North Carolina Tar Heels annihilate Miami Hurricanes in record-shattering performance
A surreal, sweet season turned sickly Saturday for the Miami Hurricanes.
The 2020 regular season ended for the No. 9 Hurricanes with a 62-26 domination by No. 20 North Carolina at Hard Rock Stadium, taking UM out of a New Year’s Six bowl when the final College Football Playoff rankings and bowl games are revealed next Sunday, Dec. 20.
UNC bludgeoned the Canes with 778 total yards — 224 passing and 554 rushing — for the most ever by a UM opponent. Michael Carter (308) and Javante Williams (263) combined for 544 rushing yards, the most ever by a pair of teammates in a single game in FBS history, leading UNC in setting the all-time rushing record by a UM opponent.
“The opening statement is we got our ass kicked,’’ said UM coach Manny Diaz. “A humiliating performance. Thank goodness we have a chance to play another game.’’
Added UM defensive end Jaelan Phillips: “It’s simple. They came to play and we didn’t. Those are the two best running backs I’ve ever seen other than Travis Etienne [of Clemson]. You can never allow 60 points. That’s completely unacceptable.
“It’s paramount for us to stay together. We need to regroup, assess what happened and focus on the next game.’’
It was UM’s most lopsided defeat since a 38-point loss to UNC in 2015.
“Excuse my language,’’ said UM quarterback D’Eriq King. “We got our ass whooped all night… You gotta learn from it. ...I think it’s important for us to have a good showing, a good win” in the bowl game.
The ACC announced Friday night that UM’s game against Georgia Tech, originally set to conclude the regular season on Dec. 19, is canceled because of COVID-19 in the Georgia Tech program. Thus, the Hurricanes have ended the regular season 8-2 overall and 7-2 in the ACC, their best regular-season record since 2017. But it sure didn’t seem like it Saturday in front of 12,092 likely stunned fans.
“We learned a harsh lesson tonight,’’ Diaz said. “It’s worth one loss in the standings. We still have the ability to decide what we do next. ...I did not recognize the football team I saw on the field tonight and I bear the responsibility for that.”
Despite UNC’s pounding that snapped UM’s five-game winning streak, the Canes have finished the regular season with a better record than 12 of the other 14 ACC league members — including UNC. The only teams with better records — undefeated No. 2 Notre Dame and one-loss No. 3 Clemson— will meet next Saturday in the ACC Football Championship Game.
The Tar Heels, who very well could end up in the Orange Bowl, finished their regular season 8-3 and 7-3.
Even if Clemson defeats Notre Dame next weekend and both teams go to the playoffs, Miami, currently No. 10 in the CFP rankings, would plunge while UNC, ranked No. 17 in the CFP, would pass the Canes in those rankings and earn the Orange Bowl bid.
The Orange Bowl must take the highest ranked ACC team (that is not in the playoffs) in the final CFP rankings.
The Canes will likely fall to bowls such as the Cheez-It (former Camping World) on Dec. 29 in Orlando or the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville on Jan. 2.
“With everything on the line tonight, we took our eye off the ball,’’ Diaz said.
The sometimes exhausting and often exasperating seven-week stretch between the Hurricanes’ last game at Hard Rock and Saturday’s return there, did not prove worth the wait —especially for the Hurricanes celebrating Senior Day.
In likely his final game at Hard Rock Stadium, fifth-year senior King completed 18 of 30 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception. Tight end Brevin Jordan had six catches for 140 yards and a touchdown.
In between Miami taking a 3-0 lead with a 47-yard field goal by Jose Borregales and ending the first half with a 75-yard drive that culminated with King’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Mike Harley, the Tar Heels reeled off 34 consecutive points highlighted by big play after big play.
First came a 51-yard pass from Sam Howell to Dyami Brown on UNC’s second offensive play from scrimmage, which led to a touchdown and UNC’s 7-3 lead. Next came a 65-yard touchdown run by Carter, who weaved in and out of UM defenders toward the right sideline, then sprinted untouched for the score that made it 21-3 with 15 seconds left in the first quarter.
Then, after UM was forced to punt, the Tar Heels got another 65-yard run on second down, this time by Williams, who brought the Heels to the UM 10 and an eventual 21-yard field goal to make it 24-3 with 10:48 left in the first half.
And to make the 65-yarders seem not so special, Howell completed an 87-yard pass to Brown that beat UM corner DJ Ivey and safety Bubba Bolden. Four plays later, Grayson Atkins kicked a 25-yard field goal to put UNC up 34-3 at 3:05 of the second quarter.
From there the Canes never had a chance.
Howell ended the day 14 of 19 for 223 yards and one touchdown. He also scored a touchdown.
Now the Canes can only look ahead to their bowl game.
“All around, all across the board we have to step up,’’ defensive end Quincy Roche said, deflecting the social media wrath off defensive coordinator Blake Baker.
“Our focus is definitely winning this bowl game,’’ Phillips said.
