UNC Football: Late mistakes cost Tar Heels in Orange Bowl

The Tar Heels may have lost the Orange Bowl but UNC football is on the upswing and Saturday night showed that

The North Carolina Tar Heels played the fifth-ranked Texas A&M close for three quarters. And though the score ended with Texas A&M beating North Carolina 41-27, the game was really a lot closer than that. In fact, the Tar Heels led 27-20 with 10:11 left in the game.

But three fourth- quarter mistakes cost North Carolina the game. But there is no doubt that UNC football is going to be good for the next several seasons.

That the game was as close as it was is a testament to quarterback Sam Howell and the design of the offense. Howell finished 18 for 31 for three touchdowns and an interception. But Howell did not have his usual weapons as running backs Michael Carter and Javonte Williams opted-out of playing as did receiver Dyami Brown. North Carolina finished with 324 total yards but as UNC football fans all know, if they had three of their top offensive players available, this game would have gone differently.

And it still might have except for three late mistakes. One was a drop on a well-thrown seam pass by Howell to Khafre Brown. Brown wouldn’t have scored on the play but he would have helped put the Tar Heels deep in Aggie territory and a touchdown on the drive could have put the Tar Heels in solid position to win the game.

The second mistake was a couple of missed tackles by the Heels on a 76-yard touchdown run by Texas A&M’s Devon Achane. The score was the decisive play of the game and put the Aggies up for good at 34-27.

The third mistake was the Tar Heels going for a fourth-and-one in Aggies territory with a bit over two minutes left in the game but when UNC still had all three timeouts. Sure, the defense was tired at this point, but giving the ball back to Texas A&M on their own 34-yard line basically ended the game. The Aggies did score again and made it the final of 41-27.

But this team showed tonight that next year has promise as do the years after that. UNC has tons of young talent and had a chance to beat the current number five team in the country without a lot of offensive game-changers. North Carolina’s scheme is good and Sam Howell will be back next year. So will North Carolina football. Good things are going to happen in the next few seasons.