When combating a yellow jacket in nature, one has to be ready for the bug’s persistence. Swat it away once, twice, and it’ll come back for more. A few more times and you may get stung.
That’s exactly what happened to Carolina Saturday night in Kenan Stadium. Georgia Tech, a 21-point underdog, came into Chapel Hill and stunned the No. 13 Tar Heels 21-17, torpedoing UNC’s slim College Football Playoff chances and souring Carolina’s journey to the ACC Championship next month.
“I didn’t do a good job. I didn’t have [the team] prepared,” head coach Mack Brown said afterward. “I thought we were mature enough to play in what would be called a ‘trap game.’ I thought we were beyond that after Virginia, but we obviously weren’t. We did a poor job preparing them, and didn’t play well enough to win.”
UNC opened the game with an 80-yard touchdown run from Elijah Green on its first offensive snap, but couldn’t capture that same magic afterward. Green’s second touchdown of the game, a one-yard run, gave Carolina a 17-0 lead in the second quarter, but the Yellow Jackets scored 21 unanswered points after that to steal the win.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Maye ended without a touchdown for the first time this season, finishing just 16-30 for 202 yards and his first interception since the Miami game in October. That pick came inside the Yellow Jacket red zone, prematurely ending UNC’s most promising second-half drive to that point. Another long Elijah Green touchdown run, this one for 68 yards, got negated by a holding penalty on tight end Bryson Nesbit.
“Uncharacteristically, we really played poorly on offense,” Brown said. “We dropped passes… we were 4-14 on 3rd downs. We were 2-4 on 4th downs, which we were so good at. And we only scored twice out of five times in the red zone and left a lot of points on the board.”
Other offensive drives ended in tackles for loss or sacks. The Yellow Jackets compiled 12 tackles for loss and six sacks on the night, a reminder of their dominating win in Atlanta a season ago.
“It starts with me. The offense starts with me,” Maye said. “It’s my job to move us down the field and score points, and we didn’t do that tonight. It’s any given Saturday in college football. I’ve gotta do my job. It just sucks.”
On the Georgia Tech side, the Yellow Jackets switched between third-string quarterback Zach Gibson and fourth-stringer and Clemson transfer Taisun Phommachanh all night, utilizing Phommachanh in the red zone. He scored one of Georgia Tech’s three touchdowns in the comeback.
And despite all that, Carolina still had a potentially game-winning touchdown in its grasp — literally. Facing a 4th-and-11 from the Georgia Tech 19-yard line with 4:10 left, Maye rolled away from Yellow Jacket pressure and threw to an open Josh Downs in the end zone. The ball fell right into his hands, and then right through them. The drop didn’t quite seal UNC’s fate, but the Yellow Jackets were able to run out the clock by picking up a pair of first downs. By the end of the night, there were only golden-clad fans in Kenan Stadium.
Downs finished with by far his worst game of the season: just three catches for 31 yards on five targets. Still inconsolable after the drop, Downs sprinted off the field immediately after the clock hit 0:00 and was the first Tar Heel into the tunnel.
“I told him stay out of trouble tonight, be safe, get some sleep and get ready for NC State,” Brown said. “All of us are disappointed, and he’s a competitor. Obviously the whole team’s very disappointed.”
“What a player,” Maye said of Downs. “The thing’s he’s done for Carolina, one play’s not gonna define him, with how many plays he’s made versus that one. He’s gonna be down on himself; that’s the type of guy he is. I told him if we got the ball back, I’d come right back to him. He’s the best player we’ve got. I love that kid. He’s great to play with.”
Earlier in the week, Brown said the Yellow Jackets “ruined our season” with a 45-22 defeat in Atlanta last year. This year, Carolina still has plenty to play for: a rivalry with NC State and the team’s first ACC title since the Jimmy Carter administration.
The loss in a vacuum doesn’t completely change the complexion of Carolina’s season. All of its goals are still in front of it. What matters now is the bounce-back effort in just six days’ time.
“We felt like we were going in the right direction,” Maye said. “Coming off the win at Wake, just the spot we were in. This one just hurts the heart… but at the same time, it’s a learning experience. We’ve got two big games coming up. We’ll focus on those, we’ll get back after it, and we’ll be back for sure.”
Featured image via The News & Observer/Robert Willett
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