Heels' Fourth-Down Conversion Speaks Volumes
CHAPEL HILL - With 2:55 remaining on the Kenan Stadium clock in North Carolina’s 28-25 win over Miami on Saturday night, the Tar Heels found themselves in a precarious situation.
Facing a fourth-and-17, the Heels needed to make a play or stare at the liklihood of falling to the Hurricanes on a night filled with so much promise after taking an early two-touchdown lead and riding a swarm of energy from the capacity crowd.
But they'd been in this situation too many times over the last two years and didn't respond, a reason they managed just five victories in that span. So as sophomore wide receiver Dyami Brown walked toward the sideline expecting the punt unit to take the field, junior Toe Groves shook him into 2019. This isn't your 2017 or 2018 Tar Heels. Things are changing.
“I actually went to sit on the bench and Toe Groves came and picked me up and said, ‘No bro, we’ve got to get up, we’ve got to go, we’ve got to finish this game,’” Brown said.
On the next play, freshman quarterback Sam Howell and the offense were back on the field. They were going for it.
“We thought about going ahead and punting it but that means we would have had to have a three-and-out,” head coach Mack Brown said. “We would have had 30 seconds left in the game and no timeouts. We felt like after having two straight sacks, our odds for a fourth-and-17 were better than punting and stopping it.”
All eyes on him, Howell caught the snap, stepped up in the pocket and let it rip. The pass was low, but Groves was wide open on the other side of the first-down marker and found a way to reel in the 20-yard catch.
UNC’s offense had made its biggest play of the night, and in doing so, kept alive its hopes of completing yet another fourth quarter comeback. The energy in the stadium was back and, further fueling a team that believed it could win.
“I don’t even get nervous in those kinds of situations anymore, I knew he (Howell) was going to get it,” senior safety Myles Dorn said. “I didn’t even put my helmet on because I knew I was going to sit back down.”
This time a year ago, that belief didn’t exist. The Tar Heels lost six games when tied, having the lead or having the ball with a chance to win late in the fourth quarter in 2018. They simply couldn’t finish, and in turn, lost those contests because of it.
Through two games this season, however, UNC has completed two fourth-quarter comebacks against Power 5 opponents. This team believes again and no play better exhibits that than the fourth-down conversion with their backs against the wall. Dazz Newsome’s game-winning touchdown catch came five plays later.
“You can’t have any doubt when you’re out there,” Newsome said. “You’ve got to always believe that you’re going to get it.”
Just like Groves told his teammate he would, the Tar Heels finished the game and it all started with his clutch catch with the game hanging in the balance.