Rating:

5.0 (2 votes)

With the NCAA lurking around Chapel Hill and some
of its best players sitting in the stands, North Carolina found
itself in a most improbable position.
The 6-yard line with a few seconds on the clock, a touchdown and
an extra point away from actually winning the game.
T.J. Yates took one shot at the end zone, the ball slipping
through the hands of Zack Pianalto. Then one last throw to the same
guy. Same result.
No. 21 LSU held on for a 30-24 victory Saturday night, but the
18th-ranked Tar Heels almost pulled it out after going down by 20
at halftime. There may be no such thing as a moral victory, but
this was about as close as you can get.
"I don't know if I've ever been prouder of a group of kids,"
North Carolina coach Butch Davis said. "The way they fought to get
themselves back into the ballgame. We didn't play very well in
first half. We made so many mistakes in kicking game, we really put
ourselves in a hole. But one thing that defines your character and
your guts is your ability to compete."
Patrick Peterson had 257 yards - including an Stayard touchdown
- on kickoff and punt returns, leading LSU (1-0) to a 30-10 lead at
the break. Not surprising, given the Tar Heels were missing 13 key
players because of NCAA investigations over relationships with
agents and possible academic violations.
But North Carolina made a game of it against all odds, scoring
two second-half touchdowns, then getting two shots at the win after
recovering an onside kick and a fumble. Yates threw for the last of
his career-high 412 yards to reach the LSU 6, with enough time to
get off a couple of passes.
He went to Pianalto at the back of the end zone. The throw was
on the hands but a little behind the senior tight end, who couldn't
hold on with a defender bearing down on him.
Two seconds remained, time for one more snap. Yates rolled to
his right and spotted Pianalto again, this time lurking right at
the goal line. The throw was low - it had to be to avoid the
coverage - and again it slipped through his hands.
Yates pleaded desperately for an interference call, but the
officials simply trotted off the field. The quarterback then bent
over and pounded the turf of the Georgia Dome in frustration.
He didn't have anything to be ashamed of, that's for sure.
Neither did his team, which looked as though it was headed for a
blowout.
"Everything happened so fast," Yates said. "We were just
reacting. The whole sequence was hectic."
Pianalto said either of the last two passes was catchable.
"No, there was no interference," he said. "I just dropped
them."
LSU appeared headed for an easy win after scoring 23 straight
points over the final 8:06 of the first half. But the Tiger nearly
let it slip away, which would have been a devastating blow to coach
Les Miles and a program that's trying to show it's still a
powerhouse in the Southeastern Conference.
Three years removed from a national championship, LSU has lost
eight SEC games over the last two seasons and watched Florida and
Alabama claim the dominant roles.
"We won a football game tonight in very sloppy fashion," Miles
said. "If we just play efficient football, this game is not even
close. We've got to tie up some loose ends right now."
Start with the secondary.
With LSU still firmly in control early in the fourth quarter and
North Carolina backed up against its own goal line, Yates rolled to
his right and heaved a pass out of the end zone that Jheranie Boyd
took to the other end zone for a 97-yard touchdown - the longest
play from scrimmage in North Carolina history.RE tes then hooked up
with Erik Highsmith on a 14-yard touchdown with 2½ minutes
remaining.
North Carolina recovered a disputed onside kick, but LSU stopped
that drive by forcing Yates to fumble as he tried to scramble.
Trying to run out the clock, Stevan Ridley fumbled and the Tar
Heels recovered, getting one more shot to pull it out.
They came up 6 yards short.
"We have a team of fighters," Pianalto said. "We played hard
the whole game. That last drive was tremendous."
Missing so many players, the trickle down to the special teams
left the Tar Heels especially vulnerable. Peterson, a junior
cornerback, took advantage with four punt returns for 157 yards and
three kickoff returns for 100 yards.
"He had great vision, great ball skills and great speed,"
Miles said. "I don't know the validity of making a guy a Heisman
Trophy candidate. I would say he had the kind of night tonight on a
national level that would put him in line for any national award,
including the very highest."
Davis said his team just didn't have enough players to keep up
with Peterson.
"All our depth was eaten up on special teams," he said. "All
the guys starting on defense used to be on special teams."
Former quarterback Russell Shepard, now playing receiver to take
advantage of his speed, hauled in a touchdown pass and broke off a
50-yard scoring run for LSU. And the current quarterback, Jordan
Jefferson, finished off the first half with a 51-yard scoring pass
to Rueben Randle.
North Carolina was missing most of the NFL prospects on its
touted defense - at least six starters, including the entire
secondary. The offense wasn't at full strength, either, forced to
impl ise without leading receiver Greg Little and its top two
tailbacks, Shaun Draughn and Ryan Houston.
But plenty of players stepped up for the Tar Heels, no one more
than Yates. He completed 28 of 45 and had three touchdown passes.
His favorite receiver was Boyd, who had six catches for 221 yards,
making him only the fourth player in North Carolina history to have
200 receiving yards in a game.
Jefferson was 15 of 21 for 151 yards. Ridley rushed for 81 yards
and Shepard had 67, while the LSU defense limited North Carolina to
24 yards on the ground.
"We were hitting on all cylinders in the first half,"
Jefferson said. "In the second, we made a lot of mistakes and had
a lot of penalties."
And nearly wound up with a loss.