UNC’s Orange Bowl loss shows gap narrowing between Tar Heels and college football elite
The separation between where North Carolina’s football program is and where head coach Mack Brown wants it to be grew teasingly close to no longer existing Saturday in the Orange Bowl. In the end, the No. 14 Tar Heels’ 41-27 loss to No. 5 Texas A&M showed there’s still more work to do to close that gap.
UNC (8-4) entered the fourth quarter for the second time this season against a top 5 ranked team in a position to win the game. Against then-No. 2 Notre Dame on Nov. 27, it trailed 24-17 before a late touchdown with 80 seconds left sealed the 31-17 loss. In Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday, the Heels twice led the Aggies (9-1) in the fourth quarter, only to watch them rally.
Saturday was UNC’s first major bowl appearance since the 1950 Cotton Bowl. Brown believes it won’t take so long before the Tar Heels are back in a marquee bowl — and the result will be different, too.
“I’m really, really proud of the guys, I’m proud of the turnaround in two years,” Brown said in his postgame video conference. “I told them in the locker room that I’m proud that they got us here and now the next time we come, we need to win. That’s what it’s about.”
It appeared their time had arrived when freshman receiver Josh Downs hauled in a 75-yard touchdown pass from Sam Howell. That gave UNC a 27-20 fourth-quarter lead just 11 seconds after A&M had tied it. But the Tar Heels couldn’t come up with enough game-changing plays to keep pace with the Aggies.
Tar Heel players didn’t say it postgame, but the difference may simply have been the four starters who opted to begin their professional aspirations rather than play in the bowl. UNC running backs Michael Carter and Javonte Williams combined for more than 2,300 yards rushing this season. Their replacements, British Brooks and Josh Henderson, accounted for a combined 68 yards against the Aggies.
‘No question, you have to go for it’
Down 34-27, on the drive the Tar Heels absolutely had to answer with a touchdown, they couldn’t get the one yard needed for a first down to extend the drive. Brooks was stuffed on third down, Henderson got stopped short on fourth. The turnover on downs at the UNC 34 set up the Aggies’ last score.
“If you’re going to be a top-5 team, you’ve got to make a third-and-2 and fourth-and-1, it’s just that simple,” Brown said. “We went for fourth-and-4 and made it earlier. There’s no question that you have to go for it and you’ve got to make it.”
Carolina brought a number of what-ifs back to Chapel Hill and one of the biggest came with the scored tied at 27. Howell threw deep for redshirt freshman Khafre Brown, who had a step on A&M defenders. Khafre Brown had two receptions in the game for 40 yards, but let this one slip right between his arms for what could have been another 75-yard strike.
The Heels’ receivers mainly compensated for the loss of Dyami Brown, the older brother of Khafre, without problems. Dyami Brown led the team in catches and had a 1,000-yard season but was one of their opt outs. The same could be said defensively where sophomore linebacker Eugene Asante started for leading tackler Chazz Surratt, who was the lone opt out on defense. Asante led the team with 10 tackles including seven solo.
“I thought our guys out there played good enough for us to win the game,” Howell said. “... Just as a team, we didn’t make enough plays and, personally, I didn’t make enough plays for us to win the game.”
Texas A&M shows off its depth
Texas A&M lost its starting running back, Isaiah Spiller, to an undisclosed injury late in the third quarter. The Aggies tapped freshman Devon Achane, who had only 31 rushes all season, to carry the load and he delivered big.
Achane rushed for 140 yards — all in the second half — including the 76-yarder with 3:44 remaining that gave the Aggies the lead for good. Achane broke one tackle and ran down the sideline untouched for the score. Mack Brown said he felt like the Aggies wore his team down. UNC linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel said he thought it had more to do with their game plan.
“They did some things schematically that they haven’t done all year, so I think that really affected us,” Gemmel said.
Gemmel mentioned when Achane replaced Spiller as their primary back, the Aggies also used the Power-I formation and ran their counter play with a lead guard pulling. Gemmel said they hadn’t seen such a play from them in so long, he thought they threw it out of their package.
Carolina committed the game’s lone turnover on its first drive. It was only the third time in 12 games this season that the Tar Heels didn’t score a touchdown on their first possession. Instead, Howell’s interception led to the Aggies’ first touchdown thanks to a shortened field.
“We came up short, but that still doesn’t take away from the great things we’ve been able to accomplish as a team,” Howell said. “This is the first time in 70-something years that we’ve been to (a major bowl), so this team has accomplished some great things. I told our seniors in the locker room, they’ll always be remembered as the guys who brought this program back to where we’re trying to take it. And I promised those guys that we’ll be back and we’ll be on top next year.”
This story was originally published January 3, 2021 at 5:25 AM.