FirstDOWNS. TouchDOWNS. Receptions, DOWNS. Returns, DOWNS.
We might as well add Churchill DOWNS, because Josh Downs was the horse the 8-1 Tar Heels rode to their fifth straight road victory and into the home stretch of clinching the Coastal Division and a spot in the ACC championship game.
The diversified Downs caught 15 passes of the 16 he was targeted by Drake Maye in the deceiving 31-28 win at Virginia (because the second half wasn’t really that close): one for a touchdown and nine for first downs. The last of those catches finally put away the stubborn Cavaliers and Downs finished with 223 all-purpose yards.
The junior, and likely future slot receiver in the NFL, had a 38-yard punt return that should have set up his team for a far easier win if not for too-conservative playcalling. As it were, Downs had to make a rather miraculous catch – his last of the day – when pretty much everyone on offense was going in different directions and he clutched Maye’s low throw for the first down that sealed it with 2:00 left.
Maye was the jockey who kept whipping his team into shape during a poor first half, as 3-6 Virginia hardly looked like the team that had failed to score a touchdown in four quarters and four overtimes against Miami the prior week. The Wahoos entered the game 12th in the ACC and 103rd in the nation in time of possession, but held that early advantage despite playing without its three best (injured) receivers — mostly by rushing the ball for 140 yards.
Maye gave Carolina its first lead with his ability to scramble away from pressure. His reverse field touchdown was officially only five yards but covered about 15 before he found the goal line for his fourth running TD of the season.
Head coach Mack Brown was hot at his defense early. Virginia scored on the opening kickoff in barely four minutes without needing a third down and was looking to score again when Storm Duck intercepted a pass tipped by Cedric Gray and Power Echols. It was the Wahoos’ 20th turnover on the year (they had only 18 all last season).
“We played okay in the first half, but Virginia was much better,” Brown said coming off the field.
Cavaliers quarterback Brennan Armstrong, who passed for more than 500 yards last year in Kenan Stadium, was far from the red-headed (and bearded) stepchild he had played like coming into the game. He outshone a shaky Maye in the first half with 151 yards of total offense — surpassing 10,000 for his career — and a touchdown as UVA led 14-10, the fourth game in the last six UNC has trailed at halftime.
The Cavaliers were converting only 32 percent of their third downs coming in but made 5 out of 6 in the first half before going only 3 of 8 in the second. In consecutive weeks, the Tar Heels have now stuffed opponents after halftime, holding the ‘Hoos to 145 total yards and no points between their first and last drives. And all this despite missing star defensive ends Noah Taylor and Des Evans, thanks mostly to linebacker Gray who had 16 tackles, 10 solos.
Maye almost doubled his total yardage in the second half, leading the Heels to touchdowns with their first three possessions as their injury-depleted defense rose up and kept the Cavs at bay while Carolina built a 31-21 lead. The first was a lightning strike of 75 yards on eight plays in less than three minutes, culminating with Elijah Green’s fourth touchdown of the season.
North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye steps into the end zone for a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Virginia on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, in Charlottesville, Va. (AP Photo/Mike Caudill)
With 367 total offense, Maye maintained his national lead in that race. His touchdown passes (now 31) to Downs and Elijah Green broke his NCAA tie with Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, who did not throw one in the win over Northwestern. Add his reverse-field gem in the first quarter, and Maye’s edge in “touchdowns responsible for” stands at 34.
Green, the sophomore running back, was Carolina’s quarter horse in the second half, continuing his journey from a high school tailback who never caught a pass, to a special teams’ college stud, to the injured list and fourth on the depth chart, to the clear-cut starter. Green finished with 91 yards rushing, and his one sure-handed reception turned into a 22-yard touchdown gallop down the right sideline.
Namesake Antoine Green dropped a sure touchdown in the first half, but came back with three important catches that kept the offense cooking in the second half until it stalled to the head coach’s chagrin.
“The defense closed the game, but the offense couldn’t do it,” Brown said of the cautious play-calling when one more first down would have kept Virginia from scoring its last touchdown of the dewy-then-sunny day in Charlottesville.
As UVA first-year coach Tony Elliott went ballistic at his team’s lackadaisical play in the second half, Brown became as cheerleader for Gene Chizik’s defense. “I was a consultant, just watching the game,” said the coach who broke his 0-7 record at Virginia. The five straight road wins had not been done at UNC since the end of Brown’s first stint, 1997. That was his last top-ten team at Carolina, a squad he said looked like an NFL team coming off the bus and played like it.
While these Tar Heels should move up from No. 17 in the College Football Playoff rankings due to losses of teams ahead of them, they are still far from the conversation about the football Final Four. One more win will sew up a date with Clemson, which likely is out of the CFP after a lopsided loss at Notre Dame.
So the ACC title game on December 3 in Charlotte could be for a berth in the Orange Bowl, which is contracted to take the best or next-best team in the conference. Such a match-up would be UNC’s second trip to the Orange Classic in three years after failing to get there in its 100-plus history.
Meanwhile, the 127th meeting with Virginia, the oldest football rivalry in the South, continued to tip the all-time series Carolina’s way as the Tar Heels now lead 66-57-4. Not too long ago, the Cavaliers had won four in a row.
Thanks to Maye and his favorite receiver, it was a long-awaited TakeDOWNS.
Photo via AP Photo/Mike Caudill.
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines