UNC Tar Heels Football Team Missed Field Goals Led to the OT Loss Against the Wolfpack

Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

The North Carolina football team faced off against their in-state rival NC State on Friday afternoon. The Tar Heels did not get off to good start to this football game. The Heels went three and out on their first possession and NC State scored a touchdown on their first possession to go up 7-0. UNC’s offensive struggles continued in this game as they had 4 out of their 7 first-half possessions result in three and outs.

North Carolina was also only 3 of 9 on third downs and even had more time of possession than the Wolfpack in the first half. The Tar Heels were under 100 yards in both rushing and passing in the first half. Drake Maye and the offense couldn’t get anything going as they were completely out of rhythm. These struggles offensively put a lot of pressure on the UNC defense to make stops early in this game. The Carolina defense did just enough to only be down by 7 going into halftime.

For the first 21 minutes of the second half, the Tar Heels were held scoreless as the offensive struggles continued. NC State’s aggressive defense and blitz packages gave the Heels major problems all game long. As a result of the pressure, Drake Maye was never comfortable out there as everything he did felt rushed and out of rhythm. Maye missed throws all game long that he has routinely made in his previous games this season. After playing poorly for most of the second half, the UNC offense finally put a drive together where they got on the board from a Drake Maye touchdown run.

This would tie the game at 17 and give Carolina some momentum. Meanwhile, the defense was playing great as they held up as much as they could with 3 three and outs, another punt, and a forced missed field goal. With 5:23 left in the 4th quarter, The Heels had a chance to take the lead, but a bad Drake Maye pass resulted in an interception that would give NC State great field position.

This put the North Carolina defense back on the field which had been outstanding in the second half and held NC State scoreless up until that point in the game. NC State only needed 30 yards to score and did so in three plays to put them back up 24-17. UNC had one last chance to tie the game before regulation ended. The Heels would indeed drive down the field in 15 plays led by Drake Maye and score a touchdown with no time remaining.

In the first overtime, both teams were stopped and had to settle for field goals. The score was tied at 27 going into the second overtime. North Carolina would once again make a big stop and force NC State to kick a field goal. UNC would have the ball with a chance to win the game. However, the drive resulted in a 2-yard run and two incomplete passes, which meant the Tar Heels had to attempt another field goal. Only this time, Noah Burnette missed the 35-yard field goal wide left and North Carolina suffered their 3rd loss of the season.

UNC Game Stats

UNC Total Offense– 351 yards

Rushing 118 Passing 233

UNC Passing: Drake Maye 29-49-233 yards 1TD 1INT

UNC Rushing: Elijah Green 24-83 yards 1TD, Drake Maye 14-32 yards 1TD

UNC Receiving: Antoine Green 8-67 yards 1TD, Josh Downs 6-51 yards

NC State Total Offense– 330 yards

NC State Passing: Ben Finley 27-40 271 yards 2TDs

NC State Rushing: Michael Allen 12-53 yards, Jack Chambers 2-2 yards 1TD

NC State Receiving: Devin Carter 6-130 yards 1TD, Terrell Timmons JR. 2-28 yards 1TD

UNC Bright Spots

Elijah Green had 24 carries for 83 yards and one touchdown

Antoine had 8 catches for 67 yards and one touchdown

Cedric Gray led the team in tackles with 8

Don Chapman had a forced fumble.

Needs Work

The defensive line needs to do a better job of getting penetration in the backfield which results in tackles for loss and getting more pressure on the quarterback which results in sacks. They are giving the opposing quarterback entirely too much time in the pocket.

Drake Maye needs to learn how to get the ball out quicker. He holds the ball entirely too long at times and it results in sacks putting the team behind the sticks.

The offensive line needs to be much better in their pass blocking. They have too much trouble protecting Drake Maye in passing situations.

Offensive coordinator Phil Longo’s play calling has to be much better. When your quarterback is struggling and is rattled from getting hit too many times, you need to call plays that can get the ball out of his hands quicker, plays that have success against the blitz, and plays that involve the tight ends more in the offense.

Final Observations

The Tar Heels finished the regular season 9-3. The last two games by this team have been extremely disappointing. No one expected these losses after they clinched the Coastal division two weeks ago and were playing such good football. The performances by the offense in these last two games have been awful. The play-calling has been terrible and Drake Maye has played his worst two games of the season.

These problems couldn’t have come at a worse time for North Carolina. With the ACC championship game next week, UNC has to do whatever it takes in this week of preparation to get Drake Maye’s confidence back. If the offense doesn’t play well, the Tar Heels have no shot of winning the ACC championship game. The defense has been better, but cannot be depended on to win games for them. The coaching staff has to make the proper adjustments and prepare this team to come out and play like they were before these last two games. They need to end this season on a high note and go into the offseason with a bright future ahead of them instead of uncertainty. Next up is Clemson on December 3 in the ACC championship game.