Missed Field Goals Doom UNC Football in Double-Overtime Loss

The UNC football team lost both its second straight regular-season game and its second straight game against NC State Friday night, putting a disappointing bow on what had been a promising year. Though the Tar Heels will still play in next weekend’s ACC Championship against Clemson, they will do so on a losing streak — falling 30-27 to the Wolfpack in double OT.

Kicker Noah Burnette missed two short field goals in the fourth quarter and the second overtime period: the first from 27 yards which would’ve cut a late Wolfpack lead to four points, and the second from 35 to end the game. Neither came close to its target. On the final play, Carolina faced a 4th-and-3 from the NC State 18-yard line, but elected to kick a field goal and potentially force a third overtime. The ball went to the foot of Burnette, instead of into the hands of redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Maye — who the football program itself had been touting as a Heisman candidate two weeks ago.

Maye was the reason the game even saw overtime at all: he threw a game-tying touchdown pass to receiver Antoine Green as time expired in regulation. In fact, Maye may have thrown the game-tying touchdown twice — the previous snap saw him connect with tight end John Copenhaver in the end zone, only for the play to be overturned after a long video review.

Despite the late-game heroics, Maye ended the night with a second consecutive uninspiring line: 29-49 for 233 yards, a touchdown and a fourth-quarter interception which set up a Wolfpack go-ahead touchdown with 3:54 remaining. He also rushed 14 times for 32 yards and a score.

Maye found himself outperformed by the Wolfpack’s Ben Finley, a fourth-string quarterback who was not even close to the starting lineup at the beginning of NC State’s season. Several injuries at the quarterback position forced Finley into action Friday night, and he delivered the goods: 27-40, 271 yards and a pair of touchdown passes in his first career start.

The loss is UNC’s 11th in its last 16 games against the Wolfpack, and drops head coach Mack Brown’s record to 2-2 against NC State in his time back in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels themselves drop to 9-3 overall on the season and could very well drop out of the College Football Rankings entirely next week.

After facing two teams resorting to reserve quarterbacks, Carolina will now have to go toe-to-toe with the class of the conference: 11-1 Clemson, who itself is still fighting for a berth in the College Football Playoff. The Tar Heels haven’t beaten the Tigers since 2010 and have lost four straight against them, including a 45-37 loss in the 2015 ACC Championship. The Mack Brown Era 2.0 had its own memorable encounter with Clemson: a 21-20 thriller in Kenan Stadium in quarterback Sam Howell’s freshman year.

Needless to say, if UNC hopes next weekend’s game is even close to as competitive as those two encounters, it will need to fix some things. Namely, recalibrating the offense which has scored only five touchdowns in its past two games, one of which played two overtime periods. The Clemson defense, like NC State’s, ranks among the nation’s best in yardage allowed, and the Tigers know they need to put on a show to impress the Playoff Committee. If Carolina isn’t careful, a Clemson coronation could simultaneously be a bloodbath.

What a difference a few weeks make.

Featured image via The News & Observer/Ethan Hyman

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Missed Field Goals Doom UNC Football in Double-Overtime Loss

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