By Levi Bergthold
Oregon Football (10-3) stormed back from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to stun the North Carolina Tar Heels (9-4) in the Holiday Bowl on Wednesday evening. With 9 minutes left, the Tar Heels kicked a field goal to take a double-digit lead. The Duck offense, having struggled throughout the second half, came alive with back-to-back touchdown drives, taking the lead on a dramatic 4th and 2 conversion with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Chase Cota with 19 seconds left. Tar Heel Quarterback Drake Maye attempted to match the Duck heroics, but his 41-yard Hail Mary attempt hit the turf to complete the Oregon comeback.
The first half was evenly matched, with both teams trading touchdowns and stops, resulting with the Ducks driving with the ball, tied 14-14, late in the half. Quarterback Bo Nix’s pass, intended for Tight End Terrance Ferguson, bounced off the intended receiver’s hands, off the defender’s feet, miraculously careening off Linebacker Power Echols feet and into his hands. Echols returned the interception to midfield, and Quarterback Drake Maye wasted no time, needing only one play to find Wide Receiver Kobe Paysour for a 49-yard touchdown to carry a 21-14 Tar Heel lead into halftime.
The Holiday Bowl was projected to be the highest scoring game of the postseason, but neither offense appeared to leave the locker room, with neither team scoring until the 9:13 mark of the 4th quarter, when Drake Maye led the Tar Heel offense down to the shadow of the end zone, resulting in a 19-yard field goal to give North Carolina a 10-point lead.
Oregon’s offense, after slumbering through the first 23 minutes of the second half, roared to life. Nix led a 61-yard scoring drive, concluding with a 6-yard Troy Franklin touchdown to get the Ducks back into the game. Trailing by 3 with 7 minutes left, Maye marched the North Carolina offense deep into Duck territory, but stalled out on the Oregon 27, resulting in a 44-yard field goal to give the Tar Heels a 6-point lead. With 2:29 left in the game, needing a touchdown to win, Bo Nix orchestrated the offense down the field, culminating in a 4th and 2 on the Tar Heel 6-yard line. North Carolina brought the house on a blitz, and Bo Nix found Chase Cota over the middle right at the end zone for the game winning touchdown. North Carolina had 19 seconds to find magic, but with 1 second left, they lined up for a final Hail Mary play that ultimately came up short, giving the Ducks the victory.
The Oregon offense was inconsistent throughout the game, and Nix looked uncomfortable passing at times, but they found a rhythm at the right time. Nix finished the game 23/30 for 205 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Running Back Bucky Irving was announced as the Offensive Player of the Game, rushing for 149 yards on just 13 attempts and 2 touchdowns, including an electric 66-yard touchdown run to give Oregon a 14-7 lead in the 2nd quarter, where he juked and sprinted his way past most of the North Carolina defense. Terrance Ferguson was the Ducks leading receiver, catching 5 of his 7 targets for 84 yards. Outside Linebacker Mase Funa was awarded the Defensive Player of the Game, finishing the game with 7 total tackles, 1 sack and 1 tackle for loss.
North Carolina was missing key pieces on both sides of the ball, but star Quarterback Drake Maye was the driving force. Despite a statistically inefficient performance, he played well and put his team just a play away from the upset over Oregon. Maye finished the night 18/35 for 206 yards and 3 touchdowns, contributing 45 yards on the ground as well. Running Back Elijah Green was the Tar Heels leading rusher, running for 50 yards on 17 attempts, and Wide Receiver Kobe Paysour was Maye’s favorite target, collecting 7 of his 11 targets for 98 yards and a touchdown.
Head Coach Dan Lanning finishes his first season at the helm with 10 wins and 3 losses, saying that the team “finished the season with not a period but an exclamation point.” The rookie head coach is putting the finishing touches on the best recruiting class in the PAC-12, and with Bo Nix announcing his return for another season, the offense will return most of its key pieces. The Duck program will look to build on this Holiday Bowl victory and a 10-win season into competing for the conference title next year.