It wasn’t easy. With the Mountaineers, it never is.
Time after time, App State found the play it needed to stay in the game. It seemed like they were fated to win. It especially seemed like that when UNC kicker Ryan Coe shanked a 39-yard field goal as time expired to potentially win the game for the Tar Heels.
But in overtime, Carolina proved just a little better, and perhaps just a little luckier. At long last, the Mountaineers ran out of plays, and the Tar Heels escaped another upset at the hands of their in-state brethren, 40-34.
𝐃𝐮𝐛.#CarolinaFootball🏈 x #UNCommon x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/q9PqI0rAyl
— Carolina Football (@UNCFootball) September 10, 2023
“Credit to App State,” said quarterback Drake Maye. “They bring it every time we play them. They brought some fans. They had a good scheme on both sides of the ball. They came to play.”
On a day when Maye once again wasn’t at his sharpest, the ground game paced the Carolina offense. Sophomore Omarion Hampton – starting in place of an injured British Brooks – produced the best game of his young career with 26 carries for 234 yards and three touchdowns. It’s the most prolific game by a UNC running back since Michael Carter and Javonte Williams’ masterpieces against Miami in 2020.
“Omarion’s a really good player,” said head coach Mack Brown. “We saw it coming time and time again… [he] probably was the difference in the ballgame. When we needed it in the end, we rode the horse.”
Hampton’s effort offset a productive offensive day for the Mountaineers, who rushed 44 times for 219 yards in support of junior college transfer quarterback Joey Aguilar. Starting in place of injured starter Ryan Burger, Aguilar outperformed Maye at times with a pair of touchdown passes.
One Aguilar mistake, though, shifted momentum in UNC’s favor. With the game tied at 17 and the Mountaineers driving inside Carolina territory, veteran safety Don Chapman picked off a pass over the middle for the Tar Heels’ first takeaway of the season. Coe knocked in a short field goal to cap off UNC’s ensuing drive, sending the game the final quarter with the hosts ahead by three.
They led by that same margin – and had the ball – midway through the final period, but a critical holding call on center Corey Gaynor negated what would’ve been a conversion on 3rd and long, giving the ball back to App State. The Mountaineers punished the error, bleeding the clock down to 1:22 on their succeeding possession and kicking the game-tying field goal.
That set the stage for Maye, who in turn set the stage for Coe by driving the ball to the App 22-yard line with three seconds left. A long review to determine the spot of the ball, followed by a Mountaineer timeout, gave Coe several minutes to think on his kick. The unintentional and intentional icings did the job, as Coe sent his field goal more left than up. To overtime went the exhausted participants.
Injected with new life, the Mountaineers made mincemeat of the Carolina defense on their opening possession of the extra session, scoring in just three plays from the 25-yard line. UNC answered in three of its own, all of which were runs from Hampton. Coe booted the extra point through, just minutes after his startling miss.
Brown noted with pride the ability of his team to bounce back from the emotional gut punch, citing linebacker Cedric Gray and edge rusher Kaimon Rucker as standouts on the beleaguered defense.
“Those two guys are so emotional on the sideline,” said Brown. “They aren’t gonna let people get down.”
Carolina got the ball first to start the second overtime, fed the ball to Hampton for 12 more yards and let Maye pick up the final 13, as he rushed in off the option for the touchdown. Under NCAA rules, Carolina had to attempt a two-point conversion. Maye tried to call his own number again, but this time the Mountaineers stood tall at the pylon. App had the ability to win the game on its next possession.
But after allowing seemingly every critical play to go App’s way, the Carolina defense finally stood tall. Cornerback Alijah Huzzie nearly picked off Aguilar’s pass on first down and made a critical open-field tackle on third down to set up fourth-and-everything from the 20. Aguilar lofted the do-or-die pass to the end zone, and Huzzie – whose former fanbase at East Tennessee State surely enjoyed his heroics against their old SoCon rivals – made the winning play.
Game over. Three-game series – which managed to top itself at every juncture – over. The trio was decided by a combined 11 points, with Saturday’s six-point margin standing as the “largest.”
The series has undoubtedly been a thrill for football fans all over the state. But don’t expect the Tar Heels to invite their friends up the mountain back to play any time soon.
“It’s a great thing for the state of North Carolina to have,” Brown said. “I encourage NC State and East Carolina to schedule ’em and play ’em.”
Featured image via Associated Press/Reinhold Matay
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