CHAPEL HILL, N.C. \u2014 Traveling to play North Carolina in Chapel Hill has given Miami fits for years. Entering Saturday night\u2019s game, UM had not beaten UNC there since 2017.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust an awesome game, awesome college football game,\u201d Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. \u201cA 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\u2019s resiliency. Certainly, some things we\u2019ve got to remedy and tune up, fix on the defensive side.\u201d<\/p>\n
After struggling to stop North Carolina\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust playing ball,\u201d Lightfoot said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I try to do every play, every time they pass the ball. So he decided to \u2026 take a second decision and bat the ball, hold the ball a little longer. So I was able to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s deficit to three points, but Miami recovered the onside kick attempt.<\/p>\n
Miami\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The Hurricanes struggled to slow down the Tar Heels\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
North Carolina continued to find holes in Miami\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The last several minutes of the game went the Hurricanes\u2019 way, as Lightfoot\u2019s forced fumble set up the game-clinching touchdown.<\/p>\n
Five takeaways
\n1. Defensive holes<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The Tar Heels racked up 407 yards, 341 of them through the air.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought there were some soft spots in our coverage where our zone drops weren\u2019t as good, as detailed,\u201d Cristobal said. \u201cI didn\u2019t think we swarmed to the ball like we have been. We usually run to the football, get a lot of hats there. Didn\u2019t happen. We were very sporadic in the way we tackled. And then sometimes we just got beat in man coverage \u2014 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\u2019t getting enough pressure on the quarterback. Now, that being said, I do think they\u2019re a very good offense.\u201d<\/p>\n
2. Third-down issues<\/p>\n
Miami could not get off the field on third and fourth downs on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
North Carolina was 8 of 11 on third downs and 2 of 2 on fourths, converting on key plays when needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the biggest part, right?\u201d Cristobal said. \u201cAnd the thing about it, too, was they\u2019re all third-and-shorts, third-and-manageables. I think we\u2019ve been really good at winning first and second now, especially last week. That showed up really well, also, but didn\u2019t show up tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
3. Resilience<\/p>\n
Although the Hurricanes struggled to get off the field, the team showed resilience in its win.<\/p>\n
Miami\u2019s offense had another strong game, scoring points on all but one drive.<\/p>\n
The defense, despite its struggles, got a crucial turnover when needed late in the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re about,\u201d Fletcher said. \u201cEverybody\u2019s just trying to go out there and make a play. Them boys showed up and showed out.\u201d<\/p>\n
4. Toney milestone<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The performance put Toney over the 1,000-yard mark for the second year in a row.<\/p>\n
5. Mensah uses his legs<\/p>\n
The Hurricanes\u2019 star quarterback needed to scramble for a few key first downs on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Mensah rushed for 36 yards.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s more of a secondary thing,\u201d Mensah said. \u201cI\u2019m 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\u2019ve 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\u2019s just how it happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
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