CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Traveling to play North Carolina in Chapel Hill has given Miami fits for years. Entering Saturday night’s game, UM had not beaten UNC there since 2017.
But the No. 1 Hurricanes (8-0, 6-0 ACC) overcame the Chapel Hill curse this time, escaping from Kenan Stadium with a 38-35 win over North Carolina (4-4, 2-3 ACC) after a back-and-forth contest.
“Just an awesome game, awesome college football game,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “A back-and-forth (game), maybe an instant classic. At the end of the day, we scored on six to seven possessions, and they scored on five of seven. Really proud of our team’s resiliency. Certainly, some things we’ve got to remedy and tune up, fix on the defensive side.”
After struggling to stop North Carolina’s offense all game, the Hurricanes forced a crucial turnover with 5:33 left in the fourth quarter. Marquise Lightfoot sacked UNC quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. and forced a fumble, and defensive tackle Justin Scott recovered the loose ball.
“Just playing ball,” Lightfoot said. “That’s what I try to do every play, every time they pass the ball. So he decided to … take a second decision and bat the ball, hold the ball a little longer. So I was able to get there.”
Miami then scored on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Darian Mensah to Malachi Toney, giving the Hurricanes a 10-point lead that the Tar Heels could not recover from.
The Tar Heels battled to get back in the game, driving down the field (aided by two UM penalties) and scoring on a 15-yard pass from quarterback Edwards to Trech Kekahuna. It cut North Carolina’s deficit to three points, but Miami recovered the onside kick attempt.
Miami’s offense was successful for nearly the entire game. They took an early lead over the Tar Heels, driving 74 yards on 13 plays on their opening drive. Mensah tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Toney to put UM ahead.
UNC struck back on its second drive of the game, marching down the field for an 11-play, 84-yard drive that concluded with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Edwards to tight end Jelani Thurman.
Mark Fletcher Jr. was next to reach the end zone, scoring on a 31-yard screen pass that he caught near the sideline. Tight ends Israel Briggs, Elija Lofton and Gavin Mueller cleared the path for him, and he scored untouched to give Miami the lead again.
The Hurricanes struggled to slow down the Tar Heels’ offense late in the first half, and UNC drove down for a 75-yard drive. Edwards connected with Thurman for a second score to tie the game with 1:56 left in the first half. Miami took the lead back with a short Jake Weinberg field goal just before the half.
North Carolina continued to find holes in Miami’s pass defense in the second half, with Edwards completing five of six passes and throwing his third score of the game to wide receiver Jordan Shipp.
The teams kept trading scoring drives, with the Hurricanes punching in a 2-yard touchdown from Fletcher to retake the lead. North Carolina responded with a 16-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard run by Demon June, putting UNC back ahead by four points.
Miami, trailing by four, opted to go for it on fourth and 1 from the UNC 2-yard line, and Fletcher scored for the third time of the game with a 2-yard run. Fletcher tied Stephen McGuire with 35 career rushing touchdowns with the score.
The last several minutes of the game went the Hurricanes’ way, as Lightfoot’s forced fumble set up the game-clinching touchdown.
1. Defensive holes
After the Hurricanes stopped the Tar Heels on their first offensive drive, UNC offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino did a good job of finding holes in the UM defense.
North Carolina drove down the field for touchdowns on its next two drives, and Edwards finished the first half with completions on 78 percent of his passes and 152 passing yards.
The Tar Heels racked up 407 yards, 341 of them through the air.
“I thought there were some soft spots in our coverage where our zone drops weren’t as good, as detailed,” Cristobal said. “I didn’t think we swarmed to the ball like we have been. We usually run to the football, get a lot of hats there. Didn’t happen. We were very sporadic in the way we tackled. And then sometimes we just got beat in man coverage — that simple. They had some really good pick routes. They have some really good wide receivers and tight ends, as well. So I think a combination of all those things, and there were times where we just weren’t getting enough pressure on the quarterback. Now, that being said, I do think they’re a very good offense.”
2. Third-down issues
Miami could not get off the field on third and fourth downs on Saturday night.
North Carolina was 8 of 11 on third downs and 2 of 2 on fourths, converting on key plays when needed.
“That’s the biggest part, right?” Cristobal said. “And the thing about it, too, was they’re all third-and-shorts, third-and-manageables. I think we’ve been really good at winning first and second now, especially last week. That showed up really well, also, but didn’t show up tonight.”
3. Resilience
Although the Hurricanes struggled to get off the field, the team showed resilience in its win.
Miami’s offense had another strong game, scoring points on all but one drive.
The defense, despite its struggles, got a crucial turnover when needed late in the game.
“That’s what we’re about,” Fletcher said. “Everybody’s just trying to go out there and make a play. Them boys showed up and showed out.”
4. Toney milestone
The Tar Heels did a relatively good job keeping Toney in check for much of the game, but the star receiver finished the game with 75 yards. He scored a pair of touchdowns in the victory.
The performance put Toney over the 1,000-yard mark for the second year in a row.
5. Mensah uses his legs
The Hurricanes’ star quarterback needed to scramble for a few key first downs on Saturday night.
Mensah rushed for 36 yards.
“It’s more of a secondary thing,” Mensah said. “I’m a pass-first guy, and I think our O-line did a great job of protecting tonight. And I feel like they sometimes would get out of their gaps and I’ve got to take grass when I see it. But, yeah, kind of just let the game come to me. If I happen to scamper for a few yards then that’s just how it happens.”