University of North Carolina Athletics
Turner's Take: Isn't Going To Change
December 6, 2015 | Football, Featured Writers, Turner Walston
By Turner Walston
“It isn't going to change.” So said Larry Fedora when asked about the offside call on an onside kick attempt that his team had recovered with 67 seconds on the clock. The call meant the Tar Heels had to kick again, and Clemson recovered the ensuing try. A first down later, the Tigers were ACC champions.
The consensus among those watching around the country was that the call was missed, that no Tar Heel was offside. In any case, the call happened. “I don't know that we would have gone down and scored,” Fedora said, “but there was like a minute and eight seconds left on the clock, and we should have had the ball at about midfield, and the way we had moved it the last couple of series, I would have felt pretty good about that, [but] it isn't going to change.”
Indeed, it isn't going to change. A few weeks ago, the ACC reviewed the end of Miami's win over Duke and determined that the Hurricanes' game-winning kick return shouldn't have been. But the result stood. It isn't going to change. And no matter what happens this week in Greensboro, it isn't going to change the result.
Saturday night in Charlotte, Carolina came up short in their bid for the ACC championship. The nation's best team, Clemson proved their standing by winning battles at the line of scrimmage, enforcing their tempo offensively and dominating time of possession. Carolina had their chances, but two possessions, on either side of the intermission, swung momentum over to the Tigers, who never looked back.
Carolina led 16-14 with 2:20 remaining in the second quarter. After a Clemson punt and targeting penalty, the Tar Heels began at their own 38-yard line. Here was a chance to go up by two scores, kick a field goal to go up five, or at the very least, run out the clock and take the ball to start the second half. But the Tar Heel drive took just 24 seconds, consisting of two incomplete passes and a Clemson sack. Carolina used 24 seconds to lose six yards. After the Tar Heel punt, Clemson, which to that point had possessed the ball for nearly ten minutes of the second quarter alone, drove the ball 68 yards on a gassed Tar Heel defense to take the lead just before halftime.
Next, needing a score to open the third quarter, Carolina saw its comeback chances short-circuited when Marquise Williams' pass was intercepted by Clemson's Cordrea Tankersley. Thirteen plays later, the Tigers were up two scores.
This is football. A team seeking an upset can't hurt itself with missed opportunities, mistakes and turnovers and expect to compete with the nation's best.
And yet, despite all that, despite a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit, despite a 17 minute and 52 second difference in time of possession, despite even a Williams fumble that set up a Clemson field goal midway through the final stanza, the Tar Heels were right there with a minute and seven seconds to go. Down eight, needing to recover an onside kick to give themselves a chance. Here they were, the underdogs who'd had six wins against seven losses a year ago, with a chance.
Way back in July, Clemson was projected to be conference champions by media that cover the ACC. They'd received 84 first-place votes in the preseason poll. Clemson was supposed to be here. The Tar Heels, meanwhile, had received four first-place votes in the Coastal Division and were projected to finish fifth of seven Coastal teams.
Then, they'd simply gone out and won 11 straight games, run through the regular-season conference schedule and become Coastal and state champions. All last week, Carolina was in the national college football conversation. The football team ranked higher in the AP poll than the men's basketball team. The Tar Heels raised eyebrows around the country. And the fans who'd had their backs all year long (and for countless years before) beamed with pride.
Those fans showed up on Saturday, too. Clemson clinched the Atlantic Division two weeks before the Tar Heels, and the Tiger fans had eagerly snatched up general admission tickets, making Bank of America Stadium the third straight hostile environment Carolina had faced, but the Tar Heel faithful made their noise, too. They were on their feet when the Tar Heels took an early lead, and they were behind them when the Tar Heels clawed back in it. Previous Tar Heel teams might have folded, but not the 2015 team, who'd come from down 21 at Georgia Tech, who'd won a crucial Thursday night game at Pittsburgh, who'd beaten Frank Beamer in his final home game. They'd never given up, not Saturday, not all season long. They gave themselves a shot at the ACC title, and though they hadn't brought their 'A' game, the Tar Heels were right there with the Tigers.
After the final whistle, the teams shook hands and the Tigers began to celebrate a conference championship. The Tar Heels slowly made their way to the end zone in front of the Marching Tar Heels, who then played the alma mater. The Tar Heel players stood their, swaying, appreciative of the Carolina faithful who'd made the trip and stayed until the end, the fans and alumni who'd had their backs. The Tar Heels held their heads high. As they jogged into the tunnel, fans of both schools applauded their efforts.
Congratulations to Clemson, who will go on and play in the College Football Playoffs. Good luck to them. But congratulations too to the Tar Heels, who defied expectations all season long. The offside call isn't going to change, and neither is the result. But the resolve that the Tar Heels played with, and the pride the fans have in their team? That isn't going to change, either.
Turner Walston is the editor of CAROLINA digital magazine. Follow Turner on Twitter.
