Mack, The Heels & Bowling In The 90s
Mack Brown’s return to North Carolina has the Tar Heels back to a bowl for the first time since 2016.
At 6-6, the Tar Heels will face Temple in the Military Bowl on Dec. 27 in Annapolis, MD.
Previously, Brown led UNC to six bowls during from 1988-1997, with their first coming in the Hall of Fame head coach’s fifth season. It should be noted that there were half as many bowl games when Brown was at Carolina, so playing in the postseason was much more difficult to achieve.
Also, Brown only coached the Tar Heels in five of those six bowl games, as he took the Texas job a few weeks before the Tar Heels beat Virginia Tech, 42-3, in the Gator Bowl. Brown’s bowl record at Carolina was 3-2.
Ahead of the Tar Heels’ first bowl appearance in three seasons, let’s take a look back at all of Brown’s bowl games in his original 10-year stint in Chapel Hill, starting with the 1992 season.
Peach Bowl - January 1, 1993
No. 19 UNC 21, No. 24 Mississippi State 17
The Tar Heels got off to a rocky start finding themselves down 14-0 at halftime but stormed back in the second half with All-ACC running back Natrone Means scoring a one-yard touchdown on the opening drive after halftime cutting the Bulldogs’ lead to seven.
The Tar Heels’ defense then stepped up, forcing two turnovers and scoring on both, including a 44-yard interception return by defensive back Cliff Baskerville. The star of the game was defensive back Bracey Walker, the game’s defensive MVP after he blocked two punts, returning one for a touchdown and setting up another in Carolina’s 21-17 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 69,125 spectators in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome.
UNC finished the season at 9-3.
Gator Bowl - December 31, 1993
No. 18 Alabama 24, No. 12 UNC 10
Brown’s 1993 team faced defending national champion Alabama in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, FL. Both teams battled to a 10-10 tie at halftime before the Crimson Tide scored on a pair of 12-play drives in the second half to go up 24-10, a lead they would not relinquish.
Despite the defeat, UNC quarterback Jason Stanicek set school bowl game records at the time for pass completions and yardage, completing 19 passes for 235 yards. Wide receiver Corey Holliday also set postseason school records for receptions and receiving yardage, finishing with nine for 125 yards.
The Tar Heels finished the season at 10-3.
Sun Bowl - December 30, 1994
Texas 35, No. 19 UNC 31
UNC faced Texas, a program Brown would eventually take over at the end of the 1997 season, in the 1994 Sun Bowl in El Paso, TX. The programs had met some 12 years earlier in the 1982 Sun Bowl in a game in which the Tar Heels scored 23 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to win, 26-10.
Texas jumped out to a 21-17 lead at halftime thanks to running back Priest Holmes, who rushed for a Sun Bowl record 161 yards. Neither team found the end zone in the third quarter before wide receiver Marcus Wall opened the fourth quarter with an 82-yard punt return, the longest in Sun Bowl history, to give the Tar Heels a three-point advantage.
Holmes recorded 61 of his rushing yards in the fourth quarter and finished the game with four touchdowns to help give the Longhorns the 35-31 victory.
The 50,612 fans in attendance was the largest crowd in Sun Bowl history at the time. The loss meant UNC ended the year at 8-4.
Carquest Bowl - December 30, 1995
UNC 20, No. 24 Arkansas 10
Coming off consecutive bowl losses, Brown’s team entered the 1995 Carquest Bowl in Miami, FL looking to cure its postseason woes.
The Razorbacks were coming off a 34-3 blowout loss to No. 2 Florida in the SEC Championship game while UNC was having its worst season under Brown since 1990. Arkansas jumped out to a 7-0 lead before Tar Heels’ quarterback Mike Thomas connected with wide receiver Darrin Ashford for an 18-yard touchdown to tie things up.
With the Razorbacks up 10-7 in the third quarter, running back Leon Johnson scored on a 28-yard option play to give UNC a 14-10 lead. Thomas then connected with wide receiver L.C. Stevens for an 87-yard touchdown pass, giving the Tar Heels a 20-10 advantage, which they would ultimately hold on to.
Johnson finished the game with a bowl record 195 rushing yards on 29 carries and was awarded the Most Valuable Player trophy for his performance.
The victory meant Brown’s team won their first bowl game since the 1993 Peach Bowl and finished the season 7-5.
Gator Bowl - January 1, 1997
No. 12 UNC 20, No. 25 West Virginia 13
In what was UNC’s second Gator Bowl appearance in four seasons, the Tar Heels entered the matchup with a point to prove having lost out to Florida State for the ACC title.
The game was a battle of two of the top defenses in the country, with Brown’s unit ranking No. 1 in turnover margin and scoring defense (10 ppg). On the other hand, West Virginia was ranked No. 1 in total defense (217.5 ypg), second in rushing defense (61.5 ypg) and second in turnover margin.
In front of 52,103 spectators, the smallest Gator Bowl crowd since 1964, UNC jumped out to a 17-3 lead at the half thanks to quarterback Oscar Davenport’s 18-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Octavius Barnes and Davenport’s five-yard touchdown run with 1:15 remaining in the second quarter.
The Tar Heels’ defense forced four turnovers in the game, including a controversial fumble in the third quarter by running back Amos Zereoue as the Mountaineers were making a comeback, to secure a 20-13 win in what was Brown’s final bowl appearance as the head coach at Carolina.
UNC finished the season at 10-2, its best ever finish under Brown at the time.
Note: The Tar Heels went 11-1 in 1997 capping the season with a 42-3 rout of Virginia Tech, though Brown left for Texas a few weeks earlier and didn’t coach UNC in that game.