North Carolina falls to N.C. State for the fourth straight season

It was almost the perfect Senior Day for T.J. Yates.

North Carolina’s quarterback set four UNC records in a 29-25 loss to N.C. State on Saturday.

Yates’ 33 completions were a UNC single-game record and his 411 passing yards gave him the school’s career and single-season passing yards records. It was also the most yards any UNC quarterback has thrown in Kenan Stadium.

But, reminiscent of Harvey Haddix, a former major league pitcher who threw 12 perfect innings in a loss, Yates didn’t get the win.

“That’s what hurts the worst, I never got the better of them,” Yates said. “They have done a good job the last couple of years doing what they need to do to beat us. We definitely left some things out there on the field today, and that’s the most disappointing.”

What might hurt more was the way UNC lost: on arguably two plays over a span of one minute and 45 seconds.

The first play was a fourth-and-goal situation from the two yard line. UNC (6-5, 3-4 ACC) flushed Russell Wilson out of the pocket, forcing him to throw a prayer that was batted down by Tar Heel safety Da’Norris Searcy into the hands of N.C. State wide receiver Owen Spencer.

“We’re taught when the quarterback is scrambling to find a guy and cover him,” Searcy said.

“So I was just keeping it away from the man I was on.”

The play brought the Wolfpack within two at 19-17. It was improbable, but not back-breaking. No, that came next.

After a short-lived drive, UNC punted the ball to N.C. State, and T.J. Graham returned it 87 yards, untouched, for the third-longest return in school history and a 24-19 lead.

It was as if Graham hopped on a moving walkway and bypassed all the helpless defenders in a straight shot down the sideline.

“I know T.J. Graham,” cornerback Kendric Burney said. “My old roommate is his cousin, so when I seen him go down the sideline and I seen nobody, I was like, ‘It’s over with.’ When you give a kid with that type of speed a straight line, it’s not going to be pretty.”

North Carolina had done everything it was supposed to. It pressured Wilson all game long, only allowing the quarterback to throw for 163 yards and rush for 26.

Tailback Anthony Elzy caught 178 yards of Yates’ 411 passing yards and extended multiple plays.

And when the Tar Heels needed Casey Barth, the kicker responded, even hitting a career-best 49-yarder. But UNC would have liked to use Barth less. In four red zone trips, the Tar Heels settled for three field goals and only one touchdown.

The loss to N.C. State extended the Wolfpack’s win streak against UNC to four games, the longest losing stretch since the Tar Heels ended a five-game losing skid to N.C. State in 1992.

UNC’s senior class will leave without a win against N.C. State. As frustrating as the players and Davis said that is, it doesn’t diminish what this senior class has done.

“It’s not a finished product,” Davis said. “There’s still a lot of work to do for us to be where we want to be, but I will tell you that this group of seniors, they have made football relevant at North Carolina again.”

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