Extra Points: Trapped

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

September 16, 2019 | Football, Featured Writers, Extra Points

By: Lee Pace

By Lee Pace

Wake Forest running back Kenneth Walker had a five-yard head start on Tomon Fox on the last play of the third quarter Friday night at BB&T Field, having taken a handoff from quarterback Jamie Newton on a first down from the 25 yard-line. Walker set off at a 45-degree angle toward the Carolina sideline and away from the scrum of the middle of the field. The Tar Heel outside linebacker turned up the jets on his 4.7 speed and narrowed the distance, diving from behind at the 40, wrapping the runner and pulling him to the ground after a 20-yard gain.

Great effort by Fox … remarkable pursuit … saved Walker from covering another chunk of open turf.

Problem was, Fox had missed nailing Walker five yards behind the line of scrimmage at the outset of play. Fox fired past the Wake Forest left tackle and had Walker in his bulls-eye, only Walker slipped away and set off up the field.

And there is your Carolina-Wake Forest game in a tidy little nutshell: Weak start, ferocious finish.

"That was a bad aiming point," Fox acknowledged afterward. "We had too many mistakes like that, too many missed opportunities."

The scoreboard after three quarters read Wake Forest 21, Tar Heels 3.

And after the game, Wake Forest 24, Tar Heels 18.

The game's evolution through the early stages of a 2-1 season underlies the Tar Heels' propensity to finish strong, something they've emphasized throughout the offseason and August training camp. Carolina against South Carolina, Miami and Wake Forest has a 38-9 cumulative point differential in the fourth quarter.

"You really don't lose the game, you just run out of time," Tar Heel Coach Mack Brown said, citing an expression from longtime Texas Coach Darrell Royal about furious second-half rallies that fall short.

"It was really, really frustrating that we couldn't start quicker, but I'm really, really proud we fought back in the second half," Brown continued. "I told them at halftime, 'I can't coach a team that quits, I can't coach a team that lays down, I can't coach a team with bad body language.' I told them, 'Don't look at the scoreboard. Just go out and fight your guts out.' I'm proud of them. We can go home and fix all the things we did wrong as long as our kids keep believing."

It's not as if you couldn't see some version of Friday's events unfolding from the edge of the horizon. The Tar Heels' mental edge had been honed to a razor-sharp edge for a high-profile season-opener against South Carolina and then a prime-time home debut against "The U" and all its swagger and bluster. They passed with flying colors. But could they bring their mental "A game" a third week running?

Then you have the Wake Forest equation. The Deacons in year six of Coach Dave Clawson's program are disciplined, sound and tough-nosed across the board. They have had three straight winning seasons and collected bowl wins after each; not since the apex of the Jim Grobe era in 2006-08 have they been as consistently dangerous. And over the last three years, they've been 4-2 combined over N.C. State and Duke, teams that were 6-0 versus the Tar Heels. And then there's the age-old "Anybody But Carolina" psychological tangent—who wants to win this particular game more?

It added up the veritable definition of a "trap game" for the Tar Heels and had Brown nervous all week.

"I hear that talk," Brown said mid-week of the collective pat-on-the-back his program was receiving after fourth-quarter rallies nudged the Gamecocks and Hurricanes. "And you bet it concerns me. These players aren't used to this. We've already won as many games as last season. They have to understand they can't let down even a little bit or we'll lose.

"Playing hard against Wake Forest is the next step of becoming a good team. Wake Forest is a good team. They've had very few penalties and one turnover this year. Are we going to be a disciplined, focused team that we need to be?"

As the evidence mounted throughout the first half, Brown was left with a grim face.

The offense went three-and-out on five of its first six offensive possessions and lost a fumble on second down on the other.

The Tar Heels averaged 1.5 yards a play offensively in the first quarter.

The offensive line had three false starts through the early part of the third quarter.

Ben Kiernan was the first-half MVP, punting eight times for a 46.4 average with several boomers with great distance and hang time.

Carolina was 0-8 on third downs in the first half and 1-14 through three quarters.

And the Heels didn't snap the ball past midfield until late in the third quarter.

"Early on I was playing like a true freshman," said QB Sam Howell. "I just needed to settle down. I just have to do a better job. I have to make better decisions. At the end of the day, it's on me. I just have to play better."

"Any individual on the team might give you a different answer," nose guard Aaron Crawford said in response to why the Tar Heels stumbled out of the gate. "But they came out ready to play and whipped our ass in the first half. Shout-out to them. They did a great job early and hung on at the end."

The Carolina offense finally got a spark late in the third quarter when Howell hit Dazz Newsome for 32 yards and then Michael Carter popped a draw play for 14, setting up a field goal from 49 yards by Noah Ruggles. The Tar Heels built on that modest success on their next possession, with Howell-to-Dyami Brown hitting for 53 yards and setting up a touchdown by Carter on an 11-yard screen pass.

The momentum had clearly shifted to the Tar Heels, who were buoyed by a large portion of the 31,345 in attendance outfitted in Carolina blue. The defense forced another stop and minutes later Carter exploded for a 50-yard gain to the Deacon 18. One play later, Howell targeted Brown for the touchdown and the Tar Heels added a two-point conversion to cut the lead to three.

The rally went for naught, however, when Newman engineered a 12-play, 61-yard march that ended in a field goal and provided the final margin.

"Wake Forest played better than we did," Brown said. "We weren't making the plays we made the first two weeks. Defensively, I was disappointed we didn't stop the run better in the first half. We didn't hold the edge. The zone play was bouncing outside. We held up reasonably well on the deep balls. Our kicking game was fine. The biggest difference was our offense didn't play as well as they did first two weeks."

Now the giddiness rampant through Tar Heel Nation will subside and those dreams of being 4-0 when Clemson comes to Chapel Hill Oct. 28 will be buried. There's much to celebrate with Brown's overhaul of the Carolina program in ten months and some very tangible results to corroborate the efforts. But there's also a monster of a schedule sitting ahead and already the Tar Heels' wispy-thin depth is being challenged.

Carolina knew it would be without starters Nick Polino, Antoine Green and Carl Tucker on offense and Patrice Rene on defense entering Friday's game. Defensive tackle Jason Strowbridge went through pre-game warm-ups but then Brown was told before kickoff that a nagging ankle injury would keep him on the bench.

"He's a pro player, our best pass rusher and maybe our best defensive player," Brown said. "We really missed him. Without him we've got some young guys who really have to step up. We weren't penetrating the run early, and we did much better later in the game."

BB&T Field (nee Groves Stadium before a 2007 sponsorship-driven name change) had been a watershed venue in Brown's 36-year head coaching career. His Appalachian State team beat Wake Forest there in the 1983 season opener in Brown's first game as a head coach. Then in his third season as Carolina's coach in 1990, the Tar Heels and a freshman tailback named Natrone Means rallied in the second half to nudge the Deacons and Coach Bill Dooley by a touchdown. That was the "statement game" against an in-state rival and an ex-Tar Heel coach they desperately needed to validate Brown's template for success.

A victory Friday would have bumped Brown to 72 career wins as a Tar Heel, tying Dick Crum's all-time victory record. Alas, the Tar Heels still have some work to do.

"We weren't mature enough, our coaches and I didn't do a good enough job of getting through the first two games and getting them over those big wins and preparing for this one emotionally," Brown said.

Next up: Appalachian State and the second-ever meeting between the Tar Heels and Mountaineers (the only other being in 1940). That represents yet a fourth set of unique mental variables in the 2019 season, not the least of which is the game has long been a sell-out and a tough ticket because of the Mountaineer fans' appetite to follow their team to venues like Michigan and Penn State. For them to march into Kenan Stadium and pop the flagship school in the mouth, well, you get the picture.

It will take everything the Tar Heels can muster—particularly a fast start.

Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace (UNC '79) is in his 30th year writing "Extra Points" and 16th reporting from the sidelines for the Tar Heel Sports Network. Follow him @LeePaceTweet and email him at leepace7@gmail.com.