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Arizona State drags foot to edge Heels on final play, 33-31

Chapel Hill, NC - Arizona State QB Andrew Walter threw a 5 yard TD pass to WR Skyler Fulton in back of the end zone with one foot in as time expired to complete a 62-yard drive in the final 36 seconds of play to spoil North Carolina's Homecoming to win, 33-31. Walter threw for 408 yards and four TDs in an exciting game which handed the Tar Heels (1-6) their tenth straight home loss.  The win puts ASU at 4-3.  On a day marked by a devilish hot sun and Carolina blue sky, CFF sat in the cold shade of Kenan Stadium to record Arizona State as its 88th team and as the final PAC10 team to be seen toward the Goal! 

The Sun Devils got off to a fast start and probably could have started even quicker if the young receivers would run continuous routes, but they’ll learn.   Four plays and only 1:51 into the game, Walter hooked up with Soph WR Derek Hagan who broke a tackle on the UNC 10 to score from 49 yards out. The PAT was block by an interior defensive lineman, but ASU had an early 6-0 lead.   A defensive holding call by ASU on UNC’s first possession kept the first Tar Heel drive alive as TB Jacques Lewis gathered in a Darian Durant pass in at the two from where Frosh RB Ronnie McGill carried it in to put the Heels up, 7-6.  Starting from the 23, Walter threw an out pass to FB Mike Karney who dropped the ball and walked away thinking the ball was incomplete, but alert DE Tommy Davis picked up what was ruled a lateral and returned it to the ASU 11.  On one play TB Chad Scott burst over the middle to make the score 14-6 in favor of Carolina.

    UNC knocked on the ASU door to begin the second stanza at the Devil 24, but TB Willie Parker fumbled and DT Brian Montesanto recovered for the Devils to put them back in business at their own 20.  A 36-yard run by TB Loren Wade (130 yards on 16 carries) to the UNC 24 put the Devils into Heel territory where eventually Walter hooked up with Skyler Fulton, who bobbled the ball in the end zone but kept his concentration to make the grab, from 11 yards out.  ASU decided to go for two.  Walter connected with Hagan in the right flat where the WR extended the ball over the plane of the goal line in one hand as he was hit immediately by a UNC defender.  The head linesman right on the play fell backwards as he tripped over the yard maker behind him, and came up with a delayed signal indicating the conversion was good.  The UNC crowd went wild against the call!  There were several questionable calls by this officiating crew throughout the game against both squads, but from CFF’s vantage point on the 10-yard line about 20 rows up, this call was a good one. One example of the poor officiating during this game occurred on the next series when intentional grounding was called against UNC when QB Durant (13 of 23 for 167 yards) was clearly out of the pocket and had receivers in the direction where he threw the ball out of bounds.  Everyone in Kenan Stadium seemed to understand that rule but the referee himself.  After he went through a long dissertation as he waved off the flag and called “No Foul!” a common response from among the crowd was ”No shit!” The ACC officiating crew assessed ASU 153 penalty yards on 16 calls, while UNC picked up 3 calls for 22 yards on the day.  The score was tied at 14-14. UNC punted and ASU started again from its own 35.  On third and nine at the 24, Walter hooked up with his new, favorite target Hagan (11 catches for 185 yards) at the 4-yard line.  A holding call eventually moved the Sun Devils back and they settled for a 21-yard FG from PK Jessie Ainsworth to take back the lead, 17-14.  The teams exchanged punts, but on the exchange to Carolina the ball hit off one of the Heels and ASU recovered at the UNC 12 with 1:38 remaining.  One first down, an offsides penalty and six time-outs later, the Devils settled for a 24-yard FG from Ainsworth as time expired to end the half with the team from the desert ahead, 20-14.  For the third week in a row, CFF was attending homecoming with another alumni band as part of the festivities. (Is UConn doing the same next week?)  A punt “machine” was set up for one college kid with a helmet on to catch a ball  and win prizes. The event was called “the Game Day Catch”. He caught it – big deal. They even gave him a practice punt!  They should make it more challenging by having another kid or kids try to clobber him.  If a player causes a fumble or muff, the tackler should get the prizes. The returner gets lifelong accident insurance if he gets whacked and holds on to the ball. 

     The Heels closed the gap to 20-17 on the first drive of Q3 as PK Dan Orner converted on a 50-yard FG.  Later in the period, ASU RB Hakim Hill (72 yards rushing) ran the ball in from seven yards out to go up 27-17.  A nearby Tar Heel fan blurted, “Bring on basketball season.”  The football Heels weren’t giving up yet though. On the next play, Durant completed a 63-yard pass play to CFF’s favorite name in all of college football, WR Jawarski Pollock, to get the Heels on the ASU 30.  Durant took the snap on the next play, placed the ball on the ground and rolled with the student body to the right as TB Willie Parker scooped up the ball and went left to the Devils’ 3-yard line.  Replays seemed to indicated that Durant snuck the ball over on the next play, but the Heels didn’t score until RB Ronnie McGill scored on third and goal on a much more questionable call.  The 1-5 Heels trailed 27-24 against a team they had defeated the previous year, 38-35. 

     Arizona State missed a 32-yard FG to start the last quarter, and UNC took over from its own 20.  With the aid of an interference call, the Heels had first and ten at the ASU 20.  On the final play of the 15-play series, Durant showed good patience as he rolled to his right and waited a split second to connect with TB Jacques Lewis at the right goal line pylon for a 1-yard TD pass and the Carolina lead, 31-27, with 7:43 remaining.   The following ASU drive stalled on an incomplete pass at the UNC 37 on 4^th and 8 yards to go.  A grounding call this time pushed the Heels back and they punted from their own 27.  ASU lost ground on their possession as well and returned the ball on 4^th and 20 from their 27.  With 2:19 remaining, the Heels played ball control and ASU countered with 3 time-outs.  On third and short, the Devil defense stopped McGill at the 50 short of the first down by one yard where Carolina Coach John Bunting sent in his punting unit on to the field with 50 seconds left to give the ball back to ASU who had no time-outs left.  Returner Daryl Lightfoot, however, made a 28 yard return to start his team at their own 39 with better field position than anticipated and only : 36 to play.  A 42-yard pass to Hagan brought the Sun Devils to the five with six ticks left.  Walter spiked the ball to reset the clock with three.  Then with no time remaining, he fired to Fulton who kept one foot down in the back right corner of the end zone for the game-winning TD.  ASU Head Coach Dirk Koetter looked for a non-existent flag, the Devils started to celebrate and ran to their cheering section on the far end of the field where the State contingent started their chant “ASU! ASU! ASU!”  The Heels hung their heads. Their fans fell silent, and their collective thought was probably, “Bring on basketball season.”  Anybody have the Devils giving three? With no PAT, the final score: ASU 33 – UNC 31.  The Heels quietly head to Clemson next weekend while the Sun Devils (1-2 in the PAC10) look to make some noise at the Rose Bowl where they meet PAC10 frontrunner UCLA, 3-0 in conference play.

Extra Points:  A DJ on the local radio station known as the Voice of the Tar Heels was a little confused before the game as he dedicated the song “Love Train”, “with no love to the Wildcats!”  Wildcats?  Someone should have told him the Heels were playing Arizona State, not Arizona.  Sounds like the voice of the Heels really researched this one well. They must have been pumped up over this one all week!  “Bring on basketball season.”  Maybe the Voice knows more about roundball opponents.

 Before the game, CFF had a chance to visit UNC’s Kenan Football Center at the west end of the stadium.  It has a museum with awards and displays.  The weight room was opened to the public.  Hostesses showed families of prospects around the facilities.  One Heel in hip pads and t-shirt danced around the weight room with his headphones on getting “psyched” the game while people toured.  Team strength and jumping records were on a board.  There were tributes to 18 UNC All-Americas (Honored Jerseys) in the museum.  Many older players came from NY, NJ and PA while the latter stars were homegrown.  Lawrence Taylor was among the greats, of course.  Trophies indicated that the Heels won their last five bowl games dating from 1995-2001.  The Carquest Bowl trophy was the most interesting.  Played in Florida, the glass bowl contained beach sand with shells and other beach stuff in the sand.  One amazing stat displayed in the museum is that UNC has the all-time record for 1,000 yard rushers in NCAA history including Don McCaulley of the 60s-70s, Natrone Means and Leon Johnson of more recent years.  When you think great rushing leaders, one thinks of USC (on the other coast), not UNC.

      The Heels honored one of its Honored Jerseys before the game with a moment of silence.  The game originally planned to honor Charlie “Choo-Choo” Justice, an All-America RB in the late 1940’s who played in two Sugar Bowls and one Cotton, but Charlie passed away at the age of 79 on Friday night. He was twice runner up in the Heisman voting. At both 22-yard lines, his number “22”had been painted on the field in Carolina blue.  The band even played a song that had been written about him during his playing days entitled, “All the way, Choo-Choo.” 

      Arizona State runs on to the field before the game with a cute ploy.  They run out with the American flag held by the lead player.  Though the team was booed pretty good as they entered Kenan field, one has to wonder how many fewer boo’s there were with Old Glory in the lead.  We’ve only seen the flag at the Academies and immediately after 9/11 at Delaware.

     At a critical moment later in the game, UNC also threw what seemed to be a lateral, but was ruled as an incomplete pass.  From our vantage point, the play was closer to a lateral than the one that ASU had lost.  On the grounding call called later, the ref left his microphone on and could be heard asking another official if the pass had been completed?  How 'da heck do you call grounding if the pass was completed?  The local paper reported ACC refs were used because of the distance that PAC10 refs would have to travel.  Give us a break!

      Even though the game was not televised, the game lasted about four hours.  ASU threw 59 passes while UNC threw 23.  Using all time-outs on both sides in both halves and 19 infractions added to the length of the game.  ASU had 598 yards on the day.

       Speaking of bringing on the basketball season, Roy Williams signed his contract with the Heels as 20 UNC professors got laid off.

      CFF enjoyed post game beers and food at Champs Sports Bar in Raleigh with Joe Massimilla (PSU).  We watched all the college action and the World Series on the big screens there.  UNC, NC State, and Duke are all within mere miles of one another.  Duke and UNC are about nine miles apart which fuels the rivalry.  Duke got stomped by Wake Saturday at home, but there were no traffic jams of note as you drove through Durham.  Probably another sign as to why HC Carl Franks with a 7-46 four year record and a 42-0 score at the half versus WFU was fired by the Blue Devils on Sunday.

     CFF plans to return to Chapel Hill in 2005 when UNC hosts Utah, another team to add toward The Goal!