of the Tar Heels’ 319 rushing yards against Appalachian State, leaving UNC coach Mack Brown to call the sophomore likely “the difference in the ball game,” and also refer to him as the “horse” of the offense.

“Omarion’s a really good player and we saw that coming, time and time again,” Brown said. “You saw it at times, where he’d make a play. And it was great to see him break out Saturday night.”

At Cleveland High, Hampton would just get the ball and go. The Clayton native was a four-star prep recruit who ran for 5,370 yards and 88 TDs in high school, and averaged more than 10 yards a carry.

Hampton would not have started against App State had British Brooks not been slowed by a bad bruise and lingering soreness after the South Carolina game. Hampton had 16 carries in the game, the longest for six yards.

Brooks, who rushed for 103 yards in the 31-17 win, should be available this week when the No. 20 Heels host Minnesota in a 3:30 p.m. game at Kenan Stadium. That could make for an interesting decision on the starter.

Running downhill

Football coaches today talk a lot about “running downhill.” Hampton was doing that Saturday with what UNC offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey called “attitude, physical play.”

“What I’ve seen is his vision is so much better,” Lindsey said this week. “He does a great job of understanding where our double teams are, what the front is, and that gives him a hint of where his eyes should be.”

Lindsey said running backs coach Larry Porter has worked with Hampton on that, and also on getting his shoulders square and, yes, on “running downhill.”

“And that’s kind of our approach,” Lindsey said. “We want to be a downhill-run football team and not try to run side to side as much.”

With Brooks and Hampton as options, with Caleb Hood healthy again, Brown said the Tar Heels are positioned to wear teams down with the running game and “make it easier for Drake to throw it.”

UNC did that to App State, Brown said.

Despite the big game and the attention that came with it, Hampton said his goal would remain simple: “Stay consistent and try not to make it like a one-game thing, and try to keep it going throughout the whole season.”