UNC football falls to Oregon in Holiday Bowl, 28-27, after Ducks score in final minute
In a season full of close calls, North Carolina’s year concluded 19 seconds short of pulling out another one.
No. 15 Oregon scored on its final drive on a fourth-down touchdown pass to defeat the Tar Heels 28-27 in the Holiday Bowl at Petco Park. It was the ninth game this season that was decided by a touchdown or less for the Heels (9-5) and they won six of them.
“Oregon’s the best team that we played that came down to the last play of the game,” UNC coach Mack Brown said. “And we lost it with a chance to win. What I’ve asked our guys to do at all times is give me everything you’ve got. And they did that tonight.”
It was nearly enough as even on Bo Nix game-winning six-yard touchdown pass to Chase Cota, UNC safety Don Chapman tackled him so close to the goal line that officials had to review the play to make sure the ball broke the plane.
Carolina had two fourth quarter drives that could have put the game away had they scored touchdowns, but both ended with field goals. The most excruciating possession reached the Oregon 2 on a Drake Maye scramble on third down.
The ball was first spotted at the 3 leading Brown to make the decision not to go for it. The Heels were 3-for-3 on fourth down conversions and, had they converted there, they would have taken a 28-14 lead with 9:13 left. It led to the one decision Brown said he second guessed in hindsight.
“You should kick the field goal, but I’m not sure in that situation as good as they are on offense,” Brown said. “If I had it to do over, I’d obviously go for it.”
The second such drive reached the Oregon 24. But when Elijah Green was dropped for a three-yard loss on a first down run, it led to the drive stalling out. Brown didn’t have much of a choice facing fourth-and-13 but to kick it and force the Ducks to need a touchdown to win the game.
Noah Burnette made good on a 44-yard field goal to give the Heels a 27-21 lead with 2:34 left, but they left too much time for Oregon to respond.
The Ducks quickly made their way into UNC territory thanks to a 28-yard catch and run by tight end Terrance Ferguson. They got even closer when Carolina’s Donte Balfour was called for a pass interference in the end zone, which set them up at the UNC 14.
The Heels defense stiffened and forced a fourth-and-2 at the UNC 6. Carolina blitzed, but Oregon quarterback Bo Nix found Chase Cota for a completion, and he broke the plane of the end zone for a touchdown.
Oregon kicker Camden Lewis, a Charlotte native who played at Hough High School, added some drama on the extra point. His kick hit the left upright, but it still bounced through to give the Ducks the game-winning margin.
Carolina had only 15 seconds left to attempt to mount a comeback. Brown said had Carolina reached the Oregon 35, he would have attempted a field goal. Instead, it reached the Oregon 41 with one second left, leaving Maye to attempt a heave in the end zone that Bryson Nesbit attempted to make a leaping play on, but it was batted away by Oregon’s Bryan Addison.
“When there was one second left, we knew we had to sling it in the end zone,” Brown said. ”That was our only chance. We put our it tallest guys, most athletic guys out there, and Drake got it up there with still a chance.”
That the game came down to a final drive may have seemed surprising, given all that the Heels lost heading into Wednesday’s game.
Carolina played its Holiday Bowl without its top receiver; lost its offensive coordinator and offensive line coach to Wisconsin; and had its defensive depth depleted by players entering the transfer portal including its two starting cornerbacks.
Yet none of that seemed to play a factor in the game.
Defensively, only two teams held Oregon to fewer points than UNC. No. 1 ranked Georgia, which opened the season with a 49-3 shellacking of the Ducks, and Utah in a 20-17 loss to the Ducks. The Heels also allowed just 414 total yards against a team that ranked fourth nationally in total offense averaging 507 yards per game. Again, only UGA and Utah were the only two teams to hold them to fewer yards.
“If you watched us on the sideline, guys were talking having very high level conversations about what happened and what kind of adjustments we could make,” linebacker Cedric Gray said. “And I think once we made those adjustments we started to get a lot more comfortable throughout the game.”
Offensively, receivers coach Lonnie Galloway called the plays for the first time all season. The Heels didn’t play with the same tempo, but they didn’t seem to show any hiccups that weren’t already there: the running game was still an issue and scoring red zone touchdowns.
Maye had more influence on the play calls. There were occasions where he was given several plays with the option to choose the one he liked.
“It was a little bit of a scramble drill sometimes getting in personnel and late in the game clock,” Maye said. “But that’s the thing, that’s what made it fun tonight.”
The game turned to Carolina’s favor in the first half. Oregon’s offense was moving the ball with relative ease and reached the UNC 16 looking to break 14-14 tie.
That’s when UNC linebacker Power Echols pulled off an interception that probably couldn’t be duplicated if it was staged.
Nix threw the ball a bit behind intended receiver Terrance Ferguson. It then bounced off linebacker Cedric Gray’s calf before Echols unintentionally kicked it into the air as it hit his toe. Echols grabbed it out of the air and returned it 40 yards before being knocked out of bounds.
The Heels immediately took advantage of the game’s only turnover.
Maye connected with Kobe Paysour for a 51-yard touchdown to give the Heels their first lead of the game at 21-14 going into halftime.
It marked Maye’s third touchdown pass, which tied the program’s record for a bowl game and tied Sam Howell’s single-season program record with 38 touchdown passes. Maye finished with just 206 yards passing and added another 45 yards rushing.
Carolina played without its top two receivers. Josh Downs, who led the team in receptions and yards, opted out because he’s declaring for the NFL draft. Senior Antoine Green, who was second in receptions and yards and the team’s best deep threat, was dressed out for the game. But he suffered a lower-body injury and was only going to be used in an emergency situation.
Fortunately for the Heels, they played both the Appalachian State and Georgia State games early in the season without both players in the lineup. Paysour was the leading receiver in those two games, and he again played a big role against the Ducks. Paysour led the team with seven catches for 98 yards and a touchdown.
Carolina also got a glimpse of its future with freshman Andre Greene Jr. not only making his first start of the season, but making his first receptions, too. Greene got his chance to play after redshirt freshman Gavin Blackwell pulled a hamstring in practice.
Greene had only appeared in four games previously, but had the first score of the game for the Heels on a 7-yard touchdown catch.
This story was originally published December 28, 2022 at 11:46 PM.