No. 5 North Carolina Falls Short to Florida State, 31-28
TALLAHASSEE, Fl.- What a night for North Carolina (3-1, 3-1 ACC). The team was put to the test as Florida State (2-3, 1-3 ACC) welcomed the team to the Sunshine state with adversity and questions of their top 5 rankings. FSU defeated the Heels, 31-28.
It's no secret that head coach Mack Brown wanted his team to earn the No. 5 ranking in the last weeks. In his own words, the public praise doesn't reflect the team's field presence, and more work needs to be done, and heading down to Florida will test their identity.
For the first time of the season, UNC didn't score on the opening drive. They didn't score until late in the second half with a 1-yard touchdown by Javonte Williams. At that point, Florida State already scored 24 points, crushing UNC's defense. The 24 points surrendered to FSU in the 2nd quarter is the most in a single quarter since Georgia Tech scored 30 in the 3rd quarter on November 10, 2012.
Florida State finished with 423 yards. Quarterback Jordan Travis had eight completions for 191 yards and a rushing total of 107 and two touchdowns. Their leading rusher, La'Damian Webb, finished with 109 yards.
Offensively, Sam Howell experienced his most challenging game of the season, who was sacked four times for a loss of 28 yards; Florida State tallied three total sacks in their first four games combined. Tonight? Four. Howell has also experienced his second game of targeting, resulting in the ejection. Howell's mobility has been limited by the coaching staff to reduce penalties like targeting to keep Howell safe. The sophomore quarterback completed 20-of-36 passes for his season-best of 374 yards with three touchdowns.
Javonte Williams could've moved the Heels closer to victory, but a late dropped pass in the 4th quarter sealed the deal for FSU. Williams finished with the most yards for UNC's offense with 186 total yards but more impressively, as a unit, North Carolina finished the game with 558 yards.
Leading all receivers, Beau Corrales finished with 141 yards receiving on four catches. Still, Garrett Walston was finally targeted in the high-intense game, resulting in two big plays for Carolina totaling 54 yards. Earlier this week, offensive coordinator Phil Longo discussed the urgency, including the tight-end core with the offense; thus, targeting the Walston led to touchdown drives.
Defensively, the Heels were kept quiet, but Trey Morrison continues to make big plays down the stretch, building much-needed momentum for the Heels to accomplish a victory. Senior Chazz Surratt finished the game with just three tackles, totaling only seven in the last two games.
In conclusion, despite the loss, Coach Brown highlighted the internal win for this team, not giving up and lifting the team in the middle of adversity. The two halves equaled out for the two high-powered ACC teams but missed scoring opportunities, dropped balls, poor time management, and missed tackles that resulted in a devastating loss.
Brown won't let this team hang their head for too long. The head coach is proud of their fight.
"They're great young people that have a tremendous amount of pride." Brown stated in his post-game conference, "They were down at halftime, and a lot of teams at that point would have given up, just quit and gotten frustrated; Nobody on that sideline was like that in the second half.
Our coaches picked them up, our players picked each other up, and they had a very positive attitude in the second half. That's who this team is."
Next week, the Heels return home to Kenan Stadium to face-off with an in-state rival, North Carolina State.
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