CHAPEL HILL - With 2:59 remaining in North Carolina’s 20-17 win over Duke last Saturday, sophomore running back Javonte Williams’ feet left the ground.
At the time, the Tar Heels were looking to ice the game against their neighborhood rival. Junior wide receiver Dazz Newsome had just made a heavily contested catch on fourth-and-4 on the previous play that put UNC’s offense on the 3-yard-line, and all the momentum was firmly in the home team’s favor and the Victory Bell appeared set to return to Chapel Hill for the first time in three years.
But then, as Williams glided through the air, Duke defensive end Tre Hornbuckle hit him from the right side, jarring the ball loose and sending it bouncing across the Kenan Stadium turf.
Duke linebacker Shaka Heyward eventually recovered it, leaving Williams stunned. His fumble had given the Blue Devils a lifeline.
“I’ve just got to be smarter at the end with the ball,” Williams said. “Instead of just trying to score, I should have just got what I could and went down because we had three more downs left.”
Understandably perplexed, UNC offensive coordinator Phil Longo approached Williams after the fumble and asked him the same question most Tar Heels fans were thinking at the time.
“I said, ‘Why did you jump?’ He never jumps, he puts his feet on the ground and he runs people over,” Longo said. “He said, ‘I’m trying to win, I’m just trying to win.’”
Despite his mistake, Williams had a monster game. The Wallace, NC, native finished with 111 yards on 22 carries, his second-most productive game of his UNC career.
Some two minutes and 44 seconds after his fumble, junior linebacker Chazz Surratt intercepted an attempted jump-pass by Duke running back Deon Jackson on the 1-yard line, sealing the game for the Tar Heels.
Not only did Surratt’s clutch play send a rush of excitement through Williams’ body, it also gave him an undeniable sense of relief as he celebrated on the sideline with running backs coach Robert Gillespie.
“(I was) hugging coach G,” Williams said. “I was glad because, I’m not saying the fumble was good, but I know it’s a whole lot better when we win. If we would have lost that game, I would have felt like it was my fault.”
After the game, as the celebrations dwindled down in the locker room, Williams approached UNC head coach Mack Brown. He had something he wanted to say to everyone.
“He comes to me and wants to apologize to the team and I said, ‘No, you ended up with (133 yards before the net figure) or something, you don’t need to apologize to the team. What you need to do is hang on to the ball and, again, don’t try too hard,’” Brown said.
Rather than letting his running back say sorry, Brown used Williams’ blunder as a teaching moment.
Since returning to Chapel Hill last November, Brown has been working to rebuild a program that won just five games in two years before his arrival. He’s used victories and defeats, good plays and bad plays along the way to teach his players what it takes to win again.
The Hall of Famer could have used Williams’ fumble as an excuse to berate him, but he didn’t. For Brown, it was just another opportunity to educate.
“He’s trying too hard and he’s wanting to win the game so, I told the guys yesterday, ‘Stop trying too hard. You’re good enough to just be you and just play,’” Brown said.
Still, Williams asking to stand up and accept responsibility says a lot about him as a person. He’s being accountable for his actions, something his offensive coordinator made sure to single out.
“It tells you what kind of kid he is,” Longo said. “I think, right now, it’s just going to motivate him to focus in a little bit more this week and I wouldn’t be surprised if we got another great game out of Javonte.”
Williams' mistake almost cost UNC the game on Saturday, but ultimately didn’t. Instead, it has been used as another learning experience for a program trying to return to prominence, and you can’t put a price on that.
