In a wild Saturday night shootout, North Carolina got in the last shot.
The Tar Heels scored on a two-yard touchdown run by running back T.J. Logan with 11 seconds remaining to give North Carolina a 48-43 win over Georgia Tech in a game in which touchdowns were scored on 13 of the game’s 23 possessions and no scoring drive measured less than 52 yards.
“You can’t miss your turn,” coach Paul Johnson said. “And we missed a couple turns.”
In a game vividly reminiscent of Tech’s 68-50 win over the Tar Heels at Kenan Stadium two years ago, the two teams combined for 1,190 yards of offense, 611 by Tech. The lead changed hands five times, one too many for the Jackets.
Said Johnson, “I’m surprised either team punted.”
In a game bringing two of the leakiest defenses in the country to the same field, both offenses predictably went bananas. North Carolina quarterback Marquise Williams set a school record for completions (38 on 47 attempts) for 390 yards and threw four touchdown passes. He was sacked just once.
Against the defense ranked 109th in the country in third-down efficiency, North Carolina converted 10 of 15 third downs, and were 2-for-2 on fourth down.
“It all starts up front,” defensive tackle Adam Gotsis said. “As a d-line, we’ve got to be able to get pressure on the quarterback. We haven’t been able to get pressure on the quarterback. We haven’t been able to do that the last two games or three games.”
Indeed, in Tech’s past two games, Duke and North Carolina attempted 72 passes and Tech mustered a total of one sack.
Tech, meanwhile, averaged 8.9 yards per play, battering the Tar Heels with scoring plays of 55, 46 and 75 yards, ending a three-game streak in which the Jackets had failed to record a single 40-yard play. The Jackets ran 69 plays and were extended to third down only eight times. It was not much of a surprise against a defense that came into the play having given up 40 plays of 20 yards or more, tied for 10th most in the country.
“We felt like we could go down and drive the ball every drive,” wide receiver DeAndre Smelter said. “Offense was flowing pretty well, except for a couple hiccups, but other than that we felt pretty good on offense.”
Tech (5-2 overall, 2-2 ACC) dropped its second game in a row after starting out the season 5-0. The Jackets’ pursuit of the ACC Coastal Division title took a hit in the process. With four ACC games remaining, it may be necessary for the Jackets to run the table against Pittsburgh, Virginia, N.C. State and Clemson and possibly require some help, namely two more losses by Duke and another by North Carolina (3-4, 1-2).
Tech will go to Pittsburgh next Saturday, the Jackets’ first visit there since 1920, to correct its course.
The Jackets’ five-game winning streak against North Carolina also came to an end.
It has been the season for reversing trends. In successive games, the Jackets beat Virginia Tech to end a four-game losing streak to the Hokies, defeated Miami to stop their five-game losing streak to the Hurricanes and then last week saw their 10-game winning streak over the Blue Devils end before Saturday’s streak-killer.
In a game in which every possession mattered, Tech handcuffed itself early by losing a fumble resulting from a poor pitch by quarterback Justin Thomas on the opening drive, and then on the third drive, when a false-start by offensive tackle Errin Joe negated a five-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal from the UNC 5-yard line and forced a field goal.
Tech’s desperation was clear. Down 35-31 with 14:50 to play in the fourth quarter and unwilling to fall behind by two possessions, Johnson elected to try an onside kick. Kicker Harrison Butker dribbled the ball forward and just missed recovering it himself, but North Carolina recovered, giving the Tar Heels the ball on their 48-yard line.
On the ensuing drive, Tech managed to get North Carolina into third down, and the Jackets forced fourth down by sending six men in a blitz at Williams, resulting in a sack and one-yard loss. The Tar Heels faced fourth-and-6 from the Tech 36-yard line. In a bit of a no man’s land – the Tar Heels’ longest field goal this season is 23 yards – coach Larry Fedora chose to go for the first down.
Defensive coordinator Ted Roof, loathe to blitz, dialed up the pressure even more. He sent seven defenders at Williams, a high-risk gamble. Williams dropped back and beat the blitz by throwing down the left sideline for wide Mack Hollins, who leapt high over cornerback D.J. White for the ball inside the 5-yard line and scored with relative ease, pushing North Carolina’s lead to 42-31 with 12:34 to play.
However, Tech responded again, driving 72 yards in just nine plays, scoring on B-back Zach Laskey’s 14-yard touchdown run. The Jackets failed to score on a two-point try – they were 0-for-2 last week against Duke on two-point attempts – to leave the score at 42-37 with an even eight minutes to play.
And, finally, the Tech defense asserted itself, forcing just its third punt when the Tar Heels came up short on third-and-11 from their 48-yard line. It ended a spree in which North Carolina scored touchdowns on six of seven possessions on drives averaging 69 yards.
On the next drive, Tech was saddled by a clipping penalty on A-back Charles Perkins, giving the Jackets a first-and-25 from their 25-yard line. On the next play, Thomas ran right on an apparent option play, but then flipped the ball to Smelter, running from right to left. He caught the toss in stride and ran 75 yards down an alley down the left sideline to give Tech a 43-42 lead with 3:07 to play. It proved to give North Carolina too much time to take back the lead.
Said Perkins, “Just one play short, one drive short.”
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