An interception by safety Trey Morrison on a game-tying two-point conversion attempt with 45 seconds remaining allowed the 12th-ranked UNC football team to hold on for a 26-22 road victory on Saturday over the Boston College Eagles.

Morrison ran the interception back from the goal line to the other endzone, giving the Tar Heels their final four-point margin on the scoreboard and moving the team to 2-0 for the second straight season.

That play capped off what had been a wild final drive, with both teams committing crucial pass interference penalties before Boston College quarterback Phil Jurkovec finally found CJ Lewis for a six-yard touchdown to set up the game-turning conversion attempt.

Javonte Williams accounted for over 100 total yards and scored two of UNC’s three touchdowns in Saturday’s win over Boston College. (Photo via ACC Media)

The Eagles (2-1) had all the momentum and they had the red-hot Jurkovec–who threw the ball 56 times for 317 yards against the UNC secondary.

Morrison’s play put an abrupt stop to all of that, however, allowing head coach Mack Brown’s Tar Heels to narrowly escape with the win on a day plagued by inconsistency in the secondary.  

“I was proud of Trey at the end, and the guys played hard, but we gave up way too many passes,” Brown said. “We’ve got to go back and look at that. It’ll be good. This bunch had better protection than Syracuse, so they got more throws downfield and exposed some things that we’ve got to fix.” 

Offensively, UNC relied heavily on the star running back tandem of Javonte Williams and Michael Carter.

Williams ran for 57 yards and added another 56 in the passing game, including a 41-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Sam Howell in the second quarter. Carter, meanwhile, continued to be the team’s most dangerous big-play threat, as he piled up a team-high 121 yards on just 16 carries.

Sam Howell helped guide UNC to 401 total yards of offense against a tough Boston College defense. (Photo via ACC Media)

In the passing game, Howell was solid on his way to 225 yards and two touchdowns but had a completion percentage just a hair above 50 percent. His interception in the first half also allowed Boston College to eventually trim into what had been a 14-3 deficit.

While the Tar Heels were able to rack up over 400 total yards, the same inconsistency issues that plagued the secondary found their way to the offense in the form of unnecessary penalties. 

“I like that we got our big plays,” Brown said. “We can run the ball. We can throw it. We’re balanced. We’ve got big playmakers. I didn’t like the fact that we were so inconsistent.  

“We had a chop black,” the coach elaborated. “We had holding. We had linemen downfield twice, and that’s a real tough thing with RPO’s when Sam holds the ball a little bit longer.” 

There won’t be too many excuses coming from the Tar Heels about having three weeks in between this game and their season opener against Syracuse, but Brown expressed optimism that some of these issues will work themselves out now that the team can finally gain game experience on a week-to-week basis.

Any problems are also much easier to stomach coming after a win, especially one that comes down to the wire—a situation the Tar Heels found themselves in time and time again last season. 

“I’m really, really proud that the guys hung in there, they played tough and won on the road with a big play at the end of the game,” Brown said. “That’s something we didn’t do last year.” 

 Up Next:

The Tar Heels return home to Kenan Stadium next Saturday when they host Virginia Tech.

Game Notes:

  • UNC committed 10 penalties for 96 yards in the game, while Boston College racked up 12 for 110 yards
  • Boston College ran the ball on just 19 of its 75 plays from scrimmage.
  • This was Mack Brown’s first game coaching against Boston College in 32 years as a head coach.
  • Senior linebacker Chazz Surratt led the UNC defense with a team-high eight tackles and a sack.

 

FINAL STATS

 

Cover photo via ACC Media

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