Louisville slugs Tar Heels, 39-34

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As Bryn Renner’s throw spiraled toward him in the end zone, Erik Highsmith thought, for a brief moment, that North Carolina would complete a comeback that one quarter before had seemed improbable at best.

But the thought vanished as quickly as it arrived — dashed to bits as the ball once again found itself in the air, ripped from Highsmith’s hands.

It was Highsmith and the Tar Heels’ chance to do the impossible. But instead, they allowed No. 19 Louisville to survive by the skin of its teeth, falling to the Cardinals 39-34.

“I really thought we were going to come back and win this,” Highsmith said. “Everything was going in our favor in the second half. I mean, I just gotta make that play. I’m probably gonna have nightmares about it. I gotta make that play.”

In fairness to Highsmith, that was far from the only play UNC should’ve made Saturday.

In truth, UNC should have taken the lead two plays earlier, on third down, when just three yards separated the Tar Heels from the end zone.

The play call clearly caught the Cardinals off guard, as evidenced by the open lane UNC quarterback Bryn Renner had to the end zone. Renner seemed poised to cross the plane on the quarterback keeper — then the flag came down.

It was a false start, a five-yard penalty.

“We make it a point in our keys to victory: no self-inflicted wounds and no pre- or post-snap penalties,” Renner said. “We didn’t execute in that category today. False starts in a key time of the game. We gotta stay focused.”

But, again, that wasn’t the only play UNC should’ve made Saturday. The Tar Heels had an entire half of missed opportunities.

That UNC drive began with just 4:15 left on the game clock. About one quarter and one minute earlier, the Tar Heels were down 36-7, buried by an abysmal first half.

“From what I can remember from the first half, it looked like a lack of effort, a lack of intensity, a lack of passion, a lot of mental mistakes,” coach Larry Fedora said. “You name it: whatever could go wrong went wrong in the first half. You gotta give Louisville credit, but we can’t play football the way we played in the first half.”

UNC’s defense allowed 360 yards to Louisville in the first half, while UNC tallied just 167.

And the Tar Heels certainly didn’t help themselves with sloppy play. A Renner interception on the team’s second drive, an overthrown snap that caused a 24-yard loss, a fumble near midfield — the mistakes piled up for UNC in the first half.

But at halftime, an enraged Fedora questioned his team’s manhood, and a new, more passionate UNC team emerged.

“He challenged all of us: you know, how hard are we going to play, and what kind of character do we have as a team?” Renner said.

“Every time this team has had their character challenged by anybody, whether it’s outside events or things that happen in the game, we’ve always stepped up, and I think you can’t say enough about what we did in the second half.”

But as the football left Highsmith’s hands and fell harmlessly in the end zone, it was clear that the Tar Heels simply didn’t do enough.