University of North Carolina Athletics
GoHeels Exclusive: The 2004 Win Over Miami
September 6, 2019 | Football, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
Three years removed from a 2001 season that culminated with a Peach Bowl win over Auburn, North Carolina felt even more distant from that victory than it actually was by October 2004.
Between the 2002 and 2003 seasons, UNC had won five total games. More than halfway through the 2004 campaign, the team's outlook didn't look that much better, with the Tar Heels sitting at 3-4. Only four games remained for Carolina to snap its bowl-less streak. The chances of achieving that seemed unlikely, though, when No. 4 Miami came to Kenan Stadium on Oct. 30.
Then the winningest program in college football since 1990, the Hurricanes were the only unbeaten team left in the ACC and one of seven unbeaten teams left in the country entering their first-ever conference clash with Carolina. They also boasted a star-studded roster that included 26 players who went on to play in the NFL.
All that made what happened that evening that much more magical.
Behind a 42-yard field goal by freshman Connor Barth as time expired, the Tar Heels shocked Miami – and the college football world – with a 31-28 victory. The win marked Carolina's first over a top-5 team. And what happened on the field after the game remains almost as memorable as what happened during it.
With the 15th anniversary of that game and that kick and that raucous celebration approaching, Miami returns to Chapel Hill on Saturday for a primetime tilt against UNC. Multiple members of the 2004 team are expected to be in attendance. Among them will be Barth, who will be honored as a Kenan Legend in between the first and second quarters.
Ahead of that, GoHeels.com spoke to some of the Tar Heels who were on the field for that monumental win. This is how they remember it happening.
The buildup
Two weeks before facing Miami, Carolina had been dismantled by Utah in Salt Lake City. Led by future No. 1 NFL draft pick and current Washington Redskins quarterback Alex Smith and coach Urban Meyer, who's since won three national titles at Florida and Ohio State, the Utes posted 669 yards of offense in a 46-16 rout. At the time, those were the most yards ever allowed by a UNC defense.Â
Jared Hall, senior quarterback and holder: They had some talented players and it was an up-and-coming team that we were not prepared for. A lot of that had to do with several injuries that we had, guys who couldn't play, unfortunately. We were down to one or two running backs, and that's all we had to work with. It was going to be a challenge anyway. Going into that Utah game, we knew it was going to be difficult and it turned out to be that way.
Brian Chacos, junior left tackle: It was a brutal game. One of the more lonely, sad images that I have in my head is one of our really good offensive lineman, Kyle Ralph, chipped a bone in his ankle in that game. The game finished up at 11 p.m. We were the only people in Salt Lake City's terminal. I remember pushing Kyle Ralph in a wheelchair down the terminal, down the tarmac to get onto our Delta charter plane back to RDU.
Doug Justice, junior linebacker: It was one of those games where nothing went well. We did some things well in areas, but they dominated us from the jump, it almost feels like. You had to do a lot of soul searching after that.
Chacos: I was just thinking to myself, "God, what are we going to do with the remainder of the season? Which way is this going to go? We have a bunch of guys who are injured, we have a bunch of guys who are going to be out for a few weeks who are guys who contribute and play a whole lot. Which way are we going to take this season? Are we going to buckle? Are we going to fold? Or are we going to stand up against a really tough Miami team and come back and give it all we have against a really, really loaded NFL roster?"
Kenny Browning, tight ends coach: The fact that we had somebody that good in front of us was probably a good thing. They knew we could play better than we played. So, "Let's put it behind us and move on."
The Tar Heels had two weeks to do just that, thanks to a bye week. During it, the Hurricanes traveled to NC State and beat the Wolfpack 45-31. With Miami coming into the Carolina game as a three-touchdown favorite, most people believed the Hurricanes' second trip in as many weeks to Tobacco Road would be just as easy as the first. Only the players and coaches inside the Kenan Football Center seemed to think differently.
Hall: We knew we could beat them. They weren't an overly complicated team. They did simple things. They just had talent on the team that could take a simple play and make it work. We got healthy over those two weeks, which tremendously helped, and it was very easy to prepare for them. … We took several plays that NC State ran against them and had success with.
Gerald Sensabaugh, senior free safety: I remember knowing that we had a chance to win as long as our defense played well. Our offense was playing really good that year, but on our defense, we had a lot of freshmen, a lot of sophomores. I remember trying to get all of the guys on board and get them to believe that we could beat that Miami team.
Justice: Gerald called it out at the beginning of the week. He was like, "We're going to win." He even said it publicly, I guess in a newspaper, if I remember correctly. … He was like, "They're coming to see them. ESPN is here for that. We just happen to be the opponent." It's one of those things that got a little bit of play, but at the same time it got us motivated, too, with them coming into Chapel Hill. We wanted to prove them wrong.
Sensabaugh: They were giving us no shot. They were just praising the Miami players, and they really didn't say anything too good about our players and our team.
Hall: We were upset that ESPN was giving it all to them. And rightfully so – they were the No. 4 team in the nation and they were undefeated. They had a close game against NC State the week before, but the NC State game was supposed to be somewhat of a competitive game, whereas they were saying our game was not supposed to be.
Barth: I had friends who were like, "Oh, we're not going to make the trip up for this game," because they thought it was going to be a blowout. We had so much talent, and we knew we were a very good team. Obviously, we weren't showing it too much, but as long as we believed in ourselves, we figured we'd have a shot.
Jonas Seawright, senior defensive tackle: We weren't afraid. They came out talking trash before the game started; they've got that Miami swagger. We just kind of went, "Alright, cool. Let's go."
The game
Despite entering the game ranked 17th nationally in scoring defense, Miami had allowed 947 total yards in its previous two games against Louisville and NC State. UNC capitalized on that, taking the opening kickoff and driving 57 yards in only four plays to seize a 7-0 lead on a 35-yard touchdown pass by Darian Durant to Mike Mason.
Hall: Mike Mason made a great play on a 50-50 ball. It was a perfectly thrown ball and he just happened to go up and outperform that defensive back to make that catch. It was a great momentum builder for our offense to just go out there and move the ball.
Chacos: Teams like them don't like getting put down early and don't like getting hit in the face. It's the Miami culture. … They're not going to want to get hit in the mouth early, they're not going to want to get down on the scoreboard early. That was the message from Coach (John) Bunting.
Barth: We got the crowd into the game early. You never want to get down, and being a night game in Chapel Hill, we didn't have a ton of those at the time, and we marked that interest and that demand, and the whole stadium understood that we were going to be in the game.
Everyone also quickly understood that the Tar Heels had a tailback who was more than capable of filling in for sophomore Ronnie McGill and senior Jacque Lewis, both of whom were sidelined with injuries they'd sustained against Utah.
A Kentucky transfer, senior Chad Scott had to that point rushed for 418 yards on 84 carries in his two-year Carolina career. Still, his teammates and coaches had an abundance of confidence in him. And on UNC's first drive, he showed why, turning three carries into 21 yards. He ultimately finished with a career-high 175 rushing yards and two touchdowns - including one after leaving briefly with a hip injury.
Browning: I remember challenging Chad every day, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (leading up the game), "How many carries do you got in you?'"I had confidence in Chad and I think he knew it. … I remember going into the staff meeting on Thursday morning and (running backs coach) Andre Powell said something like, "Oh, got a third-team running back." Coach Bunting said something about it and I just spoke up and said, "I predict Chad Scott will have a big game." And I told Chad that. "I put my stamp on you."
Barth: He'd been around the program and always worked his butt off and done the right thing. He knew that was how we worked, with a next-man-up mentality, and we knew we were never going to lose a step with him. Obviously, he has tremendous skill and speed, and it was his night that night.
Sensabaugh: His running style was great against a team that was athletic, when you needed athleticism along with the power. Chad was the best option against that team, for the type of team Miami was. That was a breakout game for him.
Justice: That particular night, he was just electric.
But as quickly as the Tar Heels jumped ahead, they fell behind.Â
A pair of touchdown passes by quarterback Brock Berlin put Miami up 14-7 late in the first quarter. The Hurricanes then seemed poised to extend their lead after Carolina's offense went three-and-out and a shanked punt gave Miami the ball at the UNC 42.
The Tar Heels' young defense – which entered the game ranked next-to-last in the country in total defense, giving up an average of nearly 504 yards – could've easily folded then. Instead, it responded with a three-and-out. That led to an 11-play scoring drive by the offense and proved to be one of several signature moments for the defense, which became the first team all season to hold the Hurricanes to under 100 yards rushing by limiting them to 77.
Sensabaugh: I remember the coaching staff telling our players to keep the ball in front of us, don't give up any big, big plays, that there's going to be all of these shallow cross routes. Just break it down, make the tackles. We did a pretty good job of that.
Seawright: Gerald and I knew that we were responsible for the young guys. They looked up to us the whole season. We were the defensive leaders. What Gerald and I knew, this game, we had to step up and show leadership. We had to lead our troops into victory. We knew we were the two guys that the defense looked to for leadership.
Justice: With young guys, they build off a little bit of confidence, making a stop, making a play here and supporting each other. The whole problem with young guys is when they get down on themselves, they get way down. Older guys kind of have a shorter memory for certain things. Of course, Gerald and Jonas were out there making great plays and both played at the next level for quite a few years. They had incredible talent. I think it's one of those games where everything came together. Our plan was sound. We knew what we wanted to do.
Hall: I think the youth that we had, they were finally saying it, "Oh, this is how you play. This is how you take them down." It all finally clicked for some of those guys. They were like, "Oh, I know what to do now." It just clicked with them, and it all happened right there in that Miami game. It just happened to be the perfect time.
Barth: We've always preached about being a well-rounded team and being dominant in all spaces. On a night like that, you have to be, and we obviously were. Our defense kept us in the game, and our offense played amazing.
The more the game wore on, the more sure Carolina became that it could pull off what the majority of college football pundits deemed unthinkable.
Justice: Just the confidence you get throughout the game, if we could've bottled that up and sold it, we would've made a lot of money.
Chacos: By the middle of the second quarter, you could look across the line of scrimmage at that line of defense and the linebackers and you could tell how frustrated they were that we were being really aggressive with them. They were looking for the game to be over. They were looking forward to getting back on the buses, not injured. They thought it was going to be an easy game and it was anything but that.
Seawrigth: Around the third quarter, we were still in the game. Looking at everybody's faces, you could sense the emotions around you, so to speak. Guys had a look of deep desire. We played with the mantra of a sense of urgency on defense. We didn't display it every night, but we did that night. We were just ready to finish the game and beat these guys, because we knew we had them where we wanted them.
Barth: I knew if we could be close in the fourth quarter, we'd have a shot. We were at home, it was a night game, and if you're in a close game at home with that kind of fan base and people getting behind you and rallying you and putting the pressure on the Hurricanes' offense, being loud, you always have a shot.
The kick
With about 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Scott put UNC ahead 28-21 on his second touchdown. A Tar Heel win seemed even more attainable when the defense forced a turnover on downs on the ensuing drive. But after the offense went three-and-out, Berlin drove his team 89 yards to tie it with 2:25 left, setting the stage for Durant and the Carolina offense.
Seawright: We knew there were some things we could've done better (as a defense). But Coach Bunting had a mantra: "Keep sawing wood." That's what we lived by. I remember that vividly. He had this thing with me where he would always ask me, "Jonas, what day is it?" And my response was, "Game day." And I would always think in practice that I was in a game. He knew that was how he could get to me. He walked over to me and he said, "Hey, Jonas, it's game day." I said, "OK, let's go."
Justice: When you're a competitor, you want the stop, so you're a little disappointed. But at the same time, our offense had been moving the ball all game. I wasn't worried.
Hall: Even before the half we'd thrown the ball right down the field and got it down to the 2- or 3-yard line. We'd already done it before. We'd already ran the ball right down the field, got within field goal range, and we knew we could do it again.
Chacos: When you have a guy like Darian Durant, who is such a gamer and such a great football player, you knew he was going to make something happen. And he did.
On the first play of the drive, beginning at the UNC 10, Scott rushed for four yards. Durant then found the tailback for 12. After another 4-yard rush by Scott, Durant connected with Jarwarski Pollock for 14 before completing a pass across the middle to Jon Hamlett for 22 yards.
Just like that, the Tar Heels were at Miami's 34.
Chacos: We didn't have one guy that we went to. … It also showed what kind of football player Darian Durant was. He was able to give everyone the opportunity to make a play. He wasn't locked into one guy.
Hall: When we got to about the 50-yard line, we knew this was our time, we were going to make this happen.
Barth: My whole thing was to be ready. That's always your dream as the kicker to kick the game-winner, so as soon as you get the ball, you're getting ready. You're getting closer and closer, and in your mind, you're like, "We're going to get in field goal range, and I'm going to make the kick."
With under a minute left, students started pushing toward the edges of the student section, preparing to storm the field.
Chacos: You could tell that something was brewing. You really could. You could tell people were getting closer to the hedges. The old Alamo was still there in the north end zone, and you could tell that people were hovering. There was a weird feeling.
Barth: There were people moving. You could feel that pressure coming on. But I had to block that all out. People were moving toward the hedges, but I just wanted to go out there and make good contact.
Back in the first quarter, Barth had missed a 39-yard field goal. But he'd since erased that from him memory. So, too, had his teammates and coaches by the time the freshman trotted onto the field with four seconds left.
Barth: Dan Orner was the kicker before me at Chapel Hill, and we'd always talked about that next-kick mentality. You're only as good as your last kick. "I missed the one earlier, but if I can redeem myself, no one will ever remember that." That's always the way I've thought about it. It's not about how you start – it's how you finish.
Justice: He had this confidence about him; it was really interesting. And of course, he had the crazy hair. He's from the Wilmington area, from the beach. He had this personality where it was like, "Hey, I'm going to kick the ball and it's going to go. That's the way it is."
Browning: He didn't let things bother him much. He was cool, even during the timeout (by Miami to ice Barth).
Hall: When they called the timeout, nobody said anything to him. He just did his own thing. He's one of those surfer guys, calm and cool and collected pretty much all the time. I wasn't even thinking about it. I should've been like, "Oh my God, this is for the win, to beat a top-5 team." I should've had nerves, but I didn't. I knew Greg (Warren) was going to snap the ball straight to me and my job was to catch the ball, put it down and let Connor kick it.
Seawright: You'd see him in practice making some amazing kicks. When he went out there, nobody looked as if, 'Ah, man.' We knew what was about to happen.
The snap and hold were good, Barth's contact solid. The ball immediately started down the center of the uprights. And although it started hooking slightly to the left as it sailed through the air, there was never a doubt that it would be good.
Justice: And then of course, bedlam happened after that.
Seawright: As soon as the kick went in, the fans rushed the field. Next thing you know, it was me out there. We were dancing, jumping up and down.
Hall: I was jumping up and down. I was leaning to the right and running a little bit, and I saw it go through and turned around and headed straight back to Connor. He was jumping up and down and by that point, it was just a mob.
Barth: It was chaos. It happened so fast. Jocques Dumas picked me up, and I just realized how big of a guy that guy was. I felt like a rag doll.
Sensabaugh: The bushes got tore to crap. It seemed like thousands of people on the field.
Chacos: It was a surreal moment to turn around and on every side of you, you see hundreds of people flooding down on the field. If you were claustrophobic, I'm not sure if that would be the best feeling for you or not.
Barth: I kept my helmet on the whole time because people were just coming up and hitting me in the head.
Justice: Everybody is giving you high-fives – people you probably had class with and you don't even know that they're in there; you just kind of see them. But you're just trying to see all your teammates. You're giving high-fives to the coaches. You could see what it means to everybody on the field. But it also means that much more to your teammates and coaches because you put the work in to get to that point.
Chacos: The wave of emotions I felt at that time were absolutely incredible. … It doesn't rival when my kids were born, but it's a roller coaster – it's that kind of feeling.
Both goal posts were torn down within minutes.
Sensabaugh: I started running. I figured somebody would get hurt.
Barth: I remember the PA guy going, "Please keep the uprights in the stadium!" And I'm just like, "That is awesome."
Chacos: (Because the goals posts came down), it took about 25 minutes for me to get down to the locker room. It was one high-five or one hug after another. Eventually, I got to the stands to see my dad, who played football at Carolina in the early '70s, and some of my high school friends who came to watch me play. We had a great moment in the stands and were able to take in that moment together.
Many more followed.
Barth: I remember seeing (Scott) in the locker room, we were the last two out of there. … I'll never forget, just sitting there in the locker room with him soaking it all in.
Sensabaugh: The whole team went out on Franklin Street. It was like a big party out there. There was so much excitement after that win, after that last play.
Justice: I sat on the back porch with (senior linebacker) Martin Jernigan … and we talked and it was like, "This game will be remembered for a really long time." But you don't realize in the moment how big it is.
The memories
The following Christmas, Justice said his brother gifted him with a piece of the goal post from the Miami game. He still has it, along with his UNC helmet and a game ball that Bunting presented to him after a win over Wake Forest.
When he looks at those items, Justice, now the senior associate athletic director and chief of staff at Georgia State, said he thinks about the adversity he went through as a player and how it shaped him into the person he is today. He also thinks about that win over the Hurricanes, which ultimately helped the Tar Heels earn a spot in the Continental Tire Bowl.
He's certainly not alone.
Justice: I'm not saying I was a great player, but on that night, it felt like I was a great player. It was fun. It was a fun night just to play in a big environment. People were excited. And then to win and to win it for Chapel Hill, and that people can remember it 15 years later and get excited about it, long after my playing days are done and I've moved on to new things, it's really cool.
Sensabaugh: It was probably one of the best victories I've had in my whole football career, high school, college and NFL.
Seawright: That's one of the fondest memories I have of being at Carolina and playing football, that Miami game. It was my last year. … I get a couple guys who know I played for Carolina and they'll see it on ESPN Classic and ask me about it.
Browning: They had one of them on TV within the last two months, a replay of that game. Something like that. Sometimes, seeing a former player and his role in the game, I'll be thinking about him. I don't ever see Chad without thinking about it.
Chacos: I think about it every football season. How can we have Carolina football be like that every Saturday? Not every game that we play is going to be at that magnitude, but when we have big games in Chapel Hill, there's no reason we can't have that.
Hall: I guess you'd say it's my claim to fame. I was the holder for Connor for that game-winning field goal. So, that's what my parents and other people talk about. I'm a humble guy. I don't tell people that I played football at Carolina. But my parents and especially my dad love to be like, "Hey, my son played football at Carolina." And when we get to talking about, I just say, "Well, I was the holder for the kicker and on that field goal that beat Miami."
Barth: We went to the South Carolina game on Saturday. I ordered my tickets on StubHub and I got a note from a guy who graduated in 2008, and it said, "This has to be the legendary Connor Barth. Thank you so much for a great night against Miami." It's pretty cool to hear those things and see those things.
And he surely will for years to come.
