Madness in the Music City

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – T.J. Yates got his storybook ending, after all.

In the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl, Yates initially looked as if he let his opportunity slip away when Dwight Jones let Yates’ 4th-and-20 hurl fall to the ground with 1:36 remaining.

But Yates got a second opportunity with 31 seconds remaining, and he drove the Tar Heels 57 yards to set up Casey Barth for a field goal, en route to an otherworldly 30-27 double-overtime win against Tennessee.

When Jones dropped the ball, Yates wondered if he had thrown the final pass of his college career.

“A lot of guys on offense didn’t think we’d get another chance, and I was one of them,” Yates said. “I was coming off the field thinking the game was over, but we had two timeouts and the defense could give us a shot.”

The defense held serve, stifling three Volunteers runs for a total of -1 yard and setting up the stage for the dramatic ending.

The game looked like a rout early, when the Tar Heels scored on the third play from scrimmage, and got stops on their first three turns on defense.

It took a turn when senior safety Deunta Williams got his leg caught under him while attempting to make a tackle. It was an ugly fall that resulted in a fractured right fibula at the ankle.

The defense seemed to struggle to stay focused, giving up a touchdown on the possession. The Volunteers were able to move the ball through the air, connecting on long balls of 29 and 45 yards after the injury.

“He’s one of our leaders,” junior defensive tackle Quinton Coples said. “His injury took a toll on us, as far as him being out and injured. We knew he wasn’t going to be able to come back and help us out.”

The defense came up large in overtime as well, as Quan Sturdivant picked off a Tyler Bray pass to get UNC the chance to win with a field goal, which they did.

“I just read the fullback,” Sturdivant said. “It was probably a mistake by the quarterback.”

Lost in the chaos of the final 16 seconds of regulation will be the rest of the game, including the contributions of the game’s MVP. Running back Shaun Draughn took home the award, on the back of 160 rushing yards on 23 carries.

“Shaun had a great night tonight,” UNC coach Butch Davis said. “It was great to see him back healthy, 100 percent being able to run. We missed him all year long, but he sure came through tonight like a complete champion.”

Draughn got a sizeable chunk of that on one run in the first quarter, when he ran right, and the offensive line cleared every Vol out, leaving Draughn staring at just Janzen Jackson in the way of the end zone.

“The offensive line did a lot of things that we practice in practice,” Draughn said. “The run that I had in the first half, it was perfect. They blocked it up perfect. They parted, and then there was just one more person to beat.”

Beat him Draughn did. He cut back towards the middle of the field, leaving Jackson on the ground, having grasped at nothing but air. Draughn sprinted the rest of the 58 yards, and staked the Tar Heels to an early lead.

The run was just the clearest example of the offensive line’s performance, as they cleared big holes for Draughn all game long.

“We threw some new stuff at them, they threw some new stuff at us,” Tar Heel offensive tackle Mike Ingersoll said. “They were good up front, we just had a really good day.”

The game was a redemption story of sorts for Draughn, who had struggled with bouts of injury and ineffectiveness in his final season in Chapel Hill.

He made LP Field his own personal playground, running with an abandon that endeared him to UNC coaches in his sophomore season.

“It’s just awesome (for Draughn to win),” Ingersoll said. “Especially coming in with him in 2006, I’m just so happy for him. He ran his butt off.”