University of North Carolina Athletics
Car-O-Lines: Recent Games With Tech Have Been Wild Ones
September 28, 2000 | Football
Sept. 28, 2000
y Rick Brewer, Sports Information Director Emeritus
Read Other Car-O-Lines Columns by Rick Brewer
Recent meetings in the North Carolina-Georgia Tech football series have produced some of the most stunning and surprising results of any games the Tar Heels have played in the last two decades.
In fact, of the last 16 games between the two schools, 10 have been decided by a touchdown or less. Frantic finishes have been the norm when these two teams have played.
There was the 1986 game when Lee Gliarmis had to kick three straight extra points--the last one from 30 yards-- to secure a 21-20 victory with only 1:12 to play.
Jonathan Hall hit five of six passes on a late 62-yard drive to tie the game, throwing 11 yards to Eric Lewis for the tying touchdown. Back-to-back procedure penalties forced Gliarmis to make his long extra point to give the Tar Heels the lead.
Tech got back to the Carolina 48, but David Bell's 55-yard field goal attempt fell short on the game's final play.
Last year in Atlanta the Yellow Jackets scored a wild 31-24 overtime victory. Joe Hamilton drove his team from the shadow of its own goal in the final 70 seconds, setting up a game-tying 36-yard field goal by Luke Manget. Hamilton's six-yard touchdown run in overtime then proved to be the game-winner.
Of course, this was the game in which Tar Heel quarterback Ronald Curry tore his Achilles tendon and missed the rest of the season.
The 1984 showdown in Kenan Stadium saw Tech out-gain the Tar Heels 495 yards to 394, but Carolina escaped with a 24-17 victory. Quarterback Kevin Anthony was the big hero, throwing for a pair of touchdowns and catching one scoring pass himself from tailback Ethan Horton.
The Jackets almost pulled this game out, driving from their own 21 to a first down at the Carolina 20 in the game's closing moments. But, on a third-and-four play at the 14, defensive end Noel McEachern threw Tech's star tailback, Robert Lavette, for a six-yard loss. John Dewberry's fourth-and-10 pass then fell incomplete to seal the Carolina win with just 1:54 left.
But, for a complete turnaround in the flow of a game, it's unlikely any can match the 1987 battle at Grant Field.
Carolina staggered into that game with major injuries in its secondary, at tailback and at tight end. By early in the third period, the staggering had reached the point where the Yellow Jackets were about to deliver a knockout punch.
Tech led 20-3 at halftime and took the opening kickoff of the third quarter inside the Tar Heel 20. But, on second down there, cornerback Derrick Donald made the first of several key defensive plays, intercepting a Rick Strom pass in the end zone.
Six plays later Tech had the ball back after recovering a fumble. The Jackets then went on a 12-play, 76-yard drive for a first-and-goal at the Carolina one. But, linebacker Brett Rudolph hit Malcolm King there, forcing a fumble. Donald recovered at the two with 4:33 to go in the third period.
Carolina Coach Dick Crum and Jacket Coach Bobby Ross both later pointed to that play as the biggest of the game.
"We simply made the wrong cut," said Ross. "We should have gone outside, instead of inside. We tried to go over the top and fumbled. I thought that was a real turning point."
Fullback James Thompson carried twice to the seven, giving the Tar Heels a little breathing room. On third down, Mark Maye dropped back and fired to flanker Randy Marriott down the middle. Marriott had gotten behind the Jacket secondary and never broke stride in finishing a 93-yard scoring play, the longest pass completion in Tar Heel history.
"That play gave us some confidence," said Maye. "Until then it seemed like there was a stone wall at the end zone. But, that helped us realize we had some things that would work if we'd just use them."
Thomas Palmer kicked a 52-yard field goal on Tech's next possession, giving the Jackets a 23-10 lead heading into the final quarter. The Jackets held the ball for 11:54 of the third period, but Carolina had kept its hopes alive with Donald's two defensive plays and the long touchdown pass.
Crum had decided at halftime to let Maye run a two-minute offense the entire second half.
"We knew that Mark could handle it easily," explained Crum. "The idea was to make it difficult for them to get in some of their different defensive alignments. Mark could check off at the line of scrimmage and run any play he wanted. He made some excellent calls to get us going."
Still, the Tar Heels' first possession of the fourth quarter stalled when a fourth down play failed at their own 48. But, the Jackets started to go backwards when they drew a 10-yard holding penalty and defensive tackle Tim Goad sacked Strom for another 10-yard loss. Tech eventually had to punt and Eric Lewis brought it back to the Carolina 41 with 11:49 to play.
After tailback Kennard Martin was thrown for a one-yard loss, Maye completed four straight passes--two to Marriott covering 29 yards, one to Martin for eight and then 23 to Lewis for a touchdown. Kenny Miller's extra point was ruled wide right and the Tech lead was 23-16.
The Jackets managed one first down on their ensuing possession before punting to the Carolina 22. With Martin and Eric Starr banged up, Torin Dorn was sent in at tailback. Dorn was not completely healthy himself, but had played briefly in the first half.
He was brilliant in Carolina's "hurry, hurry" attack. He grabbed a three-yard pass on first down and, with Tech expecting another throw, sprinted off the right side for 18 more. Maye threw to Marriott for 17 and Dorn broke a draw play for 15 to the Jacket 25. After an incompletion, Maye found Marriott in the end zone and Miller's PAT tied the game with 6:48 to play.
Victor Bullock, subbing for the injured Howard Feggins at right cornerback, made an unbelievable one-handed interception two plays later, returning it 17 yards to the Jacket 34.
"We do that in practice, but I've never thought about it in a game," said Bullock afterwards. "However, I was in an awkward position and that was the only way to get the ball."
Dorn picked up 12 yards to the 22. Three plays later Maye found Marriott with a game-winning 18-yard touchdown throw. Miller's kick made it 30-23 with 4:32 on the clock.
Tech drove back to the Carolina 23 in the final seconds. However, Norris Davis batted down a pass at line of scrimmage on a safety blitz, Carlton Bailey sacked Strom for an eight-yard loss, John Reed sacked him for an 11-yard setback and a fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
Maye finished with a school-record 420 yards of total offense, completing 23 of 38 passes for 406 yards. Marriott had nine catches for a Carolina-record 247 yards and three touchdowns.
"Randy was getting open on a middle route," said Randy Walker, the team's offensive coordinator. "Tech was overplaying our receivers to the outside and we simply took advantage of it. We told Mark if he got in a rhythm to go for what he saw and, boy, did he get in a rhythm."
Carolina will need to get into that type of rhythm again this weekend against Tech in a series that has recently seen some of the closest games in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
