Once again the UNC football team found itself in the midst of a spirited fourth quarter comeback on Friday night in Winston-Salem, but this time it was just a bit too late—as the Wake Forest Demon Deacons held on for a 24-18 victory.
UNC fell to 2-1 this season after suffering its first loss, which can largely be blamed on an extremely slow start to the game.
Forced to climb out of a 21-0 deficit coming out of halftime, the Tar Heels did everything they could to reach back into the same bag of tricks they used in their previous comeback wins over South Carolina and Miami.
Sam Howell nearly led UNC to its third straight fourth quarter comeback victory, but ultimately came up short against Wake Forest. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
After getting a 49-yard field goal in the final minute of the third quarter, UNC then put together back-to-back touchdown drives led by true freshman quarterback Sam Howell to draw within three points with just over six minutes to play.
Unlike the Tar Heels’ first two opponents, however, Wake Forest (3-0) refused to fold.
Quarterback Jamie Newman, like Howell, was calm, cool and collected in crunch time—taking five minutes off the game clock as he led the Demon Deacons to a short field goal.
Having used all its timeouts, UNC would need to drive 75 yards for a touchdown without being able to stop the clock.
Howell managed to move the Tar Heels nearly half that length, but the game would end on a run by Michael Carter—who stepped out of bounds with one second remaining. Referees didn’t see his foot hit the boundary, though, denying head coach Mack Brown’s team one last shot at a third straight miracle victory.
“It was like two different games,” Brown said afterwards. “Our guys came back the second half and fought through the adversity of the third quarter.
“As Coach [Darrell] Royal used to say, you don’t lose a game like this,” the Hall-of-Famer added. “You run out of time. Because if we’d had a little bit more time—or one more stop with the defense, who played great the second half—then we go win the game. But we didn’t. And we gotta learn from that.”
Wake Forest was able to put UNC in that early hole with strong defense, excellent play from Newman behind center and early dominance from receiver Sage Surratt.
The Demon Deacons forced eight punts and recovered a fumble deep in UNC territory on the Tar Heels’ nine first-half drives. The fumble by Javonte Williams ultimately led to the first of Newman’s two touchdown runs.
With Wake Forest up 14-0 after Newman’s second touchdown, he then found Surratt—who ended the game with nine catches for 169 yards—shortly after for a long 51-yard touchdown.
UNC tried benching Howell in favor of backup Jace Ruder before halftime, but the offense still couldn’t gain any kind of traction.
If there’s anything this group of Tar Heels has demonstrated in recent years, though, it’s that they don’t lay down for anybody. That was proven once again in the second half on Friday, which provides a silver lining moving forward.
On top of that, the game did not count in the conference standings and Brown gets the opportunity to teach his guys a valuable lesson.
“I can’t coach a team that quits,” Brown said. “I can’t coach a team that lays down. I can’t coach a team with bad body language, and one that gives in.
“And I thought our team stayed as positive and worked as hard they could,” he continued. “I actually thought we were gonna have another miracle win. We just can’t keep cutting it down to the wire like this. We’ve gotta play better early.”
Up Next:
The Tar Heels return home for their next game on Saturday, Sept. 21 when they host the Appalachian State Mountaineers at Kenan Stadium. Tickets are sold out.
Game Notes:
- UNC’s two touchdowns were scored on an 11-yard strike from Howell to Carter, and another from 17 yards out to Dyami Brown.
- Howell finished the game 17-for-28 for 182 yards. Through three games, he has thrown six touchdowns without throwing a single interception.
- Already missing starting cornerback Patrice Rene due to a torn ACL, the Tar Heels became more shorthanded defensively when it was announced prior to the game that top defensive lineman Jason Strowbridge would sit out with a lower-body injury.
- Wake Forest used a balanced offensive attack all night long, gaining 214 yards through the air and another 222 on the ground.
Cover photo via Associated Press
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