Rusty UNC hangs on to top Boston College, moves to 2-0
Occasionally sloppy but generally stellar, No. 12 North Carolina used big days from quarterback Sam Howell and safety Trey Morrison to beat Boston College, 26-22, on Saturday.
Boston College’s Phil Jurkovec led an improbable 15-play, 69-yard drive to bring his team within 24-22 in the final minute of the game — only for Morrison, a junior logging his first official start at safety, to intercept him on the two-point conversion and return it for a defensive PAT score.
The Tar Heels, who hadn’t played since their Sept. 12 opener, overcame a few ill-timed penalties and some understandable rust to win their first road game of the season and fifth in a row dating back to last season under coach Mack Brown. It’s the longest win streak for UNC since 2015.
Along with Howell (225 yards, two touchdowns) and Morrison, UNC got big days from running back Michael Carter (16 carries, 121 yards) and an opportunistic defense that sacked Boston College quarterback Jurkovec three times and hurried him another seven times.
Howell was lights out in the first half, leading consecutive touchdown drives in the first quarter and racking up 153 yards and two touchdowns on just seven completions.
The highlight play among those throws: a 41-yard touchdown pass to Williams in which Howell danced in the pocket, stepped up, scrambled and finally pulled up right at the line at scrimmage to lob a soft pass to his wide-open running back. He also converted three third downs with his legs.
Despite allowing 256 yards in the first half, Boston College hung around by capitalizing on the few mistakes UNC made. After twice settling for short field goals after long offensive drives, the Eagles picked off a wobbly, high Howell pass at UNC’s 10-yard line after a defender hit him as he threw.
Jurkovec found his running back for a short touchdown pass to bring Boston College within 14-13 at the 11:35 mark. And late in the second quarter half, aided by a Tomari Fox roughing the passer call, Jurkovec also diced up UNC’s defense for five straight completions in a two-minute drill while trailing 21-13.
Boston College added a last-second field goal to keep the game within one possession, 21-16, at half.
On the only scoring drive of an uneventful third quarter, Boston College was called for three straight 15-yard penalties, which gave UNC a first and 10 and prime opportunity from BC’s 18-yard line. But Howell threw three straight incompletions, and North Carolina settled for a 35-yard Grayson Atkins field goal.
Trailing 24-16, the Eagles should’ve had a first down on third and 10 — but UNC safety Don Chapman made an excellent tackle in space on BC receiver Zay Flowers. Facing a fourth and one from his own 37-yard line, BC coach Jeff Hafley opted to punt with nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
That move paid off, as Boston College’s defense held and forced UNC into a long field-goal attempt, which Atkins missed wide left from 47 yards. On their next drive, the Eagles worked their way down to UNC’s 10, where receiver C.J. Lewis had a touchdown catch called back for offensive pass interference.
With Boston College backed up, North Carolina’s defense went into attack mode. Surratt logged consecutive quarterback pressures, forcing Jurkovec into a long third and goal — only for an Obi Egbuna penalty to give Boston College a fresh set of downs.
When BC finally scored on a six-yard pass from Jurkovec to Lewis, it was Morrison who saved the game for UNC, which recovered an onside kick after the conversion and moved to 2-0 on its young 2020 season.
This story was originally published October 3, 2020 at 7:13 PM.