Another week, another heartbreaking loss in crunch time for the UNC football team—which surrendered a game-tying touchdown with just over a minute remaining at the Carrier Dome before eventually falling in double overtime to the Syracuse Orange by a score of 40-37.
After scoring 20 unanswered points in the second half to turn a 13-point deficit into a seven-point lead, it seemed the Tar Heels (1-5, 1-3 ACC) had all the momentum necessary to erase the pain of last week’s crushing loss to Virginia Tech in the final seconds.
Over the last five minutes, however, it all came crashing down yet again.
Kicker Freeman Jones missed a 45-yard field goal wide left that could have made it a two-score game, then the Tar Heel offense proceeded to go three-and-out on its next drive to keep Syracuse alive.
The Orange (5-2, 2-2 ACC) went on to tie things up with 1:39 left on the game clock on a beautiful 42-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Tommy DeVito to receiver Nykeim Johnson.
Syracuse head coach Dino Babers talks with quarterback Eric Dungey, who he would ultimately go on to bench in favor of backup Tommy DeVito against the Tar Heels (Associated Press)
Following another three-and-out by UNC, Syracuse had a chance to drive down for the victory but DeVito was intercepted by Tar Heel cornerback Patrice Rene at the 40-yard-line—meaning UNC would need just a handful of yards to get into field goal range.
Instead, the Tar Heels turned the ball over on downs without gaining a single yard and sent the game into overtime—where they would eventually lose in the second extra period when DeVito found a wide open Ravian Pierce in the endzone from six yards out.
For head coach Larry Fedora and company, it was just the most recent example of late-game woes continuing to erase the progress shown on the field during the earlier portions of the game.
“I mean, it’s not a lack of want-to,” Fedora said after the game. “It’s not a lack of effort. Our guys are playing extremely hard and giving everything they’ve got. I’ve got to do a better job of putting them in a position to win.”
Prior to the meltdown, the story was supposed to be about the amazing effort by the Tar Heel defense and career games from quarterback Nathan Elliott and receiver Dazz Newsome.
The defense forced five punts and created three turnovers in the second half against the top scoring offense in the ACC, while eventually forcing Syracuse to bench starting quarterback Eric Dungey.
Elliott threw for a career-high 321 yards and two touchdowns without turning the ball over once.
His top target was Newsome, who caught a career-high seven passes for 90 yards and a touchdown—and ran a punt back 75 yards for a touchdown to give UNC a 21-20 lead in the third quarter.
Instead of celebrating those efforts, though, the Tar Heels will be forced back to the drawing boards to figure out how to close things out when it matters most—a familiar refrain for this particular UNC team.
“They’ll bounce back,” Fedora said. “These guys are resilient. They care a lot about each other. They care about what they’re doing.
“You see them playing hard and giving all the effort that they have,” the coach continued. “They’ll bounce back. They’ll bounce back, and they’ll be ready to go.”
Up Next:
Another road game awaits UNC next week, as it will travel to face the Virginia Cavaliers in an ACC Coastal Division showdown. Kickoff for that game is set for 12:20 p.m.
Game Notes:
- Newsome’s punt return touchdown was the first by a Tar Heel since Ryan Switzer did it for the seventh time in his career back in 2015.
- A 56-yard run by Antonio Williams in the fourth quarter was the longest running play UNC has had this season.
- It was UNC’s first overtime game since defeating Virginia Tech 30-27 in Blacksburg back on Nov. 21, 2015–a game that clinched the Tar Heels the ACC Coastal Division title.
Cover photo via Associated Press
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