Art’s Angle: Sam, I Am

Certainly, COVID 19 has cost America much more important losses in lives, health and income, but 50,000 people would have loved being in Kenan Stadium Saturday to witness Carolina’s football team win a game that, in all likelihood, saved a stellar season. 

Imagine how a packed stadium like last year against Miami and Duke would have reacted to the Tar Heels roaring back from 21 down in the third quarter with 35 unanswered points to stun a very good Wake Forest team that had all but put this game away. 

The noise during the 59-53 shootout would have been deafening and the fun abundant. 

The Deacons had decided advantages coming into the game, beginning with confidence from playing for a program that has a gone to four straight bowl games and is probably headed for a fifth this season. They also had a week off to prepare for the rival whom they consider arch. 

How about the incentives that their quarterback with the initials SH was better than Carolina’s Sam Howell in a battle to say “Sam, I am.” And that their two very good running backs were equal to Michael Carter and Javonte Williams, whom Mack Brown often touts as the best combination in the country. And that Wake’s bevy of receivers could hold their own with UNC’s named Dazz, Dyami, Emery, Khafre, Garrett and Beau (who missed the game with an injury). 

For much of the gorgeous fall afternoon in the pines, Wake Forest could claim all of that with a team that had won four in a row against an opponent that had blown out three other foes at home. 

Then, of course, there was the game where two unstoppable offenses traded high-speed haymakers until Wake Forest outscored Carolina 24-0 in the crucial last 12 minutes of the first half and first nine minutes of the second to take a commanding 45-24 lead, the third time this season that Brown’s talented team had fallen behind by at least 21 points into the second half. 

It all changed right after the other Sam (Hartman) hit favorite target Donovan Greene who was left all alone in the end zone for a touchdown that had to drive UNC defensive coordinator Jay Bateman nuts. His unit had let Wake Forest expand on 394 yards and 35 points at halftime, and had given up a field goal and touchdown on the Deacs’ first two possessions of the second half. 

“I called for the largest comeback in school history at Florida State, but we didn’t do it,” said Brown, whose team was also down 21 points at Virginia. “I’m tired of getting so far behind that it would be our greatest comeback. So proud of our guys in the second half, they stepped up when they had to and made the plays. Wake made all their third downs in the first half, and in the second half we got them off the field.” 

Howell started fast, engineering four scoring drives in UNC’s first four possession, two on 75- and 44-yard strikes to Dazz Newsome, before the offense stalled out while Wake took a 35-24 lead. Howell passed for 323 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, but was hardly on his way to breaking school records for passing yardage and touchdowns that put him in the record books until, perhaps, he does even better than 550 yards and six TD throws on the day. 

When Howell got cooking again late in the third quarter, the Brown brothers were involved. Freshman Khafre took a Howell pass and raced 75 yards to the end zone before junior Dyami was called for a downfield blocking penalty. Big bro made up for it five snaps later by catching a short touchdown pass to make it a two-score deficit. 

In a rather amazing turnaround, the Tar Heels went on to ring up five touchdowns in their last six possessions of the game, building a 14-point lead that represented 35 unanswered before Wake Forest finally scored again. By that time, it was too late for the Deacons, who suffered their third loss of the season when for most of the game they had expected to administer that fate to their hosts. 

So many plays were in the comeback. 

Carter caught a Howell pass in the flat and finished a 46-yard sprint to make it a one-score game. With the defense also coming alive to force three straight punts, Carolina tied the game on a 91-yard drive in 10 plays and the most time-consuming march of a track meet that had seen three touchdowns scored in less than two minutes and three within 60 seconds. Garrett Walston caught Howell’s sixth TD pass over his shoulder in the end zone. Javonte Williams, who had his fifth 100-yard rushing game and his 18th touchdown, kept the tying drive alive with two clutch third-down conversions, breaking tackles along the way. 

After Wake’s last punt, Howell used his legs instead of his arm to convert a third down scramble and then juking his way through the defense on a called quarterback draw to the end zone. By this time the Deacons were all but toast, giving up the ball deep in their own territory, thanks to sacks by Raymond Vohasek on third down and Chazz Surratt on fourth. Surratt led all tacklers with 14. Williams ran it in on second down from 15 yards out to give him 101 on the day and his team a 59-45 lead.

The Heels had to hang on a bit when Wake woke back up and scored quickly with less than a minute left on the clock, but Carolina covered the on-sides kick and sang the alma mater in front of the smattering of students who were allowed in the game. 

Carolina had a season-high 742 total yards, and both teams combined for 1,348, as well as 112 total points, an all-time high for the UNC-Wake series that began in 1888. 

Now, after seven straight weeks of action that included beating all three ACC in-state rivals, Brown’s 6-2 team gets a well-deserved week off before hosting Notre Dame, which thumped Boston College later in the day to probably sew up first or second place in the ACC and a spot in the championship game on December 19. Carolina also has Miami and Western Carolina left and could finish with nine wins. 

The Tar Heels still have plenty to play for, such as a New Year’s Six Bowl, especially if they can perform like they did for most of the game Saturday.

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees. You can support local journalism and our mission to serve the community. Contribute today – every single dollar matters.