North Carolina and Miami just delivered the wildest finish of the weekend with a 45-42 contest on Saturday night.
With a 45-34 lead midway through the fourth quarter, the Tar Heels looked to be in excellent position to finish out the game without a hitch in Chapel Hill. But, Hurricanes freshman quarterback Tyler Van Dyke then led his offense on a massive drive starting from inside Miami’s own 5-yard line.
Working the ball more than 95 yards down the field, the Hurricanes were able to score a touchdown and convert a two-point attempt — drawing the deficit to three points with just over three minutes remaining in the game.
Electing to kick the ball back to North Carolina, the Miami defense stepped up in a big way and forced a quick three-and-out — burning their timeouts between plays to keep time from running off the clock.
Getting the ball back with about two minutes remaining in the contest, the Hurricanes were able to drive the ball down the field and into the redzone yet again. Well within field goal range, it looked as though the worst case scenario for Miami was a game-tying field goal to send the game into overtime.
At least that was the case until this incredible play occurred.
With Miami clearly hoping to go for the touchdown and the win, the Tar Heels got some quick pressure up the middle on Van Dyke. Getting hands up in the freshman’s face as he threw, linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel batted the ball up into the air.
The ball bounced around on top of scrum for a few seconds before falling into the arms of UNC’s Cedric Gray — sealing the game with just six seconds remaining.
GAME WINNING INTERCEPTION 🤯@UNCFootball | @accnetwork | #SCTop10 | #ACCFootball pic.twitter.com/4tlZhjMGQO
— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) October 16, 2021
It’s only fitting that these two teams closed things out with an electric finish.
Looking at this game on the schedule during preseason, many believed this matchup would be between two top-15 teams. But so far this year, both the Tar Heels and Hurricanes have severely underperformed their expectations.
With the result of this ACC battle, North Carolina (preseason AP No. 10) now moves to 4-3 and Miami (preseason AP No. 14) drops to 2-4.
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