After a controversial ending to UNC’s 24-18 loss to Wake Forest on Friday, ACC officials came out Saturday afternoon and admitted their error–saying that the Tar Heels should have had one second added to the game clock.

The game ended when junior tailback Michael Carter ran the ball 13 yards to the Wake Forest 42-yard line, however it appeared that Carter’s foot stepped out of bounds with one second remaining.

Instead of initiating a replay review–which is what ACC league supervisor of football officials Dennis Hennigan said should have happened–the referees allowed the clock to run out, then promptly ran out of the stadium.

“All disciplinary measures related to the replay officials are being handled internally and the ACC considers this matter closed,” Hennigan said.

“The official on my side … he held up one second and ran up and told them,” UNC head coach Mack Brown said after the game. “The next thing I know, they’re running off [with] the ball. I would’ve liked the chance to Hail Mary.”

The ruling on the field was that Carter’s forward progress was stopped before he stepped out of bounds, but college football rules still state that the clock stops on first downs until the chains are reset.

Had the officials initiated a replay, however, the clock would have stopped at one second–allowing the Tar Heels a chance to throw a hail mary pass that could win them the game.

Carter took the blame solely upon himself for the incident, noting that he had the chance to sprint straight out of bounds with a little more time remaining.

“Honestly, I kind of slowed down to try to set the blocks up,” Carter said. “If I would’ve just run straight out of bounds, we probably would’ve had probably like three seconds left. But I thought it was going to be the last play of the game. That was a mental error by me.”

 

Photo via Neil Redmond (Associated Press)

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