By Dave Holcomb
SouthernPigskin.com

Follow us at Twitter.com/SouthernPigskin.  Become a fan at the SouthernPigskin.com Facebook Page

Dave Holcomb recaps North Carolina’s comeback win over top ten Wake Forest.

If the Wake Forest fan base doesnt believe in the announcer jinx, they may after Saturday.

With the game against North Carolina seemingly in hand, ESPN began popping several hypothetical questions — will Wake Forest’s schedule be enough for the Demon Deacons to make College Football Playoffs? Can Sam Hartman join the Heisman Trophy conversation?

Of course, these hypotheticals assumed Wake Forest would finish the season undefeated. After Saturday, thats no longer possible for the Demon Deacons.

Thats because North Carolina stormed back with a fourth-quarter for the ages, scoring 24 points to shock Wake Forest, 58-55.

The day was expected to belong to one of the two quarterbacks. Hartman and Sam Howell entered Saturday as two of the top four passers in the ACC this season. But the afternoon, instead belonged to North Carolina running back Ty Chandler.

The graduate transfer back rushed for a new career-high 213 yards. Hed never eclipsed the 200-yard mark before Saturday, and its quite a feat he finally did considering hes played in 54 college games.

Chandler also scored a career-best four rushing touchdowns. With the Tennessee Volunteers, he had four rushing touchdowns all of last year.

The graduate transfer saved his best for last, as he rushed for 117 yards and three touchdowns in the fourth quarter alone. In the final stanza, Chandler had three attempts of more than 20 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown that gave North Carolina a 10-point lead with 1:12 to go.

Howell played well, but he finally didnt have to do the heavy lifting on offense for North Carolina to beat a very good team. Howell averaged 8.3 yards per pass and 5.0 yards per carry, as he joined the rushing party. North Carolina rushed for 330 yards, which is the second most the Tar Heels have recorded in a game this year.

But as great a comeback as it was, it was just as embarrassing for the Demon Deacons, who have now given up at least 300 rushing yards in three of their past four games. Wake Forest was 8-0 and yet ranked just 11th in total defense in the ACC before Saturday.

All the yards Wake Forest has allowed this year havent mattered for a couple reasons. For one, the Demon Deacons offense always has more yards. Secondly, the defense is good situationally. Wake Forest leads the conference in takeaways and is ranked in the top half in red zone defense.

But the Wake Forest defense didnt come through in those situations Saturday. The Demon Deacons lost the turnover margin, and the lone takeaway they earned led to only three points.
North Carolina tallied 14 points off its two takeaways. The Tar Heels also scored on all of its red zone possessions and went 5 for 8 scoring touchdowns.

Rather than Wake Forests defense recording a big takeaway, it was North Carolina doing that Saturday. After scoring a touchdown to cut the lead to seven, CamRon Kelly intercepted Sam Hartman and returned the pick to the Wake Forest 21-yard line. The Tar Heels tied the game just two plays later.

Hartman had a strong final stat line with 398 passing yards and five touchdowns. But he threw two costly interceptions and completed under 50% of his passes.

Similar to what I said about Pitt last week when the Panthers fell to the Miami Hurricanes, Wake Forest can still have a terrific season. The Demon Deacons can still win their first ACC Championship since 2006. Heck, its even been that long since Wake Forest even captured the ACC Atlantic crown.

But Wake Forest is all but out of the playoff conversation — as is the entire ACC.

That doesnt matter much to the Tar Heels. Their program posted a comeback Saturday that they will remember for a long time.