Fourth Quarter Woes Continue to Plague UNC Football

If football games were only three quarters long, this year’s UNC team would be undefeated through four games.

This is reality, however, and everyone knows that’s not exactly how things work. The Tar Heels are actually 1-3 following Saturday’s loss to Duke, and are starting to show signs of frustration early in the season.

Senior cornerback MJ Stewart–a key leader on a defense which has allowed three come-from-behind fourth quarter wins–struggled to find a deeper explanation for the Tar Heels’ failures late in games.

“Coach Fedora mentioned it in the locker room,” a somber Stewart told reporters after Saturday’s loss. “We know we’re always up in the fourth quarter.

“Every football game comes down to who makes the most plays,” he added. “They made more plays than us.”

In the first week of the season, UNC took a three-point lead into the final quarter against California–but then allowed the Golden Bears to run off back-to-back touchdowns, before finally scoring again in garbage time with the game out of reach.

The Tar Heels then appeared like they could steal an upset against then No. 17 Louisville the very next week, when a touchdown pass late in the third quarter from Brandon Harris to Thomas Jackson gave them a one-point cushion entering the final period.

Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson responded by taking the game back into his own hands, accounting for three scores in a row during the fourth quarter.

Once again, UNC was forced to wait until garbage time to add any more points–all while its opponent started making touchdowns look easy.

Saturday against Duke was just the latest example of the Tar Heels’ finishing woes.

Up 17-13 early in the fourth quarter, a tired UNC defense allowed the Blue Devils to go on a death march of sorts. Duke traveled 74 yards in just eight plays and three minutes–capping the drive with a one-yard touchdown run from tailback Shaun Wilson.

Blessed with a chance to take the lead back in the most crucial moments, the Tar Heels faltered again when quarterback Chazz Surratt threw an interception to Duke defensive back Bryon Fields Jr.

Fields ran the ball 61 yards back to the endzone, essentially putting the final nail in UNC’s coffin for the afternoon.

“I don’t know what to tell you yet,” Fedora said, when asked about his team’s problems late in games. “I’m going to have to look at the film. We talked hard about finishing. We worked this week knowing we’ve been ahead in all these games. We’ve talked about it.”

UNC has shown flashes of potential so far, it just has yet to put everything together for a full 60 minutes against a quality opponent.

With the middle of the ACC schedule–and a game against Notre Dame–still awaiting, there’s not much time to get everything figured out.

In order to salvage anything respectable out of this season, every player in the locker room knows what must be fixed–and that it has to be fixed soon.

“Once we get that job done, we know the sky is the limit for us,” wide receiver Anthony Ratliff-Williams said. “But it’s just that little hump we have to get over.”