“Let’s give them something to talk about . . . a little mystery to figure out” — Bonnie Raitt
Alumni and fans of Appalachian State and Carolina will be talking about what happened at “The Rock” in Boone Saturday for a long time, and the full mystery of UNC’s 63-61 win over ASU may never be figured out.
From the moment the Mountaineers took the field at packed (40,168 record crowd) Kidd Brewer Stadium to a song by their favorite musical alumnus Luke Combs, the Tar Heels’ first (and likely last) trip to play football in Boone was literally one for the books.
Ten touchdowns were scored in the fourth quarter alone, an all-time record.
How do you explain that the favored 27th-ranked football team in the country jumped to a 21-7 lead over the No. 44-rated opponent and then went 32 minutes without scoring a point as Carolina built a 41-21 lead with 34 unanswered points? That means App was shut out for more than half the game and still scored 61 points.
And how do you fathom both teams combining for 62 in the fourth quarter (one point short of the college record), with App waking up to score seven touchdowns and missing two 2-point conversions, one that might have ended the game with perhaps the most improbable victory ever and the other that would have sent the game into overtime and extended the shootout well beyond four hours.
Mack Brown danced with his team after the UNC’s first road win since 2020 and only App State’s eighth home loss since 2014, which underscores how infrequently a program the stature of UNC agrees to play up there.
For the moment, Brown was delighted to get the ‘W,’ but by now, he has called defensive coordinators Gene Chizik and Charlton Warren on the carpet to explain what the heck happened to allow App 647 yards of total offense.
Appalachian State running back Nate Noel (5) gets away from North Carolina defensive back Giovanni Biggers (27) for a touchdown during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game, Saturday Sept. 3, 2022, in Boone, N.C. (AP Photo/Reinhold Matay)
Redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Maye was the buzz at halftime after rallying his team to a 28-21 lead that would balloon to 20 points after the second of two laser 40-plus yard field goals by sophomore Noah Burnette. Maye went 17-of-21 in the first half for 227 yards and three touchdowns, plus one on the ground, for a QB rating of 217, more than a hundred points better than the average of NFL quarterbacks (96).
Maye was less effective in the second half, harassed into completing only 7-of-14 for 135 yards to finish with a more human 94.3 rating for the game. Still, in his first two college starts, Maye has 9 TD passes and has yet to throw an interception, a costly fourth-quarter fumble at App being his only blemish so far.
His counterpart Chase Brice, playing for a third school against UNC, stole the show in the second half and almost stole the game. Brice finished with 6 touchdown passes and 361 yards but overthrew the wide-open receiver on the first 2-point conversion and fumbled the ball when stuffed trying to stretch over the goal on his bid to send the game into overtime, which would have been a little much. Don’t you think?
Carolina played without All-ACC slot back Josh Downs, sidelined by a nagging leg injury from summer training camp. But Maye again spread the ball around to eight different receivers, including 8 catches for 92 yards and a touchdown to freshman Kobe Paysour subbing for Downs. He also threw explosive scoring passes to D.J. Jones, J.J. Jones and Bryson Nesbit, who had a second touchdown by running back App’s attempted onside kick in the wild and crazy final minutes.
Linebacker Cedric Gray led the Heels with 13 tackles, 6 solos, and forced the only turnover when he picked off a Brice pass in the second half. He and his co-defenders ran over to celebrate in front of the Carolina fans and band in the east end zone, which Brown called “stupid” after the game.
It was similar to when such a celebration drew a penalty at N.C. State that ignited the Wolfpack’s improbable comeback win in the 2021 regular-season finale that was supposed to teach the Tar Heels a lesson. Guess not.
Carolina did demonstrate its depth at not only receiver but at running back with sophomore Caleb Hood leading all UNC rushers with 87 yards, including a 71-yard sprint to the App 4, from where Omarion Hampton finished the touchdown drive. Brown said Hood “had the hotter hand” than freshmen Hampton and George Pettaway who starred in the opening night win over Florida A&M but were limited to 51 yards against the Mounties.
App State has a unique campus for football, where the streets that border the stadium are lined with parking lots filled by hundreds of tailgaters and apartments where students can party until time to slosh happily over to the game.
The ride to Boone from Chapel Hill is a surprisingly short 2½ hours where the spectacular mountains and valleys come into view for the last 30 minutes.
Hopefully, to paraphrase the old golf expression, it wouldn’t be a good ride spoiled. Very fortunately, it wasn’t.
Photo via AP Photo/Reinhold Matay.
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