There was a moral victory and a had-to-have victory on Carolina’s first day of play in the New Year.
For a while, the moral victory looked like more in an Orange Bowl game that most people thought the Tar Heels had opted out of their chance to win. Having gone ahead 27-20 on Sam Howell’s third spectacular touchdown pass play, Carolina missed some golden opportunities and then some tackles as Texas A&M scored 21 unanswered to win 41-27.
Earlier, the basketball team looked in trouble, trailing Notre Dame by seven points deep into the second half. And there would have been nothing moral, practical or useful about a third straight ACC loss. But, alas, the team that has spent almost three years losing close games at the buzzer finally won one, 66-65.
Two hours after that win for a 6-4 record, Carolina took the field without close to 4,000 yards of offense accumulated by Dyami Brown, Michael Carter and Javonte Williams, who were somewhere watching and probably biting their nails to the nubs. And leading tackler Chazz Surratt was likely with them cheering for a defense that has most of its players coming back next season and the season after that.
That UNC played so well under such circumstances against truly one of the best teams in the country makes a moral win palpable since 2021 could truly be the payoff year for Mack Brown’s rebuild. Carolina played in the last bowl game of the college season, and it likely attracted a massive audience on ESPN.
What they learned is what we know, that Howell and some important pieces on offense are returning, and of the 17 players who made tackles for the inspired defense, 16 will be back. The Tar Heels’ defeat dropped the ACC’s 2020 bowl record to 0-6, but one of those losses could also signal slippage of the Clemson dynasty.
If the conference schedule returns to normal next fall, Carolina will be favored to win the ACC Coastal Division and play Clemson for the conference championship and a chance to get into the College Football Playoff. At least that’s the grand plan. With Trevor Lawrence turning pro, the Tigers’ reign of six straight trips to the football final four could have ended with their loss to Ohio State.
The 8-4 Tar Heels might have actually won their last game if freshman Khafre Brown hadn’t dropped another perfect Howell home-run ball and Dazz Newsome, who had six catches on the night, had pulled in his seventh going down the left sideline. And certainly, Carter or Williams could have converted the critical fourth down in A&M territory with 2:24 left and Carolina trailing 34-27.
By then, the Aggies’ true freshman Devon Achane, a state track champion subbing for their injured starter, had already shed tacklers and raced for a 76-yard touchdown. Now he picked up 34 more yards on the way to his second score, sealing the win and the MVP trophy. That running back substitution turned out to be much more fortunate for fifth-ranked A&M.
“I told the team that I was proud of them for getting us here,” Mack Brown said, “and next time we have to come back and win the game.”
Back in Chapel Hill, the hoop Heels had already won and set up the possibility of a sensational Saturday for all sequestered UNC alumni and fans. And there wasn’t even going to be a basketball game until a couple of days ago.
After Syracuse was the latest COVID cancellation case, it took Roy Williams and Mike Brey 30 minutes on the phone to agree Notre Dame would replace the Orange and the Fighting Irish still had a road trip when theirs to Pitt was also scrubbed by the virus.
Carolina was lucky to claim its first ACC win with non-scorer Leaky Black making the decisive basket on a driving banker from the right side. But the 1-2 team was rewarded for playing better in some of its worst categories to date.
While the Heels still shot only 35 percent overall, they made eight 3-pointers for the second straight game, had 15 assists to only 8 turnovers (2 in the second half), hit 10 of 14 free throws and played their most dominating game of the season on the boards, out-rebounding the out-sized Irish 48-27, including 21-3 on the offensive glass for 18 second-chance points.
Demonstrative Day’Ron Sharpe was a beast underneath with a college high of 25 points, including six straight that capped off a 9-0 run to pull the Tar Heels back from a 57-50 deficit with under seven minutes to play.
Williams may never settle on a starting lineup, just start who he wants to for whatever reasons and see how they all play in the first half. Kerwin Walton, the only of six freshmen not ranked in the top 100 recruits, is emerging as Ol’ Roy’s best outside shooter, hitting four more treys against ND’s mostly zone defense.
Williams started Caleb Love at the point and R.J. Davis to begin the second half, as the two lead guards spent their fewest minutes together on the court. Neither was great shakes, combining to shoot 3-for-13 and 2-for-9 from the arc, although Loves’s three-ball started the crucial run that Sharpe ended with his scoring burst.
Maybe it doesn’t matter who starts, or who plays, as long as Williams sticks with the guys doing the best for as long as they do it. Notre Dame plays hard and is well-coached by Brey, the former Dukie assistant, but the smallish Irish (3-6, 0-3) are a second-division ACC team this season.
It’s still a question whether the Tar Heels will join them there or climb above the high-water mark. The effort Saturday, compensated by good fortune, was a start.
Hours later, the football Tar Heels finished their mostly satisfying season by winning our hearts, if not their game.
Photo via the Capital One Orange Bowl.
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