Tar Heels, Howell pull off another dramatic fourth-quarter comeback to top Miami

CHAPEL HILL — It was nearly midnight when Kenan Stadium finally stopped rocking, an evening that was only a dream when Mack Brown returned to town last November to once again rescue the North Carolina football program.

For the second straight week, the Tar Heels found themselves trailing in the fourth quarter, and for the second straight week, a true freshman delivered a game-winning drive before the Carolina defense closed it out en route to a 28-25 victory over Miami on Saturday night.

Only for a moment was the light dimmed, as for the first time since Brown’s arrival, the harsh reality of rebuilding of a football program finally hit.

Trailing 25-20 with 2:55 remaining, the Tar Heels faced 4 and 17 at their own 44-yard line after giving up sacks on two straight plays. His first inclination — an unpopular one with the offense — was to punt.

“I did not want to punt the ball, because I did not want to put the ball in their hands,” receiver Dazz Newsome said. “I don’t want to be off the field, not knowing what’s going to happen.”

With no timeouts, he and the coaching staff faced a tough call.

“When Phil Longo said let’s go for the 4th and 17, I said, ‘You just had two sacks; why should I be excited about your 4 and 17 call?’,” Brown said. “He said, ‘I think that’s better right now than having 30 seconds on the clock and no timeouts.’”

Ultimately, Brown relented and decided to run the offense back out there, but even the most optimistic guys on the field knew what the Tar Heels were up against.

“I mean, at first… it’s starting to feel like it’s over,” left tackle Charlie Heck said. “But then knowing when we line up that we’ve got that quarterback behind us and we’ve got the playmakers at receiver and I could tell we protected it well, and if you give Sam (Howell) time, he’s going to find an open guy.”

Turns out, Brown should have been more excited about the call.

Miami brought pressure, but it didn’t get home in time, allowing Howell to take a step up in the pocket and deliver an 18-yard pass to Toe Groves, who hauled it in as he hit the ground.

Newsome said it was a play the Tar Heels have worked for months, but through nearly two games, offensive coordinator Phil Longo had yet to use it.

“He decided to call it right there at the perfect time,” Newsome said. “That play is the perfect zone-beater. Toe executed well, Sam put it on the money and the O-line did a great job holding them up.”

But that wasn’t the end, and even as the crowd came back to life, Howell and the Tar Heels still had another 40 yards to cover and just over two minutes to do it.

No one batted an eye on the Carolina sideline.

“That boy cold,” linebacker Tomon Fox said. “He bad. Our offense is already hot, but with the addition of Sam, it’s like fuel to the fire. He gets out there and everything just clicks.”

Seriously.

“I wasn’t nervous at all,” safety Myles Dorn said. “I knew he was going to make the right plays. I see it every day in practice and he’s just a calm and poised individual.”

A quick completion to Beau Corrales got Carolina 12 yards before Howell scrambled for a few. Corrales nearly hauled in a second straight game-winning touchdown catch, but it slipped away in the end zone.

No worries in the Carolina huddle.

“Right before that last drive, I told the guys, we’ve been here before,” Howell said. “We do it in games, we do it in practice, so we’ve just got to do what we do.”

After a nine-yard run from Michael Carter, the stage was set for yet another big moment for the star freshman.

From the 10-yard line, Howell took the shotgun snap and pumped right to Javonte Williams, moving Miami linebacker Shaq Quarterman to help open up the middle for tight end Carl Tucker. After a quick look over the middle, Howell realized another safety was closing in before setting his feet and lobbing a ball to the corner for Newsome.

Sam Howell to Dazz Newsome TD @TarHeelFootball pic.twitter.com/n1s1D4afFO
— UNC Tar Heels on SR (@SRTarHeel) September 8, 2019

“Ran a corner route,” Newsome said. “I gave him a fake — a little (hesitation) inside — I guess he jumped in there. Ran out and he was nowhere to be found and Sam put a perfect pass on the money.”

With 1:01 remaining in the fourth quarter, Kenan Stadium erupted in a way no one imagined it could this season and kept on rocking until Bubba Baxa’s 49-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left and the Tar Heels headed for the student section, posing for selfies and singing the alma mater.

True to his personality, Howell didn’t want to focus on any fourth-quarter magic or even his own accomplishment. Instead, he’d rather not lead the drives at all.

“As a young player, I think it’s good to have those experiences late in the game,” he said. “Honestly for me, I just want to try to avoid that situation. There were some drives in the game we didn’t finish; really I think we could have put the game away a lot earlier than we did, so we’ve just got to finish some drives.”

His coach was a little more impressed with the freshman, who completed 16 of 24 attempts for 274 yards and two touchdowns.

“Just remarkable for the way he played down the stretch and give Phil Longo a lot of credit for the calls he made, too,” Brown said. “You have to be so excited for the way Sam Howell played at the end of the game.”

For the second straight week, it’s rather wild down here. pic.twitter.com/iieGHMzSgk
— Barnt (@barntwn) September 8, 2019

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