No. 12 UNC football expecting No. 25 Miami to bounce back from excruciating loss
North Carolina coach Mack Brown was watching Saturday when Miami made that late fumble against Georgia Tech, and had a quick thought: “Do I want them to win or lose, what’s best for us?”
If Miami held on and won, the Hurricanes would be coming to Chapel Hill this week for a matchup of 5-0 football teams, both ranked in the top 15. The TV audience on ABC and national exposure would be large, all on prime time.
Then again, if Georgia Tech won, Miami would have its first ACC loss. In a year when the top two teams in the ACC now will play for the conference championship — seeya, Atlantic and Coastal divisions — that could loom larger as the season unfolds.
Moments later, Miami lost. Georgia Tech pulled out an improbable 23-20 win on a touchdown pass with two seconds left in the game.
The sudden victory can only help Georgia Tech’s team confidence and esteem, and the Tar Heels go to Atlanta at the end of October to face the Yellow Jackets. But that’s a story for another day, another week.
While Miami coach Mario Cristobal must continue to face questions about why the Hurricanes had a running play called instead of simply taking a knee to run down the clock, or how close the call was on the fumble (the ruling on the field was a fumble; the video evidence inconclusive), or how the Miami defense was burned so badly on two pass plays with the game on the line, Brown had a more pleasant task Monday.
The No. 12 Tar Heels (5-0, 2-0 ACC) walloped Syracuse 40-7 on Saturday at Kenan Stadium and looked good doing it. Drake Maye was named the ACC quarterback of the week after passing for 442 yards and three scores, and Nate McCollum was selected the ACC receiver of the week after making seven grabs for 135 yards.
“The energy and the attitude has been there for five straight games and I’m really proud of that,” Brown said at his weekly press conference.
Brown noted that a couple of weeks ago, there were 21 teams in the Power 5 conferences that were undefeated. A week later, he said, there were 15.
“Now there’s 11,” Brown said. “So each week it gets tougher to see who can survive and who can move forward in that group. …We’re better than we’ve been since we’ve been here. Now can we take that next step?”
While Miami’s loss to Georgia Tech had to be gut-wrenching, Brown said he expects the Hurricanes to regroup and be ready rather than, say, limping through much of a week of self-pity and not being ready.
“These guys have a lot of pride,” Brown said of the Heels’ former Coastal opponent. “They’ve played us good every year. They’ve got a lot of fight.
“If anything they’ll come in with a chip on their shoulder because they weren’t happy with the way the game finished. That’s what I would think. Coaches will be on edge and players will be on edge and everybody will be ready to go.”
Getting Tez Walker in the game plan
Last Thursday morning, Chip Lindsey felt like he had the offensive game plan well in place for Syracuse. But UNC’s offensive coordinator was thrown a wrinkle later that day — unexpected, but nice.
Wide receiver Tez Walker was ruled eligible by the NCAA. Just like that, Lindsey had him to work into that game plan, firmly aware that Walker, after UNC’s fight to get him eligible this season, would play some snaps Saturday.
But when, and how many?
“I spent a lot of time on Friday and Friday night going, ‘OK, based on what we’re going to see, how can we get him involved in the game plan,’” Lindsey said Monday.
Lindsey said he quickly huddled with receivers coach Lonnie Galloway to talk over how to best scheme different plays that could involve Walker without forcing anything.
“It was then my job to narrow things down and figure out how much can we do,” Lindsey said. “That process was a lot more intense on Friday than we usually have.”
Walker did not start the game but entered in the first quarter. Brown jokingly saying he went over and reminded Galloway, “You know, Tez is eligible.”
Walker was in for 56 plays, catching six passes for 43 yards.
“Now we’re through with the Tez talk,” Brown said Monday. “We’re through with ‘Should he have been eligible?’ All that’s gone. It’s time to just play.”
Injury update
UNC announced punter Ben Kiernan (lower-body) and defensive lineman Kevin Hester (lower-body) will be further evaluated during the week. Hester did not play against Syracuse.
No. 12 North Carolina (5-0, 2-0 ACC) vs No. 25 Miami (4-1, 0-1)
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m
Where: Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill
TV: ABC
Series history: UNC has a 15-11 edge in the series, which began in 1946. The Tar Heels have won the past four games, taking a 27-24 road win last year as Maye passed for 309 yards and two scores.
