Let’s hope that one loss doesn’t turn into two or three or 13.
In a game the Tar Heels had no business almost winning, or at least sending into overtime, their gallant comeback effort ended with three dropped passes that all could have been caught.
Carolina was horrible in the first half with two blocked punts, serious secondary lapses, perhaps the worst pass Sam Howell has thrown in his football life, a stuffed fourth-and-1 at the Florida State 24-yard line and allowing FSU to score its last touchdown of the night on a 75-yard drive that took five plays and 45 seconds.
The Heels were much better in the second half, with help from the horrendous Seminoles who clearly haven’t learned how to win under new coach Mike Norvell. The FSU crowd, which looked more like a super-spreader in a state playing loose with the coronavirus, erupted in relief after its team survived a goose egg in the third and fourth quarters to post its first Power-5 win of the season.
Mack Brown said they didn’t lose 31-28 as much as they ran out of time, but he could have added that, thanks to some sideline confusion, they also squandered two time-outs as the play clock was winding down. Still the game played out with missed opportunities galore.
I hate the cliché, “We weren’t ready to play,” so let’s say that the Seminoles’ speed stunned a Carolina team that had physically overwhelmed three previous opponents to climb to No. 5 in the polls. New quick quarterback Jordan Travis was such a threat to run with the ball that the Heels’ pass defenders lost the receivers they were covering on several critical occasions.
The first half featured your basic nightmare scenario with the most unblocked blocked punt ever, the first of three failed fourth downs and Howell throwing a pass into the left flat that got halfway there before FSU defensive end Joshua Kaindoh had a “look what I found” moment and returned it 25 yards to the house. Brown consoled Howell on the sideline by gently tapping him on his (knuckle) head.
Highest-graded QBs in Wk 7:
1. Sam Howell, UNC – 91.6
2. Grant Wells, Marshall – 91.5
3. Hendon Hooker, VA Tech – 91.1
4. Brady White, Memphis – 91.0
5. Trevor Lawrence, Clemson – 90.8 pic.twitter.com/SEFst2ogtc— PFF College (@PFF_College) October 18, 2020
Even after the light blue had clawed back to a 24-7 deficit in the last minute of the half, Florida State kept flinging it and Carolina kept losing guys in the secondary. Somehow, Brown knew that the 31-7 deficit represented a chance to stage the greatest football comeback in school history, and that’s what he used for motivation in the halftime locker room.
That looked like a preposterous pipe dream when the ‘Noles drove the second-half kickoff right back into the red zone, before one of their 12 penalties pushed them back and their field goal kicker hooked the first of two missed attempts. And that’s where the worm turned with Howell suddenly Sam again and finding Javonte Williams, Beau Corrales and Dyami Brown for touchdown passes that brought the score to its final tally.
But not before Carolina made a few more mistakes that cost them the game or at least a chance for overtime, where the Tar Heels easily would have won because, remember, FSU hadn’t scored in the second half and by this time Travis was almost neutered by a sagging left shoulder.
In the red zone, Howell missed a fourth-down pass midway through the third quarter that cost the Tar Heels valuable time in their comeback. After touchdown tosses to Williams and Corrales and a botched two-point attempt that ate up a timeout, a spectacular, leaping one-handed interception by established hero Trey Morrison led to Howell’s dime to Dyami in the right corner of the end zone. At this point, it really looked like that historic rally was possible.
All the Heels had to do was get into the considerable range of graduate student but major-college rookie kicker Grayson Atkins, who had pulled one left of the uprights early in the fourth period. The Heels were at the FSU 41, needing maybe 10 more yards for Atkins to get a second chance.
Second-down sideline throw to Corrales, whose jersey was being held by a ‘Noles defensive back, couldn’t be Corralled. Third down pass over the middle might have been caught by the jumping Dazz Newsome, but wasn’t. And scrambling Sam found Williams alone in the left flat but threw it slightly behind him and the ball bounced away as the Seminoles celebrated their good fortune.
So, here’s the deal.
The Tar Heels first have to escape any outbreak among them after playing in a cool, very emotional atmosphere where only about half the fans in the stands wore masks and particles were flying all night.
Second, they can’t let one loss turn into a second by hanging over what might have been.
And third, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth with the 4-1 but only-average Wolfpack coming to town Saturday with their starting quarterback probably out due to an ankle injury suffered against Duke.
It’s the start of a four-game stretch against rivals way more important for recruiting than Florida State. After all, with the bottom half of the ACC standings looking rather pedestrian, Carolina needs to take care of business over the next month. If so, that trip to play Clemson in Charlotte will come down to winning the last two ACC games against Notre Dame in Chapel Hill and the U in Miami.
Now, you ’all test negative and get back to work.
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Coaches really need to do a better job of calling plays on offense. It seemed like we can it every time on first down in the first half. The play calling was terribly unimaginative especially given the much faster and stronger defense than any other we have faced this year. No misdirections or stretching the field at all in the first half. Also had we kicked the field goal earlier in the game, we would have been tied after the last touchdown. Frankly, we got out-coached more than we got out-played.