Heels can't overcome early deficit, fall to Miami 30-24

Miami's Jordan Futch (58) sacks UNC quarterback Bryn Renner in the second quarter. ROBERT WILLETT - rwillett@newsobserver.com

Update 6:38 p.m.

CHAPEL HILL – The potential problems were always there during North Carolina’s first six games: the lack of third-down stops, an inconsistent secondary, a still-learning first-year quarterback.

But what was overshadowed against lesser opponents during their 5-1 start was exposed during the Tar Heels’ 30-24 loss to Miami (3-3) at Kenan Stadium on Saturday.

Although a late touchdown grab by freshman Reggie Wilkins and onside kick recovery by sophomore Curtis Campbell gave Carolina (5-2) a chance to win in the final minute, UNC never really recovered from a slow start and early 17-0 hole.

Now at 1-2 in the Coastal Division, its dreams of an ACC championship berth are flatlining.

“I doesn’t matter what game it is, whether it’s a past game that you made a mistake, you’re trying to correct them each week,’’ said UNC interim coach Everett Withers, whose team remains one victory away from bowl eligibility. “I think the mistakes that we made today were critical.”

UNC’s issues – hidden amid the final winning scores against previous opponents like Louisville and East Carolina– showed themselves at key points:

• The Tar Heels gave up their first first-quarter touchdown of the season on Miami’s opening drive when Hurricanes quarterback Jacory Harris found Mike James for a 4-yard touchdown pass. UM converted two third downs and one fourth down during its almost-six-minute march, chewing up clock time and successfully keeping Carolina’s offense off the field.

That was particularly key the for the Hurricanes on Saturday, considering their defense was missing seven contributors, including four starters, and coach Al Golden had stressed this week that his offense needed to make up for the D’s deficiencies.

“The first drive they had on offense, we’ve just got to stop them,’’ UNC defensive back Charles Brown said. “…We’ve got to get them off the field.”

• After UM’s Nathan Gholston recovered UNC freshman T.J. Thorpe’s fumble on the ensuing kickoff return, the Hurricanes faked an end-around, and junior Tommy Streeter was wide open for a 27-yard touchdown that made it 14-0.

The Tar Heels were so concerned about Lamar Miller, the ACC’s leading rusher whom they limited to a season-low 29 yards, that their secondary ended up getting burned for 267 yards and three touchdowns by Harris. Keep in mind: Harris had only thrown nine touchdowns in four previous games this season.

“Our emphasis was to stop the run,’’ Withers said. “And they made plays in the passing game.”

• Although UNC had to settle for three points in the red zone in the second quarter, then zero points near the beginning of the fourth when tailback Gio Bernard was stopped on a fourth-and-two, UNC still had a chance to win it after a frenetic final period that saw Bernard score on a 3-yard run, Wilkins catch a 20-yard touchdown pass, and UNC recover an onside kick.

But with time ticking down, sophomore quarterback Bryn Renner was sacked for a 7-yard loss – yet again holding onto the ball too long, instead of throwing it away, as he had so many times in previous games. Two plays later, time ultimately ran out.

“I just can’t take those sacks,’’ said Renner, who was 29-for-37 for 288 yards and two touchdowns. “I don’t know what we can do in practice to make it any better; we do it every day. The more experience I gain in those situations, the better decisions I’ll make. But that falls on [me]; I can’t get sacked in those situations.”

Bernard (110 yards on 27 carries) was UNC’s highlight of the game, recording his fifth straight 100-yard rushing outing, the team’s longest streak since Ethan Horton also did it five consecutive times in 1984.

But it didn’t make up for the Tar Heels’ continued problems.

“The old saying is, ‘It doesn’t hurt you until it hurts you,’ – and that’s what happened today,’’ Withers said.