What we learned about UNC football in its first ACC loss of season — to Georgia Tech
No. 13 North Carolina’s 21-17 loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday was yet another example of the Tar Heels’ inability to play a complete game.
If their defense allowed just three touchdowns in any of the previous 10 games this season, Carolina (9-2, 6-1 ACC) would win them all. But it wasn’t good enough on this night. In fact, the Heels squandered a 17-0 lead to mark the largest road comeback in Georgia Tech history.
Afterwards, UNC coach Mack Brown lamented his team’s inconsistencies.
“At times, we played the best defense we’ve played, that’s what’s sad about us not playing as a team,” Brown said. “We haven’t played as a team all year, we’ve played quarters, we don’t play games, so it’s very disappointing.”
Here’s what we learned from the Heels’ loss:
A different type of defeat
The loss to brought out a much different feeling than the only other time Carolina lost this season.
When the Tar Heels fell to Notre Dame 45-32 in September, there was a lot to be optimistic about from how they performed. This loss to the Yellow Jackets though? After clinching the ACC Coastal Division crown and finishing with a 6-0 record on the road, it was downright deflating.
Georgia Tech (5-6, 4-4) by most measures is not a good team. And the Jackets were playing without their top two quarterbacks and missing their top receiver. Carolina was supposed to be on the up tick, headed to Charlotte in two weeks to play for the ACC championship for just the second time ever.
That’s why UNC quarterback Drake Maye said it was so disappointing.
“We felt like we were going in the right direction,” Maye said. “And coming off a win like we had at Wake (Forest) and just the spot we were in, this one just hurts the heart a little more. But at the same time, it’s a learning experience and we’ve got two big games coming up and we’ll focus on those and we’ll get back after it. We’ll be back for sure.”
Stuck in the middle
Brown stresses the importance of winning the middle 10 — the last five minutes to end the first half and the first five minutes to start the second. It ran a little longer than that, but Brown said Georgia Tech changed the game by scoring touchdowns on its last full drive in the first half and its first drive of the third quarter.
Carolina’s last drive of the second quarter began with 44 seconds left and got a boost on the kickoff return when the Jackets got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. UNC took over from its own 35. A personal foul penalty on center Corey Gaynor helped ruin the drive and the Heels ended up punting.
On their first drive of the third quarter, Elijah Green fumbled on a first down run and although he was able to recover it, the Heels lost 13 yards on the play.
Carolina ran nine plays combined in the middle eight and was held to minus-three yards.
“They go down and score very easily right before the half and we don’t with enough time to come back and score,” Brown said. “And then we don’t score the first drive of the third quarter and they come down and score very easily. So it’s a 14 point swing when it should have been a 14 point swing for us. The middle five’s really, really important and they took advantage of going into halftime and the momentum coming out and we never got it back.”
Seeing red in the zone
Carolina entered the game having scored touchdowns on 76 percent of its red zone opportunities. But the last two games haven’t been so smooth.
In the second half of last week’s win over Wake Forest, Carolina had one drive reach the WF 1 and another that reached the WF 5, but it only got three points out of it. Now it did happen to be the game-winning field goal in the fourth quarter. But had the Heels scored touchdowns in both of those situations, they win the game with ease.
There was more of the same against the Yellow Jackets. Carolina had a possession end in a field goal after reaching the Tech 8. And it had another that reached the Tech 6, but turned the ball over on downs when Maye was dropped one yard short of the first down.
Then there was the final drive of the game for Carolina. When a 25-yard catch by Josh Downs set them up at the GT 18. Maye was tackled for a 1-yard loss on first down. Threw incomplete consecutive passes to Kamari Morales and D.J. Jones. And on fourth down, Downs dropped a sure touchdown pass.
“We didn’t score touchdowns in the red zone,” Brown said. “We left 14 points off the board in the first half.”
This story was originally published November 20, 2022 at 7:10 AM.