WATCH: True freshman George Pettaway shakes three Florida A&M defenders in open field for 29-yard touchdown run
North Carolina true freshman running back George Pettaway was one of the most highly rated running backs in America for the 2022 recruiting class. On Saturday night against Florida A&M, he just showed why. The former four-star running back was rated as the No. 132 overall prospect in the country coming out of Nansemond-Suffolk Academy (Suffolk, Virginia), according to the On3 Consensus Rankings. In the fourth quarter, Pettaway shook three Rattler defenders in the open field en route to scoring an impressive 29-yard touchdown run.
Check it out below.
It was an incredibly impressive run and in case his name wasn’t starred and circled already, Pettaway let the college football world know that he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with in the future. The score put the ‘Heels up 42-24 after the extra point attempt.
Not to be outdone, Pettaway’s fellow true freshman running back Omarion Hampton has scored two rushing touchdowns on Saturday night for the ‘Heels. He was just as highly touted as Pettaway in the 2022 cycle. According to the On3 Consensus Rankings, Hampton was rated as a four-star prospect and the No. 9 running back prospect in America coming out of Cleveland High School (Clayton, North Carolina). It’s clear the Tar Heels have two of the best freshmen tailbacks in college football.
There have been five running backs total that have seen action in Saturday night’s contest for the Tar Heels.
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North Carolina won the game 56-24, but Florida A&M did not go down without a very valiant effort.
In the spring, North Carolina head coach Mack Brown spoke glowingly of Pettaway and said the only thing he needed to work on was ball security.
“I think we know that British [Brooks] is good, we know that DJ Jones is good … We’ve been impressed with both Elijah Green and George Pettaway,” Brown said of his running back room. “The spring [Pettaway] has made a huge run in every scrimmage. Today is the first time he really didn’t have a breakaway, we’ve just got to make sure that he protects the ball.”
On3’s Barkley Truax also contributed to this article.