UNC quarterback T.J. Yates sets school record in 37-35 upset over FSU

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — North Carolina quarterback T.J. Yates had a lot of reasons to be rattled with six minutes left in the fourth quarter of UNC’s 37-35 win against Florida State.

But experience doesn’t give in to things like that.

Yates was taking the field with his third- and fourth-string running backs after his team had just lost the lead on a punt gone terribly awry, in a stadium his program had never won in, with 70,157 garnet-and-gold faithful calling for his failure.

Yates calmly drove the Tar Heels 72 yards down to the 5-yard line, chewing up most of the remaining clock and setting up Casey Barth for what turned out to be the game-winning field goal.

“We knew we had a lot of time,” Yates said. “We had six minutes left; we knew we couldn’t be stopped offensively, as far as throwing the ball.”

Offensive coordinator John Shoop put the ball in the hands of the man who was starting his 40th contest as the Tar Heels’ quarterback. What ensued was “the single-best drive our team has had in my four years here as a head coach,” UNC coach Butch Davis said.

Yates threw for 439 yards on the day, making him the first passer in UNC history to have two 400-yard passing games to his credit. The Seminoles had no answer for Yates, as he beat them repeatedly with the deep ball: Six of his 24 completions went for 27 or more yards.

Some of the credit should go to Shoop, who was able to keep FSU’s defense on its heels by going with play-action passes and deep balls when the defense least expected.

“I thought (Shoop) was hot,” Davis said. “He kept them off balance enough that they could never really get honed in as much as they wanted to.

“It seemed like every time they focused on stopping the run and controlling the box, we kept getting a big play down the field that would loosen them up.”

Yates’ weapon of choice was Dwight Jones, who set a career-high with 233 receiving yards. Paired with his 198-yard performance against Virginia, Jones is now responsible for two of the top six receiving performances in UNC history.

“I thought we did all right,” Jones said. “In the beginning of the game, we had a lot of three-and-outs; I feel like that hurt us a little bit. Then it hurt when (running back Johnny) White went out. That hurt a whole lot too, so everybody really had to step up.”

That’s not to say that Barth’s field goal with one minute left was the end of the drama — FSU’s Greg Reid brought the ensuing kickoff all the way down to the UNC 45-yard line, prime scoring position for a high-octane offense like Florida State’s.

“Disbelief,” safety Deunta Williams said on what was going through his mind as he watched Reid’s return. “You’d have thought all the starters on the kickoff team would eliminate that, but it didn’t happen. But at the same time, it didn’t matter where he ended up at, because I felt like we were going to win the game.”

Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder gamely brought his team to the UNC 22, setting up FSU kicker Dustin Hopkins with a 40-yard attempt to decide the game with seven seconds left.

Davis witnessed yet another Florida State “Wide Right.” Hopkins pushed it right, and the Tar Heel bench spilled onto the field, apparently unaware that there were still two seconds left on the clock.

After a kneel to run out the clock, Yates and Co. had sealed their sixth win of the season — this one a hard-fought win against a top-25 team that awards them bowl eligibility.

“I really don’t know where to start except to say how proud I am of our football team,” Davis said.

“I think our kids tonight proved their resiliency and a way to stand in the face of adversity and fight as hard as they could.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.