With the undefeated No. 8 Miami Hurricanes visiting Kenan Stadium on Saturday the UNC football team played well above expectations–but gave up a few too many catastrophic plays on the way to its sixth straight loss, falling by a score of 24-19.

The Tar Heel coaching staff uses the term “catastrophic” to describe any play that gains over 20 yards, but Miami took it a step further.

Quarterback Malik Rosier was held to just 16 completions on 38 attempts against a motivated UNC defense, but five of those passes went for at least 35 yards–as he posted a career-high 356 yards in total.

His 51-yard scoring toss to Christopher Herndon with less than two minutes before halftime came as a result of poor tackling in the secondary, and gave the visitors a 7-6 lead at the break.

Then, on the first play of the second half, Rosier found a streaking Jeff Thomas for a 78-yard touchdown to put Miami in control for good.

The UNC defense played a solid game against Miami, save for five passes that went for 35 yards or more. (AP Photo/ Gerry Broome)

Although Rosier’s third touchdown came from just five yards out, it was set up by a 49-yard throw to Deejay Dallas—a play which only happened after a pass interference call negated a Tar Heel interception.

“Defensively, our guys played their butts off,” head coach Larry Fedora said afterwards. “There were a couple plays where we’ve gotta get a guy on the ground, or we give up a play.

“It turns into a catastrophic when we don’t,” he added. “And those are hard to overcome.”

While the “catastrophics” ruined an otherwise solid outing from the defense, it was turnovers that doomed a rejuvenated offense.

Third-string quarterback Nathan Elliott relieved starter Chazz Surratt early in the first quarter for the Tar Heels, and ended up finishing the game while helping UNC outgain Miami with 428 yards of total offense and earn the advantage in time of possession.

Fedora described Elliott’s play as “gritty.”

The sophomore even caught a 33-yard pass from receiver Anthony Ratliff-Williams, a former high-school quarterback who threw three passes in the game as UNC reached deep into its bag of tricks.

Nathan Elliott threw for 173 yards and ran for another 79 in his first significant playing time as a Tar Heel. (AP Photo/ Gerry Broome)

On the flip side, however, Elliott threw three interceptions. He also could only watch as tailback Jordon Brown—who tallied 144 total yards—was stripped on the Tar Heels’ final drive, with a chance to steal a win over a top-10 opponent.

“You don’t win when you turn the ball over four times,” Fedora said, with conviction in his voice. “You don’t give yourself a chance when you turn the ball over four times. It doesn’t matter who you play. That’s something that we’ve had a lot of problems with

“If you do that, then you make it really tough,” he continued. “That’s what’s amazing. We turned it over three times and we’re still in that game and had a chance to win it. Then we turned it over a fourth, and that was pretty much the dagger.”

An argument can certainly be made that Miami didn’t exactly play like a 7-0 team that deserves to be ranked in the top 10.

Still, though, plenty of bright spots—the mostly stellar defense, the spark Elliott provided the offense, and two touchdown catches from true freshman Beau Corrales—should help ease the pain of last week’s 52-point loss to Virginia Tech.

Nobody ever wants to be 1-8 like these Tar Heels are, but it’s games like these that lay the groundwork for future improvement.

“Growing pains is all it is,” Fedora said. “But, man, I can’t emphasize enough how there was a lot of really good things that happened on that football field today. And I am proud of the effort.

“There were a lot of good things,” the coach repeated. “Overshadowed by things we didn’t do. And that’s the gut-wrenching stuff right now.”  

Up Next:

UNC is off next weekend, but will resume play on Thursday, Nov. 9 on the road against Pittsburgh. That game is set for a 7 p.m. start on ESPN.

Game Notes:

  • The Tar Heels racked up 248 yards of offense in the first half, which was more than they averaged over the last four whole games (235.3)
  • UNC also tallied 27 first downs compared to just 16 for Miami.
  • Four turnovers was the highest total the Tar Heels have lost this season.
  • Senior cornerback MJ Stewart had three pass breakups to tie the all-time school record of 40 set by Robert Williams from 1995-97.

 

 

FINAL STATS

 

 

Cover Photo via Gerry Broome (Associated Press)