UNC can finally talk about Coastal crown. What we learned in its win at Wake Forest
The path for No. 15 North Carolina to win the ACC Coastal Division first revealed itself three games into conference play. Only UNC coach Mack Brown’s approach toward it was taken straight off the Disney Encanto soundtrack:
We don’t talk about Coastal, no, no, no!
Well, after the Tar Heels’ 36-34 win at Wake Forest on Saturday earned them the Coastal Division trophy in their locker room, they’re finally free to do so. Carolina (9-1, 6-0 ACC) will take on No. 12 Clemson (8-1, 7-0) in the ACC championship game on Dec. 3 in Charlotte.
“We haven’t talked about the Coastal at all because what we said is, ‘I don’t want to talk about it,’” Brown said. “I don’t want to have to sit and look to see if somebody else is winning or losing to determine whether we go or not. That’s not the way you should win your division.”
Technically, Miami’s 35-14 win over Georgia Tech sealed the division for Carolina. But beating the Demon Deacons just made the celebration sweeter. Brown said he was not aware Michael Strickland, the ACC’s senior associate commissioner for football, was present with the trophy until he was hoisting it in the locker room.
The trip to Charlotte will be a homecoming of sorts for UNC quarterback Drake Maye, who played at Myers Park High School.
“It’s an awesome feeling headed by Charlotte,” Maye said. “I dreamed of playing at Bank of America (Stadium), never have. I played a seven-on-seven tournament there, but it’s a good feeling. That’s what we wanted. That’s what we planned for.”
Carolina still has home games remaining against Georgia Tech next week and N.C. State in the regular season finale. But its first division title since 2015 is secure.
Here’s what we learned from the Tar Heels’ win over Wake:
Drake & Josh
This season is establishing Maye and receiver Josh Downs as the greatest duo in program history. Consider this, Downs missed two games with a leg injury and is still on pace to surpass his single-season record of 101 receptions set last year.
Downs had 11 catches for 154 yards and three touchdowns Saturday. It marked his fourth straight game with more than 100 yards and he’s caught a touchdown in six of the games he’s appeared in this season.
Maye finished with a career-high 448 passing yards on 31 of 49 attempts. All of his scoring passes were to Downs.
“It’s the same ole, same ole, it’s every week,” Maye said. “I mean, y’all can keep asking, ‘What’s going on with me and Josh.’ We got a connection. He’s a great player and my job is to get him the ball when he’s open — and he’s open a lot.”
Wake Forest safety A.J. Williams was called for targeting and disqualified for his hit on senior receiver Antoine Green in the second quarter.
Maye and Downs still connected despite an injury to Green, which kept him out for the remainder of the game. Green had taken away opponents’ ability to double cover Downs by establishing himself as the team’s best deep threat.
Downs missed roughly 10 offensive snaps in the third quarter due to cramping that caused him to get IVs in the locker room.
“I was a little sore everywhere, but I can’t be weak,” Downs said. “I had to go out there and finish. Drake told me to push through. And I know Drake will push through anything. So I was like, I got to do the same.”
These guys don’t panic
There were plenty of reasons why it seemed Carolina’s five game winning streak was destined to end at Wake.
It started with Noah Burnette’s missed extra point followed by the offense missing out on opportunities to score. The one-minute offense gained just 10 yards and punted before halftime.
Carolina was 0-for-2 on fourth downs ending its first drive of the second half at the Wake 27 and its last drive of the third quarter (that carried over into the fourth) at the Wake 1. Despite all that, the Heels’ previous close wins gave them reason to believe this would simply be another.
“It just breeds a lot of confidence, just knowing that when we get into those crutch situations that we’ve been there before and we’ve done that,” Downs said. “So (we’re) just believing in ourselves, taking the moment slow but also realizing what we got to do and coming out with a victory.”
The Heels even left the door open for the Deacons to win by failing to score a touchdown despite having a first down at the Wake 5 that led to the game-winning field goal. But it seemed as though Wake panicked on its final possession.
Offensive tackle Je’Vionte Nash, a fifth-year senior, was called for holding on a play that wiped out a 44-yard reception by A.T. Perry. Carolina pressured Wake quarterback Sam Hartman into consecutive incompletions to seal the win.
“When you’ve got a team that doesn’t panic, and they keep working with confidence, that’s that’s really a cool thing,” Brown said.
Flawless fourth quarter
Wake Forest scored touchdowns on its only two drives of the third quarter and seemed to have momentum on its side. But Carolina’s defense flipped that to start the fourth quarter and ultimately changed the outcome of the game.
The Deacs marched 91 yards from their own 1 to the UNC 10 facing a third-and-3. UNC linebacker Power Echols stuffed Justice Ellison for no gain on third down, then Kaimon Rucker stopped Hartman for a two-yard gain on fourth.
“It definitely brought some light to us,” linebacker Cedric Gray said. “It was definitely a big stop because I think we were down by one at that point and they were well on their way to scoring a touchdown.”
Instead, it gave way to the Heels producing the game’s lone turnover. Carolina’s defense has come up with at least one turnover in every game this season with the exception of its game at Georgia State.
And when safety Cam Kelly picked off Hartman — for the third time in two seasons — it set up the game-winning kick.
Wake marked the fifth opponent UNC held scoreless in the fourth quarter this season.
“The way the night was going, it was an up and down fight,” Kelly said. “But it says a lot about our defense. We got so much grit, we got so much passion. We just showed that we were the tougher team right there and ended up with a big play and stops.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2022 at 8:00 AM.