Going bowling: How the Tar Heels dominated the Wolfpack and earned bowl eligibility

It was a year ago that Mack Brown stepped to the podium at his introductory press conference as North Carolina’s new football coach and told donors and the media that he planned to win right away.

Dressed in navy blue suit and a Carolina blue tie, Brown declared that this would not be a rebuilding process. It was a bold declaration for a coach who had been away from the game for five years and inherited a team with a 5-18 record the previous two seasons.

But Brown, a Hall-of-Fame coach, later said he felt the 2019 team had a chance to be good.

Well, Brown was right. And he can say he made good on his promise.

UNC dominated N.C. State in its regular-season finale Saturday, 41-10, on a cold, rainy night at Carter-Finley Stadium, earning its sixth win of the season and bowl eligibility.

Yes, UNC fans. The brief drought is over. The Tar Heels are going bowling for the first time since the 2016 season.

“Just proud for those guys,” Brown said, his hair drenched from the Gatorade bath he received minutes earlier. “I think I was shocked when we beat South Carolina and Miami, because we were struggling and weren’t very good.

“I feel more like now we’ve got a chance to be a good football team.”

Before Brown arrived, the Tar Heels were not a good football team. They fought hard, but often gave up huge plays on defense, committed too many penalties, couldn’t move the ball on offense and struggled to finish games.

As a result, they finished 3-9 in 2017 and 2-9 in 2018.

While the 2019 season has had its ups and downs, the Tar Heels (6-6, 4-4 ACC) are considerably better in those areas. It’s a huge reason they are bowl eligible.

“It feels great,” UNC redshirt linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel said of being 6-6. “Since I’ve been here I haven’t even been to a bowl game, and haven’t had a winning season. And we actually have a chance this year to finish the season 7-6, and that would be great. I just feel the program shifting and getting momentum and it’s going upward.”

The Tar Heels’ dominating win over the Wolfpack was a fitting end to a regular season that started with the highest of a highs — a fourth-quarter comeback win over South Carolina.

This game, though, needed no fourth-quarter comeback. By then, the Tar Heels were already in cruise control with a 24-point lead.

The Tar Heels trailed the Wolfpack 10-6 at halftime and the game appeared headed for another photo finish. Nine of the Tar Heels’ first 10 games were decided by a touchdown or less.

But the Tar Heels woke up from whatever trance they were in and scored 35 unanswered points.

“We had a plan that we were going to fight to the finish and see if they were going to fight with us,” said UNC senior safety Myles Dorn, who finished with four tackles and an interception.

The formula seemed simple.

On defense, the Tar Heels created turnovers — four to be exact.

On offense, they ran the football more effectively. Javonte Williams and Michael Carter combined to rush for 155 yards and two touchdowns. And when the Wolfpack tried to stop it, Sam Howell just threw it past the N.C. State defense.

Howell, the true freshman quarterback, who has broken program records this season, saved his best performance for last. He completed 23 of 33 passes for a season-high 401 yards passing, three touchdowns and one interception.

“We knew if we played our game, then they couldn’t stop us,” Howell said.

Howell was right. The Tar Heels outgained the Wolfpack 620-289, had 11 more first downs, and converted 7 of their 14 third downs.

After punting on their first offensive possession of the second half, the Tar Heels engineered five consecutive touchdown drives. Meanwhile, N.C. State’s second half drives ended in two punts, three interceptions, a fumble and a turnover on downs.

By the time the fourth quarter started, the stadium, which was nearly full at the start of the game, was nearly empty.

“We had to settle down and play,” Brown said of the difference between the first and second halves. “We probably tried too hard in the first half.”

When the clocked reach zero, UNC’s players were elated. They dumped a Gatorade bucket over Brown’s head. Some players ran to the locker room to prepare for the celebration and Brown’s victory dance — this week it was “The Mop.”

UNC senior offensive lineman Nick Polino, who was there in 2015 when UNC won the ACC’s Coastal Division and in 2018 when the Tar Heels finished 2-9, said he was proud of how his team finished. He said he always believed the Tar Heels were capable of earning bowl eligibility.

“I never once thought that this team wasn’t a bowl-game team,” Polino said. “I mean, we took Clemson down to a two-point conversion to try to win the game.

“There was never any doubt for me that this team was bowl capable.”

On Saturday, it finally came to fruition.

This story was originally published December 1, 2019 at 2:48 AM.