UNC football's season continues to unravel. Can Heels recover for ACC championship?

CHAPEL HILL — A regular season that held such great promise three weeks ago has unraveled for the North Carolina Tar Heels.

The No. 17 Tar Heels saw their high-octane offense fizzle and an opposing team led to victory by its fourth-string quarterback for a second straight week Friday at Kenan Stadium. Arch-rival N.C. State dealt UNC a second straight defeat by pulling out a 30-27 double-overtime victory in the regular-season finale for both squads.

Christopher Dunn converted a 21-yard field goal to start the second overtime for the winning points and UNC's Noah Burnette missed a game-tying 35-yarder to bring the game to a dramatic conclusion. Redshirt freshman Ben Finley, who was N.C. State's fourth-string quarterback three weeks ago, played a key role in the win by completing 27 of 40 passes for 271 yards and two touchdowns.

The loss was a demoralizing one for North Carolina, which was ranked 11th just three weeks ago in the USA Today Sports AFCA Top 25 poll after beating Wake Forest to win the Atlantic Coast Conference's Coastal Division. But a 21-17 loss to a Georgia Tech team using its third- and fourth-team quarterbacks last week and Friday's defeat against N.C. State, the Tar Heels (9-3 overall, 6-2 ACC) seem to be in a freefall heading into next Saturday's ACC championship game against Clemson in Charlotte.

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Here are observations and takeaways from UNC's loss against N.C. State:

DEFENSE DOES ENOUGH

North Carolina's much-maligned defense actually played well enough to win against the Wolfpack. They held the Wolfpack to seven second-half points and that was set up by an interception by UNC in its own territory in the fourth quarter.

N.C. State had to punt four times and missed a field goal in five of its final six offensive possessions in regulation. The Tar Heels then held the Wolfpack to field goals in both possessions in overtime.

TURNING POINT

The Tar Heels had rallied to tie the score at 17 with 7:53 to play when their defense forced the Wolfpack to punt. UNC took over on its own 27-yard line with a chance to lead for the first time in the game and the Kenan Stadium crowd howled its support of the offense.

But on a second-and-11 play at the 26, quarterback Drake Maye stepped up in the pocket to pass, but his arm was hit by an N.C. State defensive lineman, causing the ball to pop out of his hand. It landed in the arms of Wolfpack defensive back Tanner Ingle. The interception set up a Wolfpack touchdown that prevented UNC from seizing momentum.

SLOW START FOR MAYE

Maye's Heisman Trophy hopes may have faded over the final two regular-season games, and Saturday's start certainly didn't help in that area. The redshirt freshman completed just one of his first five throws against N.C. State and only had 68 passing yards at halftime.

But Maye rebounded in the second half and finished with 29 completions in 49 attempts for 233 yards. The redshirt freshman broke UNC's single-season record for passing yards with the performance, pushing his season total to 3,847. The total surpassed the previous record of 3,748 set in 2016 by Mitch Trubisky.

Maye's fourth-down touchdown throw to Antoine Green from four yards out as time expired forced the game into overtime. It was his 36th touchdown throw of the season.

SECONDARY ISSUES

The Tar Heels started the game without its top cornerback as junior Tony Grimes was announced out for the game due to an "upper body injury.'' UNC coach Mack Brown said in his post-game comments that Grimes informed the staff just before the game he wasn't able to play. Grimes is regarded as UNC's top defender in pass coverage and leads the team in pass breakups (7). He was in uniform Friday, but watched the game from the sidelines.

NC would also later lose its other starting cornerback, Storm Duck, with an upper body injury in the fourth quarter, and safety Cam'Ron Kelly with a hamstring injury.

Sophomore Lejond Cavazos took over Grimes and wound up surrendering a touchdown pass from Finley to Devin Carter with 3:54 to play. Freshman Marcus Allen moved in for Duck and dropped a State running back Michael Allen for a 5-yard loss late in the fourth quarter to help force a Wolfpack punt. Allen also broke up a potential TD pass in overtime.

NEXT UP

North Carolina sealed the Coastal Division title and a berth in the league championship game two weeks ago by beating Wake Forest. So next Saturday the Tar Heels will tee it up in Charlotte against Atlantic Division winner Clemson. The schools last met for the ACC championship in 2015 with the Tigers coming away with a 45-37 victory. Clemson has won six of the last seven title games. UNC hasn't worn the ACC crown since 1980.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC football loses to NC State in thrilling 2OT rivalry game