With Friday’s Sun Bowl in El Paso seemingly viewed as an NFL Draft audition for UNC junior quarterback Mitch Trubisky, Stanford defensive end Solomon Thomas and safety Dallas Lloyd decided they might as well steal some of the spotlight for themselves.

Lloyd forced Trubisky into three turnovers in the No. 18 Cardinal’s 25-23 victory–while Thomas sacked the Ohio native on a potential game-tying two-point conversion with less than 30 seconds remaining.

Head coach Larry Fedora made a controversial decision to punt with his team trailing late in the fourth quarter, but he was rewarded with a three-and-out by the Tar Heel defense that gave Trubisky a chance to lead yet another heroic comeback.

After leading UNC to wins over Pitt and Florida State in similar fashion earlier in the season, it seemed only right that he do it again for all the scouts in attendance.

Stanford safety Dallas Lloyd (29) made life miserable for UNC quarterback Mitch Trubisky on Friday–intercepting him twice. (AP Photo/ Mark Lambie)

Having thrown a pick six to Lloyd to begin the final period, Trubisky responded under pressure this time—conducting an incredible 97-yard touchdown drive over the final two minutes.

His two-yard scoring toss to Bug Howard traveled more like 20 yards in the air after he escaped Thomas and the rest of the Stanford defensive line on a play that will surely be shown on any of his college highlight reels.

Then came the game’s biggest question mark.

With the Cardinal showing an all-out blitz on the two-point conversion UNC needed to tie the game, Fedora sent Trubisky to line up under center—something UNC almost never does.

The play didn’t stand a chance, as Stanford swallowed Trubisky in the backfield and handed the Tar Heels (8-5) their third straight bowl loss.

“It’s a play we’ve been working on for about two years,” Fedora said after the game. “We just didn’t get it executed.”

While both teams were playing without their starting tailbacks—Elijah Hood for UNC and Christian McCaffrey for Stanford—the Tar Heels were never fully able to be anything more than one-dimensional. On 37 rushing attempts, the Tar Heels averaged just more than three yards per carry.

This led to a lot of forced passes for Trubisky—who finished with 280 yards and two touchdowns. It also meant the Cardinal pass rush could pin its ears back and get after the quarterback, knowing that there was not much threat of a running game between the tackles.

Lloyd, a senior safety for the Cardinal, was able to take advantage of the pressure and bait a hurried Trubisky into a pair of ill-advised interceptions.

He also was officially credited for a forced fumble on a freak play where Trubisky scrambled and ran into a referee, who accidentally stripped the ball free.

But the true star of the game was Thomas, a junior defensive lineman that simply refused to be blocked at any point on Friday.

“I’m not sure if we blocked him throughout the entire day,” Fedora said of Thomas. “Every play that was made seemed to be number 90. I think he’s not only a good player, I think he’s a dominant player.”

The fact that UNC ever had a chance to make a comeback drive is a testament to the Tar Heel defense.

Former Wake Forest Rolesville star Bryce Love filled in admirably for Stanford at the tailback position–tallying 119 yards on the ground and catching a 49-yard touchdown pass. (AP Photo/ Mark Lambie)

Led by junior defensive tackle Naz Jones—a player who’s already announced his intention to enter the NFL Draft—UNC was able to keep Stanford from capitalizing on the red zone opportunities it gained from Trubisky’s turnovers.

After losing starting quarterback Keller Chryst to a knee injury early in the afternoon, the Cardinal finished with just 283 yards of offense.

However, they received just enough timely plays–including a 49-yard catch-and-run touchdown from backup tailback Bryce Love—to get the job done.

“I can’t be more proud of the way the defense played,” Fedora said. “We gave up the one long run, I believe, and other than that they played their butts off.

“We put them in some tough situations—we turned the ball over three times on offense,” the coach continued. “That’s the difference in the game.”

With many of this team’s key players either graduating or turning professional, Fedora will be forced to reflect on what might have been for 2016.

A season that began with such high hopes ended with the Tar Heels losing three of their final four games while failing to meet any of their preseason goals.

The UNC football program as a whole has certainly taken a huge stride forward under Fedora, but don’t think for a second that the head coach is in any mood to flush his feelings away after ending the year with such a thud.

“You don’t flush it,” Fedora said of the emotions felt after the loss. “You let it eat at you the whole rest of the year until you play again. That’s what you do.

“If it means enough to you, it’ll eat at you until you step out there again.”

Game Notes:

  • UNC’s 19 wins over the past two years under Fedora are its most over a two-year stretch since winning 21 in 1996 (10) and 1997 (11).
  • Trubisky set the UNC single-season record for total offense with 4,056 yards, breaking the previous mark of 4,020 set by Marquise Williams in 2015.  Trubisky and Williams are the only two players in UNC history with more than 4,000 total yards of offense in a season.

  • Stanford’s 283 yards were the second-lowest total by a UNC opponent all year.
  • UNC’s all-time bowl record is now 14-19.

 

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