UNC unable to weather the Hurricanes

Twice Thursday night, the North Carolina football team’s defense let No. 10 Miami charge into the red zone on plays of more than 55 yards. Twice the defense held with its back against the wall, forcing field goals.

Up 23-20 with just more than four minutes on the clock, the defense lined up again. Its opponents had their worst starting position of the game at their own 10-yard line.

The Tar Heel defense didn’t allow the big play this time, but the Hurricanes slowly blew them back, chipping away with plays ranging from six to fifteen yards.

And then they were back in the red zone.

It was a familiar territory, but a familiar result wouldn’t suffice. Miami wouldn’t be settling for a field goal this time. It was all or nothing.

So it was all.

After Miami milked the clock to fewer than 30 seconds, tailback Dallas Crawford — on his eighth carry of the drive — walked into the end zone, sealing a 27-23 win for Miami.

“That hurts,” senior cornerback Jabari Price said. “All week long, we talk about bending and not breaking … And we just came up short in the end.”

UNC (1-5, 0-3 ACC) gained 47 yards quickly on a desperate drive in the game’s waning seconds, but a long lob from the 28-yard line fell incomplete and Miami (6-0, 2-0 ACC) walked out of “Zero Dark Thursday” still with zero losses.

Watching his defense dull one of the top offenses in the country for 56 minutes gave coach Larry Fedora confidence that its proficiency would continue for the last four.

“The defense was making plays throughout the entire game,” Fedora said. “I really thought we would stop them.”

It was a defense that didn’t give up a touchdown in the first three quarters of play, but also a defense that gave up two in the last one.

It was a defense that plucked four picks, but also a defense that gave up 14 plays over 15 yards, including five over 30.

Price said minor mistakes led to the major breaks in UNC’s bendable defense.

“It’s just all coming down to a game of inches,” he said. “Those small mistakes that people don’t see at home and stuff, they come back to bite you in the butt in the end. And tonight is a prime example.”

The defense only committed two penalties all game — one due to an extra man on the field that gave Miami a first down on UNC’s 3-yard line — but Price wasn’t pleased.

“The 12 men on the field?” Price said. “That’s kind of unacceptable. We have to do better. Those are Pop Warner mistakes.”

Still, North Carolina managed to stay on top of a top-10 team for 59 minutes, and players said small mishaps kept that from being the final story.

“They’re a top-10 team in the nation, and you take away a couple plays and we beat them,” senior defensive end Kareem Martin said.

But Price was able to point out the positive aspects of the game as well.

“Guys are coming out of the woodwork,” He said. “Dominique Green. We just have playmakers all over and when those guys can play loose and free, the sky is the limit for the defense.”

Green, a true freshman, tallied two interceptions on the day. The Tar Heels’ four total highlighted a defense that was on point, energized and focused. For 56 minutes.

It was the last four that forged their fate.

sports@dailytarheel.com