Holliday: Maye magic saves Tar Heels again

By Bob Holliday, WRAL Sports contributor

Duke had just scored its third touchdown of the fourth quarter to take a 36-33 lead. A mere 41 seconds remained. Drake Maye gave Coach Mack Brown a friendly pat and said “I’ve got this Coach.” And the Charlotte sophomore took the field.

On first down, Maye attempted to hit tight end Bryson Nesbit. Duke’s Brandon Johnson was flagged for pass interference. At the UNC 38, Maye threw incomplete, pressured by Aeneas Peebles and R.J. Oben. On second down, Maye passed to Omarion Hampton who gained five yards. Maye again called on Hampton for the pivotal third down play. The big guy rumbled for 10 yards to the Duke 46. Mack Brown called time out with 22 seconds left to give his offense a brief rest.

When play resumed Maye connected with Tez Walker for 8 yards and Walker stepped out of bounds to stop the clock. From the Duke 38, Maye completed the most critical pass – to Nesbit for 13 yards. Brown called his final time out with three seconds left. Noah Burnette, whose only miss all season came in the wild fourth quarter at Georgia Tech, sent a 42 yard field goal attempt toward the right upright. The kick looked wide right at first, but ultimately slid inside the goal post. And so the game went to overtime.

Given the high stakes and the brief amount of time remaining, that might have been the greatest drive of Maye’s brilliant career. But it was hardly his only contribution to victory.

On the game’s first possession in the red zone, Maye faked to Hampton and as the Duke defense closed on the expected plunge up the middle, Maye ran a bootleg to the left side for an easy touchdown. It was a play reminiscent of the 1970 game when quarterback Paul Miller took the ball back from All American Don McCauley and scored standing up.

Early in the second quarter, as Duke ramped up its pass rush, Maye flung the ball underhanded as he was going down, toward a receiver to avoid a sack-setting up an easier field goal for Burnette.

Later in the game, Maye actually completed a pass while getting tackled, on fourth and four no less. The quarterback somehow found J.J. Jones for six yards and a first down, leaving the Duke defender pounding his helmet in frustration.

Back in his high school days at Myers Park, Maye was also known for his basketball prowess – he averaged a double double. There are times in Kenan Stadium where Maye’s basketball background comes into play. Early in the third quarter, Duke raced to stop Maye on a called quarterback run. While going down, Maye spotted Hampton and gave him something of a two hand chest pass. After snaring the lateral, Omarion ran an extra 15 yards.

Another basketball play occurred in the second overtime on the all important two point conversion. Maye planned a quarterback draw, but as he approached the line of scrimmage he saw tacklers in his way. He also saw an open John Copenhaver in the end zone. Maye stopped on a dime and hit Copenhaver with a pass for the two points that ultimately provided the margin of victory. Since it was a run play, the Tar Heels were probably fortunate they weren’t penalized for having a lineman downfield.

And of course in a big game like this, you know Drake will probably get airborne at some point. And so he did. In the third quarter, Maye attempted to hurdle a Duke tackler at the 7 yard line en route to the end zone, but he was brought down at the 5. Maye acknowledged post game that he would “be sore” the next day.

Carolina needed Maye’s magic because Duke did everything humanly possible to win, while playing with third string freshman quarterback Grayson Loftis. Coach Mike Elko’s plan was to “steal some possessions” and the Blue Devils did just that. The Tar Heels even helped the Devils a bit in getting those extra possessions.

After Duke’s first touchdown, the Blue Devils kicked the ball deep. UNC’s Doc Chapman, rather than let the ball bounce into the end zone, muffed a fair catch at the one. Maye, then throwing from the end zone, uncorked his one bad pass of the night. Jaylen Stinson intercepted and returned the pick to the 14.

UNC outgained Duke in the first half 280-126. Yet four plays after the interception the Blue Devils took an unlikely 14-13 lead.

UNC led 19-14 early in the third quarter when Elko made his next big move. Duke faced a 4th & 8 at its own 27; indeed the Blue Devils were fortunate to still possess the football after Loftis was hit by Kaimon Rucker while trying to pass. Officials ruled incomplete pass rather than fumble and recovery by Carolina. So Duke lined up to punt. Kicker Porter Wilson found an open Terry Moore for 11 yards and the drive continued. A few plays later, the Tar Heels got a stop, but still! It must be said Gene Chizik’s defense played pretty well – for the first three quarters.

But after UNC took a 12 point lead early in the fourth, the defense slowly came unglued.

Duke drove 70 yards in 7 plays for a touchdown as Loftis found his rhythm after being sacked on the drive’s first play. Jordan Waters’ touchdown cut Carolina’s lead to 26-21.

And then Elko went for the jugular. Charlie Hamm dribbled an 11 yard kickoff that reserve running back Peyton Jones sprinted to recover. Back onto the field went the UNC defense.

This time, the Blue Devils only needed to move 54 yards. Another Waters touchdown plus a two point conversion gave Duke a 29-26 advantage.

UNC’s offense went back to work. The Tar Heels survived a play where Nesbit caught a pass but lost possession of the ball during an ensuing scrum. He was separated from the ball while going down. Officials ruled his knee touched the ground while he had possession, but the play was never reviewed. Since Duke wound up with the football it’s kind of unimaginable that the play didn’t even get an extra look. Moments later Nesbit went high in the air to snare Maye’s first touchdown pass of the night. UNC led 33-29 with just 1:55 remaining.

Mack Brown admitted during the ACC Network’s morning pre-game show that UNC’s defense got tired and worn down during the losses to Virginia and Georgia Tech. Carolina fatigue was certainly a factor in Duke’s final drive, as the Heels spent all but a few minutes of the fourth quarter playing defense.

The Blue Devils moved 75 yards in 1:14, scoring on a 30 yard touchdown pass from Loftis to Jordan Moore, who made a double move to get clear. It looked for all the world like Duke had won the game.

However the Blue Devils left Drake Maye 41 seconds. A few too many, as it turned out.

Maye was the game’s first star of course, and he was wildly celebrated by UNC fans who rushed the field after the Heels’ improbable win. The Tar Heel faithful chanted “one more year, one more year” while the quarterback took part in a live post game interview on ACCN.

In reality, Maye is almost certain to move on to the NFL as a top draft pick. He refused to take part in Senior Night festivities and insists he hasn’t yet made a decision about next year. But c’mon, he would be the best quarterback in the draft!

But give the game’s second star to Hampton, who rushed 31 times for 169 yards and caught a whopping 8 passes for another 47 yards. Hampton has now rushed for more yards in a single season at Kenan Stadium than all the backs in school history except Don McCauley, who in all games in 1970 rushed for a then NCAA record 1720 yards.

So now the question: How does the ACC race end for this North Carolina team? According to the ACC Network, the Tar Heels are the only two loss team still in contention for the ACC Championship in Charlotte. The Heels’ chances are slim but not gone.

Several things have to happen for Carolina to line up alongside Florida State on December 2.

First, the Tar Heels must win at Clemson, which has dominated Notre Dame and Georgia Tech at home these past two weeks.

Then, Mack Brown’s men must play at NC State, which absolutely throttled Wake Forest and of course, beat Clemson. The environment in West Raleigh and the environment at Clemson are, along with Florida State the ACC’s most hostile places to play.

Meanwhile, Louisville controls its own destiny. The 6-1 Cardinals play their last conference game this weekend at Miami. Who knows how the Canes will play after narrowly losing to arch rival Florida State? The Canes lost their new star freshman quarterback Emory Williams to a significant arm injury on the last drive. Tyler Van Dyke replaced him and of course threw an interception. If UL wins, the Cards are in.

However, if Miami can spring the upset, and Carolina can pull off the distant possibility of back to back wins against good teams in hostile environments, then the ACC tiebreaker procedure would come into play.

As I read the procedure – and there are aspects that to me are not crystal clear – the trip to Charlotte could be decided by the cumulative ACC records of the league teams Louisville and North Carolina have played. Or the win percentage against common opponents based on the order of finish could break the tie. UNC’s chances appear quite small.

But after what the Tar Heels achieved Saturday night, they shouldn’t be counted out unless/until the ACC declares them to be eliminated.