Two consecutive wins. A 3-game winning streak within reach. For the first time in two seasons, UNC entered Saturday night's primetime football matchup vs. Syracuse with rare excitement.
North Carolina entered the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead, thanks to a Demon June touchdown and resurgent defense that struggled in the second quarter. The Tar Heels forced an Orange punt to open the fourth, then punted on their first drive.
Fast-forward to a minute remaining in regulation, UNC went for it on fourth-down instead of giving Rece Verhoff the chance to attempt a long, go-ahead field goal. North Carolina's defense forced overtime, then allowed the game-winning score in a 31-30 loss.
After the Tar Heels' (4-3, 2-2 ACC) heartbreaking defeat, wide
receiver Jordan Shipp, who scored a touchdown for the second-straight week and finished with a team-high 102 yards, discussed that late fourth-quarter sequence and if it caused a momentum shift.
“It’s just football," Shipp said. "It is what it is. I don’t think the momentum shifted too much. We got a stop, but they still had to move the ball. We got a big play, big sack and everything like that. In terms of not converting, we want to convert every time we’re out there. Just trusting in Coach (Bobby) Petrino’s play-call, if that’s what he wanted to run, obviously there was something he saw and that’s just what he called. It is what it is.”
With 59 seconds remaining in regulation, UNC faced fourth-and-3 from the Syracuse (3-4, 1-4 ACC) 39-yard line. Verhoff made a career-long 57-yard field goal in 2025, but as Bill Belichick said postgame, a miss gave the Orange seven extra yards of field position.
North Carolina called timeout for more time to discuss the fourth down play call, then Billy Edwards took a snap. Edwards scanned the field for an open receiver, only for Tunmise Adeleye to sack him and force a turnover on downs.
The Tar Heels' offense totaled 372 yards and, outside of missing open receivers a couple times, Edwards played fairly decent football, completing 27 passes for a season-high 271 yards and two touchdowns.
When UNC needed a conversion the most, offense failed to come through one final time. North Carolina scored on its opening possession of overtime, only for defensive struggles to play the defining factor in a crushing defeat.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC starting WR talks fourth quarter play-calling in loss to Syracuse
