RALEIGH — North Carolina entered Saturday’s game against N.C. State with dreams of a nine-win season and a possible berth in the Chick-fil-A or Gator Bowl.
The shrill blast of a referee’s whistle snapped the Tar Heels back into the reality of another blown halftime lead and another loss to their in-state rival, 28-27.
Ten times, yellow flags flew against North Carolina. As a whole, that amounted to 122 yards against UNC.
“We can’t have the penalties that we made today,” UNC coach Butch Davis said. “A lot of things that prevented us from scoring more often were self-inflicted.”
In the second quarter, the Wolfpack offense was stagnating. With only seven points, NCSU trailed UNC by 10, and the Wolfpack was staring at a third-and-23. But Charles Brown bumped the intended receiver while N.C. State quarterback Russell Wilson’s pass hung in the air.
The whistle blew for pass interference and an automatic first down.
And it didn’t stop there. What should have been a punt turned into three UNC penalties; a pass interference call against Kendric Burney and a personal foul against Michael McAdoo. It ended in a 14-yard touchdown strike from Wilson to Jarvis Williams to make the score 17-14.
In the 11-play, 77-yard drive, 45 of those yards came from penalties.
The whistles and flags beset UNC on all sides. While UNC’s defense gave up chunks of yardage, the Tar Heel offense often found itself moving backward.
“Penalties killed us all day long,” UNC quarterback T.J. Yates said. “We had some drives where we got up there close, and penalties took us back. … As a team, we’ve just got to play smarter.”
Yates referred specifically to UNC’s first drive of the game.
The Tar Heels opened the game by marching downfield and looked likely to find the endzone.
With third-and-one from the NCSU 12-yard line, UNC tight end Zack Pianalto was called for holding and minus-10 yards. Instead of a touchdown, UNC settled for a field goal. It hurt more when Johnny White fumbled at the one-foot line on the next drive.
“There’s never a time where you (could) score a touchdown and fumble another one where it could have been 14 points, and you have to settle for three — sure, you feel like you’ve left points on the field,” Davis said.
In spite of the penalties, Saturday was the most prolific day of offense for UNC this season. Yates threw for a season-high 280 yards and two touchdowns. Both Greg Little and Jheranie Boyd topped 100 yards receiving.
All told, the Tar Heels racked up 481 yards of total offense and 24 first-half points. But it wasn’t enough in a rivalry matchup against an N.C. State team that played far better than its record.
“We could play this team in the McDonald’s parking lot, and it would be a big game,” N.C. State’s Owen Spencer (4 catches, 130 yards) said.
The win was the Wolfpack’s third straight against the Tar Heels, and it stung extra for players like Yates and junior defensive tackle Marvin Austin, who have never beaten the Wolfpack in their careers.
“This is the toughest loss possible,” Austin said. “N.C. State, crosstown rivals. They came out, they wanted it more.”
The game also changes UNC’s postseason picture. It now falls to 8-4 and 4-4 in the ACC, the same record as last season when they went to the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
UNC falls to rival for the third straight year
Junior T.J. Yates put in arguably his best performance of the season against the Wolfpack. DTH/Andrew Dye
