bgorman@heraldsun.com; 419-6668
RALEIGH -- For the past four weeks North Carolina's defense has carried the Tar Heels to a four-game winning streak and a No. 23 national ranking. The defense has created turnovers, has scored touchdowns and had been the driving force behind UNC's rebound from a 0-3 start in the ACC.
But Saturday against rival N.C. State in the final game of the regular season, the Tar Heels' defense, fifth-ranked nationally, gave up the big plays it had limited all season.
Quarterback Russell Wilson rallied the Wolfpack from a 10-point halftime deficit with two of his four touchdown passes in the second half as N.C. State beat UNC 28-27 at Carter-Finley Stadium. It's the third consecutive year the Wolfpack won the rivalry game and the second straight year an unranked N.C. State team has upset the Tar Heels.
"They made the plays that they needed to make in crucial situations and we didn't make the stops that we normally make," UNC cornerback Kendric Burney said. "You just got to give credit to them but also we didn't do what we were supposed to do."
After recording 14 takeaways over the past four games, UNC's defense failed to force a turnover for the first time since the loss to Virginia on Oct. 3. Wilson also picked apart the Tar Heels' secondary, finishing 20 of 27 for 259 yards and throwing touchdown passes of 6, 14, 56 and 38 yards. Entering Saturday's game, UNC had given up just one touchdown pass of more than 18 yards -- a 98-yard score by Florida State -- and had given up just three passes of 39 yards or more all season.
"The one thing, as in all cases, that you can't do defensively, as well as we did at times, you just can't give up big plays," UNC coach Butch Davis. "Big plays are the backbreakers because it just buoys confidence and it keeps the momentum going in a different direction."
The Tar Heels (8-4, 4-4 ACC) led 24-14 at halftime but it didn't take long for the Wolfpack (5-7, 2-6 ACC) to make it a one-score game. After both teams punted on their first possessions of the third quarter, NCSU needed just one play on their second possession to cut the score to 24-21 when Wilson connected with Owen Spencer for a 56-yard touchdown.
"The big plays changed the momentum of the game," said Spencer, who finished with four catches for 130 yards. "It was huge for us."
The Tar Heels countered with a 61-yard drive that resulted in a 20-yard Casey Barth field goal to go up 27-21 with 7:28 to play in the third.
But the Wolfpack got the ball back at the end of the third and at the start of the fourth took their first lead of the game. N.C. State marched 90 yards down field and Spencer capped the drive with a 38-yard touchdown reception -- which was almost deflected by UNC's Charles Brown -- to put his team up 28-27 with 14:31 to play.
"[Charles Brown] is a good player, but one time he should've gone for the pick," Deunta Williams said. "He tried to go for the swipe and misjudged it a little bit and boom, big play."
The Tar Heels drove into Wolfpack territory on their next two possessions but didn't come away with any points. UNC reached NCSU's 33 but a holding penalty backed it up to the 44, and then the Tar Heels turned the ball over on downs.
The next time UNC got to N.C. State's 19, but Jheranie Boyd carried the ball for a loss of 12 yards. Two plays later Barth's 38-yard field goal attempt was blocked, breaking a streak of 16 consecutive field goals.
"I think I just kicked it low," Barth said. "The snap was perfect, the hold was perfect, I think I just blame myself on that one. It was a low kick."
N.C. State got the ball back with 4:44 to play and completed two first downs before UNC forced them into a third-and-11 situation. But Wilson found Spencer downfield for a 25-yard gain to allow the Wolfpack to run down the clock and effectively seal the game. The Tar Heels had the ball with 23 seconds to play, but quarterback T.J. Yates was picked off on the first play.
In the first half it looked like the Tar Heels would win an easy one as it jumped to a 17-7 lead thanks to a 31-yard Barth field goal, a 35-yard touchdown pass from Yates to Boyd and a 40-yard touchdown run by Johnny White. But N.C. State cut the score to 17-14 in the second when Jarvis Williams caught a 14-yard touchdown pass after two pass interference calls and a personal foul were whistled on UNC during the drive. The Tar Heels got some separation by halftime, however, when Yates completed a 70-yard touchdown pass to Boyd for UNC's third touchdown drive of less than 49 seconds.
The Tar Heels must now play the waiting game to find out what bowl they've been selected for, but that waiting period will only make the loss to the Wolfpack sting even more.
"It's going to be kind of hard to let this one go because we don't have a game for a while," said Yates, who finished 13 of 19 for 280 yards. "It's going to have some time to set in but we're just going to have to get past it and move on."
