Extra Points: Comic Relief

November 18, 2018 | Football, Featured Writers, Extra Points

By: Lee Pace

By Lee Pace

Roger Staubach grew up a devout Catholic and was also a fan of the 1974 movie The Godfather II, in which Fredo Corleone tells his nephew his boyhood secret for catching fish. "Every time I put the line in the water, I said a Hail Mary, and every time I said a Hail Mary I caught a fish," Fredo said, moments before being popped by one of his brother's goons on a fishing boat in Lake Tahoe. It was that thought Staubach had in mind when he heaved a 50-yard pass to Drew Pearson on the frozen tundra in Minnesota to lift the Dallas Cowboys over the Vikings in the 1975 NFC playoffs.

"I closed my eyes and said a Hail Mary," Staubach said.

Since then, Doug Flutie and Gerald Phelan of Boston College have added to the lore of a play that has written its own chapter in the annals of football history—a desperation heave into the end zone at the end of a half. Flutie launched the ball for a 52-yard touchdown as the Eagles stunned Miami in 1984, and over the years quarterbacks like Jim McMahon, Kordell Stewart, Kirk Cousins and Tim Couch have connected on miracle touchdown passes. And it's happened at least once in Tar Heel history, that in 1995 when Mike Thomas connected with Darrin Ashford for a 40-yard score to end the first half during a 30-28 win at N.C. State.

Now quarterback Manny Miles and tight end Jake Bargas etch their names into the history books with an end-of-the-first-half touchdown completion on a play known in the Tar Heel playbook as "Rebound." It was one of seven touchdowns Carolina scored in a 49-26 win over Western Carolina Saturday and, given it came in the tail end of a season rife with untimely fumbles, penalties, pass interceptions and missed tackles, it provided a measure of comic relief for a beleaguered team that is now 2-8 entering the home finale against N.C. State.

"Sorry, this is my first time doing this," Miles sheepishly admitted when surrounded by a dozen or so reporters and cameramen afterward, then told of the 38-yard completion to Bargas at the end of the first half.

"When you're a kid you dream about playing college football and you dream about scoring touchdowns, throwing it, and running it—for all of it to happen at the end and for your first throw to be a touchdown like that, it is pretty awesome," he said.

Miles is a senior walk-on from Baton Rouge, La., and has played back-up quarterback and been the No. 1 holder for Freeman Jones the last two seasons. He was inserted for starter Nathan Elliott for the play simply because he has a stronger arm—just as freshman Cade Fortin was one week ago in a similar situation at Duke.

"I like to think I can throw it pretty far," Miles said.

Off to one side in the post-game interview area on the fifth floor of Kenan Football Center were two of his sisters and his mother, and standing a few yards away taking it all in his was his father, former LSU and Oklahoma State coach Les Miles.

"Oh, he's got an arm," Les said. "He was a pitcher and third baseman in high school. Throwing it across the diamond? You'd be shocked."

Sister Kathryn approached the scrum around Manny, played reporter for a moment and asked, "How does this performance line up with other family performances?"

Manny playfully scolded her and said she shouldn't be asking questions at a press conference, then looked at his dad and asked if he'd ever scored a touchdown in a college game.

"No chance," Les said. "I was an offensive lineman."

Where Staubach's "Hail Mary" was nothing more than slinging it downfield to Pearson on a "go" route near the right sideline and Pearson snaring the ball over man-to-man coverage, the modern version is more intricately choreographed. Four Tar Heel receivers—Bargas, Anthony Ratliff-Williams, Beau Corrales and Dazz Newsome—ran routes to specific landmarks around the goal line and end zone. Bargas was the clean-up man, his landmark several yards beyond the others. Miles eluded a rush, rolled toward the left sideline, squared his hips and let it fly. Six players jumped in unison at the goal—three Tar Heels and three Catamount defenders—with Bargas grounded behind them. The design is for the receivers to tip the ball should they not have a clear shot at it—hence the name "Rebound"—and Corrales first deflected the ball upward. As everyone airborne fell back to the ground, Bargas had free reign to snatch it in mid-air.

"It was surreal," Bargas said. "I looked at Beau and said, 'Let's do it. Let's make this play.' The ball just happened to fall into my hands. I was in the right spot at the right time. That was the turning point in the game. We got some momentum going in at halftime."

Indeed, the Tar Heels had scored touchdowns on four first-half possessions, but one missed field goal and three turnovers had allowed the 3-7 Catamounts of the Southern Conference to linger around within 12 points before Manny's miracle. Two of the miscues where interceptions thrown by Elliott.

"I thought I could have had some better ball placement on a couple throws," said Elliott, who otherwise completed 18 passes for 308 yards, including pinpoint deep balls to Rontavius Groves and Ratliff-Williams. "Those two interceptions are the only thing I'm thinking about after that game. I've got to get that cleaned up."

Saturday's win served two purposes. One, it was a victory and put a smile on the faces of the Tar Heel players, though several defensive assistant coaches were seen with scowls and grimaces on their faces after WCU quarterback Tyrie Adams ran for 104 yards and threw for 290.

And two, it allowed a handful of freshmen and sophomores to take a bow. The sophomore Groves has recovered from injuries to both knees in two years and caught his first scoring pass. Tailback Javonte Williams rushed 17 times for 93 yards and three touchdowns and continued a productive freshman season. Behemoth linemen William Barnes, Marcus McKethan and Jordan Tucker (each in the 6-foot-5, 350-pound neighborhood) played the right side of the offensive front much of the second half and showed a remarkable level of mass and maneuverability. And Xach Gill and Jahlil Taylor played much of the game at defensive tackle as the Tar Heels' depth gets razor thin there due to injury.

Now it all comes down to one final game, 12:20 p.m. kick-off Saturday in Kenan Stadium against N.C. State.

"The season hasn't gone the way we wanted, obviously, but you have to acknowledge that every single week we come out, we prepare, we play, and every single game almost comes to down to the fourth quarter," Bargas said. "It shows the kind of character we have. We haven't backed down one bit, we haven't folded one bit."

Now it's up to the medical staff to patch some key defensive players together and the mad scientists on offense to draw up the next iteration of the "Hail Manny."

Carolina graduate Lee Pace (1979) has written "Extra Points" since 1990 and reported from the sidelines for the Tar Heel radio network since 2004. Reach him at leepace7@gmail.com and follow him @LeePaceTweet.