BOSTON – If North Carolina’s mission was to close out the 2024 football season on a strong note and rid itself of many bad tastes from the last few months, it fell woefully far from that goal.
The Tar Heels allowed Connecticut to score on five of its first seven possessions in building an insurmountable lead in what became a 27-24 loss for the Heels on Saturday at the Wasabi Fenway Bowl at fabled Fenway Park.
UConn led 3-0, 17-7, and 27-7 before UNC had a productive fourth quarter against a Huskies defense that included quite a few second and third-team players.
UNC closes the season at 6-7 while UConn ends up 9-4. It also signals the full end of the Mack Brown part two era, with Sunday truly launching the beginning of the Bill Belichick era.
Here, we take you inside the game:
*At one point late in the first half, UConn had run 42 offensive plays to 12 for the Tar Heels.
---UNC ran only three plays on each of its first five possessions
---UNC did not have a series in which it ran more than three plays until the third quarter, when it ran five and was stopped on a fourth-and-1 at its own 46-yard-line.
*Chris Culliver’s 95-yard kickoff was not just his second of the season, but his second in the state of Massachusetts and in the Boston area. He had one in a loss at Boston College last month.
---Culliver’s kickoff return for a score was Carolina’s seventh of the season from either its special teams or defense, and most have been different types of scores: fumble recovery; two interception returns; blocked punt return; 2 kickoff returns; punt return.
*Four true freshmen started on offense for the Tar Heels: OT Luke Masterson; OG Aidan Banfield; OT Jani Norwood; RB Davion Gause.
*On top of that, true freshman quarterback Mike Merdinger entered the game for Jacolby Criswell, who left the game for good with an injury with 4:57 left in the first quarter. That meant UNC had five true freshmen on the field on offense.
*Staying with Merdinger, the first snap of his college career was after Criswell went down. His numbers on the day:
---9-for-12 with 86 yards and 1 INT.
---5 credited rushes for minus-31 yards
*Carolina actually put together a long drive in the fourth quarter with running back Caleb Hood at quarterback, often running as a wildcat. On several plays, Merdinger was lined up on the outside as a receiver.
---Entering the drive, UNC had run no more than three plays on its first eight possessions and five plays on the other.
---This drive went 96 yards on eight plays ending with a 17-yard TD pass from Hood to Copenhaver making it 27-14 with 6:46 left.
*Hood, who technically redshirted this season, ended up running for 78 yards on 11 runs. He also completed that pass for 17 yards. It was his only pass attempt.
*UNC played at BC up here 5 weeks ago, and combined in both games through three quarters:
-0 offensive points
-145 total yards
-8 first downs
-54 points allowed
---UNC lost at BC 41-21, but it was 41-7 with 5:51 left in the game when the Eagles subbed all defensive starters. UNC was 0-for-10 on third downs at that point and the total yardage was BC 412, UNC 103.
---UNC had 2 first downs entering the third quarter in this game but picked some up in the fourth quarter with Caleb Hood running wildcat.
*UNC lost its last three games against FBS opponents in 2021 (win over Wofford in there), its last four in 2022, its last three in 2023, and its last three games this season.
---UNC’s latest win over an FBS team in the four-year span is November 16, which was Wake Forest this season.
---UNC was 6-5 in 2021 but finished 6-7; it was 9-1 in 2022 but finished 9-5; it was 6-0 in 2023 and finished 8-4; and it was 6-4 this season and finished 6-7.
*Some stats:
---Total yards: UConn 361-206
---First downs: UConn 21-10 (8-2 UNC in 4th quarter)
---Total plays: UConn 70, UNC 42
---3rd-down conversions: UConn 8-16, UNC 0-9
---4th-down conversions: UConn 1-1, UNC 1-3
---Time of possession: UConn 35:11, UNC 24:49
---Penalties: UConn 4 for 30 yards, UNC 9 for 55 yards
