North Carolina
Carolina suffers crushing loss to Florida State, 30-27
By Dane Huffman Oct 23, 2009
Chapel Hill, N.C. — You couldn’t have asked for a better stage than Thursday for the North Carolina football team. ESPN was in town, Florida State was the opponent and even legend Lawrence Taylor returned to Kenan Stadium for the first time since his senior season in 1980.
All that catapulted Carolina to a 24-6 lead deep in the third quarter, and the Tar Heels looked ready to make a statement.
And they did – but a statement of a different sort. A crushing 30-27 loss to the Seminoles made it clear Carolina ( 4-3 overall, 0-3 ACC) is a long way from being worthy of national acclaim.
Even coach Butch Davis didn’t try to hide the disappointment of the outcome, calling it a “tough loss” with a heavy emphasis on tough.
“A lot of things you go through as a football team and program, you can’t script. You’ve got to go through it,” Davis said.
“A lot of the lessons that you learn, they are bitter and painful, they’re not fun to go through, but sometimes they are things you have to go through.”
The lesson Thursday?
“The composure aspect of it,” he said.
And that was clear enough.
Carolina had a chance against a Florida State team that is a shell of what it once was. The Tar Heels led 24-6 in the third quarter as a UNC offense that has been erratic this season had a crisp, effective beginning.
Davis had said he wanted to see more of receiver Greg Little, and the Heels fed the Noles defense a steady diet of slant routes to the powerful Little. They mixed those throws with effective blocking from a line that benefited from the return of tight end Zack Pianalto, who had not played because of a foot injury since the Sept. 12 win at Connecticut.
Running back Shaun Draughn finally had holes to run through and contributed steady yards on the ground.
When quarterback T.J. Yates scored on a 10-yard run with 11:38 left in the third quarter, Carolina’s edge was 24-6.
The moment was ripe with opportunity. UNC had showed it could pull off a Thursday night game with few traffic hassles, the 58,000 fans at Kenan were roaring and a national audience was watching what could have been a watershed for UNC. Florida State, meanwhile, racked up penalties and floundered against the Heels’ aggressive defense.
Then Florida State wrested the game from the Tar Heels. Quarterback Christian Ponder, who threw for 395 yards, got the comeback going with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Taiwan Easterling.
A series of game-changing plays followed. Yates heaved a deep ball to Little that FSU’s Jamie Robinson intercepted at the 3-yard line.
Florida State had a delay of game penalty to put the ball at the 2, and it was easy to think the Seminoles were in trouble. But FSU showed some of the boldness that once marked its greatness. Ponder dropped back into his own end zone to throw – a real risk against UNC’s pass rush – and heaved the ball deep down the right sideline to Rod Owens. Owens made the catch, skirted a diving Charles Brown at midfield and ran in for a 98-yard score.
It was the longest play from scrimmage ever in a UNC game and pulled Florida State within 24-20.
Backbreaking, Davis called it.
“There’s no doubt where it turned, is it?” Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden said.
UNC wilted from there. The teams swapped field goals but it was obvious the Tar Heels were just hanging on. Ponder had wide open receivers and would complete his last 16 throws en route to a 33-of-40 passing night.
The game-winner came when Ponder hit Beau Reliford open on the right side for an 18-yard score with 6:20 remaining that gave Florida State its first lead at 30-27.
Carolina elected to punt on fourth-and-5 at the Seminoles’ 44 – drawing boos from the fans – and Ponder led a time-crunching drive. UNC had one final possession with 47 seconds left but couldn’t pull it out.
“We let this one slip away from us,” Yates said.
Indeed they did. Perhaps most stunning was how the Seminoles (3-4, 1-3) gained 438 yards against the UNC defense – including 338 in the second half alone. The Tar Heels had their defense in position to close out the game, and couldn’t do it.
“Tonight we moved the ball like a good offense ...,” Davis said. “Obviously, it’s a little bit of a wake-up call for the defense, too. Rankings and stats are insignificant – you’ve got to play.”
And play well on a big stage. Carolina had the bright lights on its program Thursday, but couldn’t close this one out.
Copyright 2012 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Most Recent Comments
RE: Carolina suffers crushing loss to Florida State, 30-27
Most of us of a certain age, whether for State or Carolina or even Duke or WF, are acutely aware of the limitations of our football teams. My brother (State) and i (Carolina) recently discussed why any of us were still able to get excited about our teams each year, how we could possible believe any of the hype about coaches, recruites, or anything else from the sports marketing, AD, writers, or other culprits.
It is less reliable than the barkers at the Fair, then and now. I suppose at the Fair there was even truth in advertising with Pagan Jones!
RE: Carolina suffers crushing loss to Florida State, 30-27
tough loss for UNC, though I really enjoyed watching it. It was my biggest payday by far this year and really had me sweating in the third quarter, but Yates got the ball rolling with that awful pass/brainfrat/interception thingy in just the nick of time, and from there on it was classic carolina...
RE: Carolina suffers crushing loss to Florida State, 30-27
"CRUSHING LOSS" the headline says! I really enjoyed seeing the Tar Holes choke again! You pagans and liberals in Chapel Hill love to talk smack at THE PACK when we lose, but you can't take it now.
RE: Carolina suffers crushing loss to Florida State, 30-27
i guess i had rather have it on my heel than in my pants. LOL
RE: Carolina suffers crushing loss to Florida State, 30-27
Heels fans need to stop blaming the loss on the coaches calls....at some point the players have to stand up and take responsibility for there lazy play. These guys have been playing organize ball since they were 8 years old...they need to step up
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