Don’t look now, but the UNC football team could have a number by its name by Sunday. The Tar Heels won again Saturday afternoon in South Beach, defeating Miami for the fourth straight season, 27-24.
It's All About The Heels#CarolinaFootball 🏈 @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/g6km4xWHkt
— Carolina Football (@UNCFootball) October 8, 2022
The Tar Heels never trailed in the game and led by as many as 14. Redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Maye and the offense were the story in the first half, as Maye dazzled all in attendance with a pair of touchdown passes to J.J. Jones and Josh Downs. The first to Jones went 74 yards, as the big receiver broke free on a busted coverage in the Hurricanes secondary and pranced into the end zone.
The second, to Downs, may have been the highlight of the night. As Maye faced down the Miami pass rush, he heaved up a ball for Downs across the middle dangerously. But instead of falling into the hands of a Hurricane, it fell to Downs streaking across the field. Downs evaded tacklers and leapt into the end zone for the score, his fifth touchdown reception of the season and Maye’s 21st touchdown pass. ESPN’s commentators compared Maye to Patrick Mahomes after the play.
The highlight made the score 21-7 in favor of Carolina, after an earlier rushing touchdown by freshman Omarion Hampton, his sixth.
Unfortunately, visions of Super Bowl MVPs may have danced too much in Maye’s head. After Miami scored a touchdown on its next possession, Maye threw just his second interception of the season with under 30 seconds to in the first half. The Hurricanes paid off the turnover with a field goal as time expired, slicing the deficit to 21-17 with 10 points in the final minute.
The Tar Heels received the opening kickoff, but the halftime break did nothing to cool Maye’s nerves. The same fate that befell his final pass of the first half befell his first pass of the second; Miami easily picked off a deep pass to Downs.
Fortunately for the Tar Heels, as the offense cooled off, the defense heated up. UNC stopped what had been a hot Miami offense on its next three possessions, and each in a different way. Defensive back DeAndre Boykins sacked Hurricanes quarterback Tyler Van Dyke on fourth down at midfield following the interception, allowing Carolina to take over and kick a field goal to extend the lead to 24-17.
Miami’s next drive ended in a punt, as defensive end Des Evans stonewalled a Miami run on third down. Though Van Dyke threw for nearly 500 yards on the night, the Hurricanes rushed for a measly 41 yards on 23 attempts. That’s 1.8 yards per rush.
The Hurricanes appeared poised to tie the game at the beginning of the fourth quarter, converting a fourth down on a rush by Jaylan Knighton inside the UNC red zone. But as Knighton cut upfield, linebacker Cedric Gray stuck out a hand a punched the football free of Knighton’s grasp. Defensive back Gio Biggers quickly jumped on the ball, and the defense, for all the yards it gave up, had stopped Miami again.
The UNC offense, which had been stuck in neutral for the entire second half, did what it had to following the fumble. Maye and running back Caleb Hood engineered an 18-play, 81-yard drive taking 8:21 off the dwindling fourth quarter clock, ending it with a short field goal from Noah Burnette to take a two-possession lead.
Ahead 27-17 with under five minutes to go, Carolina was on the precipice of victory. Oh, but if you thought that, you’ve not seen enough UNC football.
Van Dyke executed a 63-yard touchdown drive in just 1:43, giving the Hurricanes a puncher’s chance with 2:20 to go. Miami attempted an onside kick, which evoked memories of Carolina’s stunning collapse against NC State last November. Those nightmares nearly flared up again, as Miami appeared to recover the onside kick along the sideline. Though it was ruled Hurricanes ball initially, replay review determined a Miami player touched the ball while out of bounds, giving the ball to Carolina.
The offense still couldn’t slam the door, punting the ball back to Miami with 1:14 remaining. Out of timeouts, the Hurricanes had to scramble on every play. Van Dyke gallantly marched the offense to midfield, but a hurried throw fell into the hands of Boykins with eight seconds left. With that, Carolina moved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in ACC play.
It wasn’t easy. It never is, with this program. But in the second full week of October, Carolina has nearly equaled its win total from the disappointing 2021 season. A win next weekend would put the Tar Heels into bowl eligibility undoubtedly ahead of schedule, no matter what head coach Mack Brown says. A road tilt with Duke awaits next Saturday night at 8 p.m.
Buckle up.
Featured image via The News & Observer/Robert Willett
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