Fight and (finally) good fortune got the Tar Heels off the schneid in the ACC and, amazingly, still gives them a chance of advancing to the conference championship game in Charlotte.

Coming off four straight losses and relinquishing 70, 50, 34 and 50 points, leaving the Carolina defensive coaches frustrated and fuming, the team had enough gumption left to get through what looked like another blown fourth quarter against old nemesis Georgia Tech Saturday night.

Whether the Heels ever fix their sieve-like defense (next to worst in all of college football for points allowed), this literal last-second 48-43 victory at least affords an opportunity to jump-start a similar streak to the one they had over the second half of last season.

With Duke beating Virginia and taking the lead in the ACC Coastal Division, Carolina can run the table over the next five games and actually win all possible 3-way tie-breakers to represent the Coastal against certain Atlantic champ Florida State on December 6th at Bank of American Stadium. If UNC finished 6-2 (8-4 overall) and in any 3-way tie for first in the division, as luck has it, the Tar Heels would win them all based on better common records against whichever the other two teams might be.

Strange but true, as our mathematicians worked all weekend to come up with something else Carolina could play for besides just another bowl bid. Of course, winning at Virginia, Miami and Duke and beating Pitt and N.C. State in Kenan Stadium could also win the Coastal outright, depending on what the other teams do.

If the Tar Heels could play only offense, they might have a good chance.

Marquise Williams celebrates with the Tar Pit after the win.

Marquise Williams celebrates with the Tar Pit after the win.

Another multi-record performance by both teams and junior quarterback Marquise Williams left a less-than-capacity but enthusiastic Fall Break crowd roaring until the last snap with :01 on the clock. After a Kenan Stadium record of 1,190 total yards had already been churned up by two high-speed option offenses, the idea of Georgia Tech going 64 on the final play to pull out the game kept the fans fretting.

It did not happen, and the home team celebrated like it had just won something bigger than its first game since September 6th – 43 days earlier against San Diego State. After the Yellow Jackets had erased three 11-point deficits during a night that produced a total of 157 snaps from scrimmage and 62 first downs, they took the lead on the longest play of the game, a 75-yard run off a double reverse by Tech wide receiver DeAndre Smelter on his only carry.

That Carolina’s defense was completely faked out actually helped as the Jackets went ahead 43-42 while leaving enough time on the clock for Williams, who passed 47 times and broke school records for completions in a game (38) and a half (23) and total offense over a personal two-game tear (898 yards against Notre Dame and Georgia Tech). At one point, he had 14 straight completions in the second half, working the flats and sidelines that the Jackets were leaving open, on his way to a college career best of four touchdown passes.

‘Quise took the team 75 yards in the three minutes he had left and also took a roughing-the-passer penalty that allowed the Heels to win it on T.J. Logan’s two-yard run instead of a field goal attempt by freshman Nick Weiler. That’s the kind of break they haven’t been getting in recent games. In fact, Carolina cleaned up its own penalty proclivity, drawing only four flags for 35 total yards.

You have to hand it to the Heels, who still made major mistakes on defense, misplaying interceptions that turned into Tech touchdowns and not closing on receivers nearly fast enough. While giving up 611 total yards, some in alarmingly large chunks, the defense also made a number of clutch stops against the Jackets’ maddening triple-option attack.

No question, it was a track meet with scoring plays of 68 yards by Ryan Switzer on a dart from Williams and 38 yards by Mack Hollins on a lobbed fourth-down touch pass into the end zone. Besides Tech’s 75-yard reverse that actually left the Heels time to win, the Jackets also scored on 55- and 46-yard passes by quarterback Justin Thomas, who made the most of his 18 throws.

It’s a long shot, but do not count the Heels out of running that table. Their defense won’t be challenged by any of the remaining opponents like it has by East Carolina, Clemson, Notre Dame and Tech. And with Williams settled in as full-time quarterback and a clear contender for All-ACC at that position, the possibility of Carolina out-scoring everyone over the next five weeks is certainly there.

A team that could have easily quit by now kept clawing and scratching to snap a five-game losing streak to Georgia Tech, which came into the game having defeated UNC in 14 of their last 16 meetings. Winning at Virginia for the third straight time and making it two in a row at Miami will be a challenge, but the positive momentum Larry Fedora and his staff have been hoping for is now in their locker room.

Given this unlikely new scenario, it’s their job to keep it there.

[NOTE: This column has been modified due to a similarly unlikely possibility that UNC and Virginia Tech wind up in a two-way tie for first in the Coastal, which of course would go to the Hokies for their win in Chapel Hill.]