UNC, App State delivered another thriller — proving why it’s a series worth continuing
In the span of eight days, North Carolina packed just about an entire season’s worth of emotion into two games, and their aftermath. There was the catharsis a week ago, in the midst of a rollicking victory against South Carolina in prime time and on network television; the kind of victory that so often and for so long had eluded the Tar Heels.
Finally, then, they provided tempting glimpses of the possibilities. Finally, they rose to the moment instead of letting it pass by. Finally, it began to feel like their time. A great celebration followed that victory. Mack Brown danced, or at least moved in the dancing-like fashion his 72 years allowed. Players leaped into each other’s arms. It was a long time coming, the moment and the ensuing joy.
If that was a peak, a high of emotional highs, what was this latest Saturday, after the Tar Heels endured all the stages of feeling during a 40-34 double-overtime victory against Appalachian State? There was, early, a certain kind of assuredness for UNC, a desire to deliver the Mountaineers a measure of comeuppance for their daring to beat, and challenge, the Tar Heels in their past two meetings — App’s victory coming here in 2019 and its near-victory coming in Boone a season ago.
There was, then, a waiting for UNC, nearly a three-touchdown favorite on Saturday — a sense of, “only a matter of time” before things began to take their natural order. And then there was the realization, however slowly, that whatever the Tar Heels thought would be coming on this day was not; that here they were, trapped in the midst of another fight to the end, another game against the Mountaineers that both had no business being so competitive, yet also couldn’t be any other way.
For UNC, there was dread in the final 90 seconds of regulation when App State’s Michael Hughes calmly made the 33-yard tying field goal, and more dread when Nate Noel, the Mountaineers’ senior running back, easily ran through the Tar Heels’ defense during the first overtime. UNC, it must be remembered, has a roster of high school All-Americans who arrived in college with a bounty of those recruiting stars fans covet.
App, meanwhile, was starting a quarterback, Joey Aguilar, fresh out of Diablo Valley Community College (in California, if you didn’t know). The Mountaineers beat out the likes of Alabama A&M and Buffalo and FIU for Noel’s services. And up and down their roster, that’s how it is, full of guys who dreamed of the big time and wound up in Boone, hopeful for the kind of chance that arrived on Saturday; the chance to show a bigger school what they missed out on.
When App tied it late and took the lead early in overtime, tens of thousands inside Kenan Stadium undoubtedly felt a churning in their stomachs. Thoughts had to turn to curses and hexes and “here we go agains,” and “wouldn’t it be so very UNC football,” to open the season with a dominant victory against South Carolina one week, and come back and lose against App State — App State, again, just like in 2019 — the next. But then the Tar Heels sent it to overtime two, where Drake Maye willed himself to score and, at last, UNC came up with a defensive stop.
What was it like afterward, after this great escape? From the elation in Charlotte last week, to this?
“I think I’m kind of feeling like you go into a test you didn’t really study for, and you end up pulling like a ‘B’ out, and get by on the test,” said Maye, after throwing for 208 yards and rushing for 57 more, including the 13-yard touchdown that proved decisive. “I’m happy that we got out of here.”
The metaphor is more powerful considering Maye grew up in a home in which B’s were frowned upon. His older brother, Luke, never made one all through middle school or high school, and his three younger brothers always tried to emulate that success, and compete with it. And yet a B on this night — and that would be generous, given the defensive lapses, especially — was fine enough given how close they came to a failing grade.
It would be easy enough to conclude UNC suffered the effects of an emotional letdown, that it simply overlooked App State or couldn’t muster the requisite energy that powered the Tar Heels a week ago. And yes, UNC coach Mack Brown said, he did sense a bit of comedown.
“I didn’t think our practice was quite as good as it was for South Carolina,” he said. “... I didn’t think we were as sharp as we were the week before. And I think that was reflected tonight in some plays we didn’t make.”
That UNC simply suffered an energy drain might be easy enough to believe if Saturday night wasn’t the finale of an immensely entertaining trilogy. The Mountaineers escaped Kenan Stadium with a three-point victory in 2019. UNC a year ago escaped Boone with a two-point victory, decided only after App failed to convert a two-point conversion attempt with an ill-thrown pass to a wide-open target. And now this, in overtime, Saturday night.
It was all enough to leave Brown thankful at the thought that, at 72, he has likely coached his final game against Appalachian State. Which is a little sad, given how these games have delivered over the past several years. Four years ago, in Brown’s first season back in Chapel Hill, the Mountaineers proved more than a worthy opponent in beating UNC on its home field. Last year, UNC’s visit to Boone was one of the more anticipated events in that town’s history.
And Saturday, the payback the Tar Heels longed to deliver never materialized — in part because they proved they weren’t ready to dictate their terms, but also because, again, App State proved its worth. These are the kinds of the games, much more so, than, say, ones against the likes of Cal or Stanford or SMU, that people here care about. The ones that matter regionally. The ones that make college football what it is. And who knows when we’ll get another between these schools.
“It’s a great thing for the state of North Carolina” to have these kinds of games, Brown said, setting up his punchline. “And I encourage N.C. State and East Carolina” to play them. After his team prevailed Saturday, Brown spent some time with the Mountaineers, congratulating them and their coach, Shawn Clark, and his staff. A little later, Brown, who keeps a house up in the mountains, not far from App State’s campus, explained his gratitude at never having to face App again.
“All of the pressure’s on our kids,” he said. “There’s no pressure on App State, because nobody thinks they’re going to win the game. But all the pressure’s on us. And unless we win, we’re awful. And it just kills you. ... So I’ve had enough. I’ll enjoy my house in Linville, and congratulating all the App State players, and coaches.
“But I’m glad we’re through.”
It makes enough sense.
Indeed, UNC had more to lose than gain Saturday night, same as last year and same as in 2019. And yet Brown could offer some thanks, too, that App brought the Tar Heels back to Earth. That UNC survived, barely, while still providing its coaches endless teaching moments. And besides, these games were fun, weren’t they?
They were among the best college football games this state has seen the past few years. And they’ll be missed, especially when SMU or some school from California comes to town, with no local ties or connection or understanding of why local matters most in a sport that’s quickly abandoning its roots.
This story was originally published September 10, 2023 at 5:45 AM with the headline "UNC, App State delivered another thriller — proving why it’s a series worth continuing."
