Tar Heels Left Lamenting Lapses After 6 OT Loss To Hokies

UNC had every opportunity to put the game away early

Lee Luther Jr. | USA TODAY Sports

BLACKSBURG, Va. — This one isn’t on Noah Ruggles.

His two missed field goal attempts in overtime will get plenty of air time in the highlights, but there were so many missed opportunities for North Carolina that it’s impossible to blame one play in Virginia Tech’s 43-41 victory over the Tar Heels on Saturday night at Lane Stadium.

“I don’t think I have anything necessarily to put into words,” receiver Beau Corrales said. “It’s just tough. Like Coach Brown said, we work our butts off way too hard and way too much to come up short, but we’re going to learn from it and move on to the next game.”

For four quarters and six overtime periods, Carolina (3-4, 2-2) mixed brilliance — like the double-reverse that resulted in a 68-yard touchdown pass from Sam Howell to Antoine Green — with silly mistakes, unforced errors, untimely penalties, and yes, missed field goal attempts.

“Just the plays we left out there, a lot of plays we left out there that could have made a difference in the game, we didn’t do them,” said linebacker Chazz Surratt.

Early on, the Tar Heels looked set to dominate after jumping to a 10-0 lead and marching into Hokie (5-2, 2-2) territory. Instead of widening the margin, Carolina was forced to punt — one of two in plus-territory in the first quarter — and Virginia Tech answered on a blown coverage that left Tre Turner wide-open for a 55-yard touchdown.

And after Carolina pushed its lead to 17-7 midway through the second quarter, fell apart over the final four minutes of the half as the Hokies scored just before halftime to go ahead 21-17.

“I was really disappointed before the half,” Brown said. “Virginia Tech scores twice and we have a three and out and I think that changed the momentum of the game, and then it went back and forth from that point.”

Things could have been different for Carolina had it picked up two yards on the fake punt it had stuffed near midfield.

“We were fourth-and-1 and we were going to go for it. So we were either going to go for it — we had just lost a yard, didn’t gain anything on third down. We thought it was there. They brought a guy underneath and we didn’t make the (play).”

Or if it had stopped third-string quarterback from breaking a 53-yard run to tie the game in the fourth quarter, or if it had gotten anything going on two possessions late in the fourth quarter , or maybe if it been more aggressive with its playcalling in overtime.

There were missed tackles in the hole, missed tackles in the backfield and times that Howell — who was brilliant in completing 26 of 49 attempts for 348 yards and five touchdowns — held the ball too long and took sacks.

It’ll be a tough one for the Tar Heels and their coaching staff to dissect.

“We definitely had chances where we could have put them away, we had too many three and outs,” Corrales said. “Just small stuff like that; whenever a game is that close, you have to go back and look at the details and figure out what you’re doing wrong.”

Now, the challenge is ensuring that a handful of missed opportunities in Blacksburg don’t leave Lane Stadium as any more than an opportunity for growth.

“You learn from losses more than you learn wins,” Brown said. ‘We obviously didn’t quit, we obviously kept playing; I didn’t think they ever just let up.”

Carolina no longer controls its own destiny in the Coastal Division, but given how things have gone this season, the Tar Heels are by no means out of the running— but a home loss to Duke would all but end their hopes of winning the division.

"We’ve just got to stick together," Howell said. "We can’t let this loss define us. We’ve just got to get back together, play together and play for each other next week."

One thing was certain — teammates weren’t going to blame their kicker for putting themselves in a tougher position.

“Noah do what he do all the time in practice, so we know what Noah can do,” receiver Dazz Newsome said. “He missed one; everybody makes mistakes on their assignments sometimes. It happens.”

From seniors like Myles Dorn on down to freshmen like Howell, the lesson — although a tough one — is simple.

“When your number is called, make the play you’ve got to make,” Dorn said. “I think that’s the biggest thing.”