Short-Handed Tar Heels Fall To Aggies in 2021 Orange Bowl
MIAMI GARDENS, F.L. – The thirteenth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels fell to the fifth-ranked Texas A&M Aggies 41-27 in a hard-fought game in Hard Rock Stadium on January 2 in the 2021 Capital One Orange Bowl.
Sophomore quarterback Sam Howell led the Tar Heels (8-4, 7-3 ACC) finishing the game 18-for-31 with 234 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception as well as 50 rushing yards. This gave Howell 3,875 yards and 30 touchdowns on the seasons. Josh Downs had three catches for 83 yards and two touchdowns. The Aggies (9-1, 8-1 SEC) were led by running back Devon Achane who had 140 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries.
In prior weeks, coming into the contest, star running backs Michael Carter and Javonte Williams along with speedy wide receiver Dyami Brown and hard-hitting line-backer Chazz Surratt, opted out of this contest to prepare for the 2021 NFL Draft.
Williams and Carter ranked fourth and sixth in the country respectively, both rushed for over 1100 yards. Carter ended the season with 1,245 yards and nine rushing touchdowns. Williams ended the season with 1,140 yards and 19 rushing touchdowns, which rank second in the nation only behind Alabama running back Najee Harris. Brown finished the season with just under 1,100 yards, which rank sixth in the country.
After throwing for 3,641 yards and 38 touchdowns last season as a true freshman, Sophomore Quarterback Sam Howell delivered another stellar season throwing for 3,352 yards, which rank sixth in the country and 27 touchdowns, which is a tie for seventh in the country going into this contest. Howell rushed for five touchdowns as well this season.
After the Aggies didn’t do much on their opening drive of the Orange Bowl and punted the ball over to the Tar Heels, Sam Howell threw an interception on the third play of the game for the Heels. Isiah Spiller got the scoring going for the Aggies on the next drive, with a rushing touchdown from nine yards out to take a seven to zero lead.
The Tar Heels were able to get on the board in the next possession with a 29-yard field goal from Furman transfer Grayson Atkins. A few costly penalties by the Aggies helped the Tar Heels move down the field.
UNC converted a huge fourth-down and three early to start the second quarter with a 15-yard run by Quarterback Sam Howell. The drive concluded with a 32-yard field goal from Grayson Atkins to cut the deficit to one.
The next possession for the Aggies was all Quarterback Kellen Mond, as he ran for 24 yards and threw for 31. The Tar Heels stopped the Aggies in the red zone to hold them to a field goal to give the Aggies a ten to six lead.
The Tar Heels marched down the field on the next possession with an eight-play 75-yard drive capped off by a ridiculous catch for the 28-yard touchdown by Dazz Newsome with the pass from Howell to give the Heels a 13-10 lead.
Isaiah Spiller rushed for his second touchdown of the night from three yards out, to give the Aggies a 17-to-13 lead, which was the score at halftime of the Orange Bowl.
In the second drive of the third quarter for North Carolina, Howell connected with Josh Downs for the ten-yard touchdown, to give the Tar Heels a 20-17 lead. The touchdown pass was Howell’s 67th of his career, which breaks the ACC record for most passing touchdowns through a sophomore season.
The Tar Heels held the Aggies in the red zone to start the fourth quarter, to just a field goal to tie the game at 20 with 14 minutes remaining. The first play of the next drive for North Carolina, Howell unleashed a beautiful throw to Josh Downs for a 75-yard touchdown. That was Howell’s 68th career touchdown which ties the Carolina school record. “That was a great look at what next year could look like next year.” Head Coach Mack Brown said about the play.
The Aggies scored on their next possession with a 5-yard touchdown run by Kellen Mond. The score was set up by a 54-yard pass from Mond to Ainias Smith. The Aggies scored with under four minutes to play, on a 76-yard touchdown run by Devon Achane to take a 34-27 lead. Achane put the cherry-on-top with a one-yard touchdown run with a minute and a half remaining in the game.
Coach Brown also stated following the game that “Texas A&M is a great team and they deserve to be in the playoff.”
The Orange Bowl served as the first matchup between the Tar Heels and the Aggies. This was the first appearance in the Orange Bowl for the Heels since 1951. The Tar Heels fall to 8-4 on the season and have a lot of good things to look forward to for the upcoming season with talented young players and a good recruiting class Head Coach Mack Brown is bringing in. “We’re about to be really good.” Mack Brown said about his team