College Football Old School Game of the Week: Unranked UNC Shocks Undefeated Miami with Last-Second FG

The North Carolina football team runs out onto the field after Conner Barth, who is being held in the air, kicked a game-winning field goal at the buzzer to knock off Miami.

When the Miami Hurricanes joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2004, many in their fanbase thought they would dominate the ACC like they did their previous conference, the Big East, where the Hurricanes won at least a shar of the Big East conference title in nine of the previous 13 seasons, including the last four.

But the Hurricanes would find out the hard way that the ACC was not the Big East when they visited Chapel Hill to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels on October 30, 2004.

The Hurricanes entered the game with a 6-0 record and #4 ranking in the AP poll as the Hurricanes had won their first three ACC games which included a 16-10 overtime win over arch rival Florida State.

The Canes were led by head coach Larry Coker, who was in his fourth year at the helm at "The U", and had a roster full of future NFL stars such as running back Frank Gore, tight end Greg Olsen, defensive back Antrel Rolle and kick returner Devin Hester.

With a roster like that and quarterback Brock Berlin, the Hurricanes entered the game with the Tar Heels as three touchdown favorites as they took on the 3-4 Tar Heels.

North Carolina was just hoping to get to a bowl game, which would be their second in four years under head coach John Bunting and senior quarterback Darian Durant.

If the Tar Heels had any chance to knock off the Canes, they were going to need a good start to keep their fans at Kenan Stadium into the game.

  The Tar Heels got the ball to start the game and were given great field position after Del Roberts returned the opening kickoff 39 yards to the North Carolina 43-yard-line.

After a delay of game pushed them back five yards, the Tar Heel offense got moving as running back Chad Scott ran for 16 yards on 1st down, then ran for six more on two carries plus a Miami offsides penalty put North Carolina at the Miami 35-yard-line when Durant fired a 35-yard touchdown pass to Mike Mason to give the Tar Heels a 7-0 lead just 2:30 into the game.

The Hurricanes would also get good field position for their opening drive as UNC kicker Connor Barth kicked the ensuing kickoff out of bounds given Miami the ball at their 35-yard-line.

Following a four-yard run by Gore to start the drive, Berlin would throw five straight passes, completing three of them for 61 yards, with the last completion being a 27-yard touchdown to Lance Leggett to tie the game at 7 with 10:47 left in the first quarter.

After both teams had scored touchdowns in the game's first five minutes, the Tar Heels were more methodically on their next drive as they used the running game to drive down to the Miami seven-yard-line as Scott produced runs of 12 and 18 yards on the drive when Durant ran for 24 yards on a 2nd & 14 at the Hurricanes' 31-yard-line.

But an offensive pass interference penalty on Jesse Holley pushed the Tar Heels back 15 yards which led to a 40-yard field goal attempt by Barth, which he missed wide left, keeping the game tied and giving the ball back to the Hurricanes at their 23-yard-line.

From there, Berlin continued his hot start as he completed four of five passes for 74 yards on the eight-play, 77-yard touchdown drive that culminated with Berlin's 26-yard touchdown pass to Roscoe Parrish to give the Canes a 14-7 lead with 1:12 remaining in the first quarter.

Miami quarterback Brock Berlin completed 20 of 35 passes for 338 yards and two touchdowns.

Following an exchange of punts, the Tar Heels got the ball back at their 20-yard-line early in the second quarter as they drove to the Miami 40-yard-line when they were faced with a 4th & 1 situation.

Bunting decided to go for the 1st down and got it when Madison Hedgecock ran for 12 yards and a 1st down at the Hurricanes' 28-yard-line.

From there it was all Scott, who got the Tar Heels back into the end zone with a 14-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 14 midway through the second quarter.

It wouldn't take long for the Hurricanes to get back into North Carolina territory as a 25-yard pass from Berlin to Hester gave Miami a 1st down at the Tar Heels 39-yard-line.

Three straight running plays gained five yards before Coker sent in the field goal unit to break the 14-14 tie.

But Jon Peattie's 51-yard attempt was wide left and no good giving the ball back to the Tar Heels at their 35-yard-line.

After picking up one 1st down, Durant handed the ball off to Scott who exploded for a 40-yard run that would help set up Durant's 18-yard touchdown pass to Scott Brummett to give UNC a 21-14 lead with 3:03 to go in the first half.

The Tar Heels would force the Hurricanes to go three-and-out on their next possession to get the ball back at their 23-yard-line with 1:26 left before halftime and a chance to increase the North Carolina lead.

The drive began with an eight-yard run by Hedgecock which were followed by back-to-back completions by Durant that picked up 24 yards to put the Tar Heels at the Miami 45-yard-line.

Two incomplete passes later, Durant found Jesse Hamlett for 36 yards to give the Tar Heels a 1st & goal at the Miami nine-yard-line with 17 seconds to go in the half.

Durant would then hit Jarwarski Pollack for eight yards as Pollack went out of bounds at the one-yard-line, which was followed by an one-yard loss by Hedgecock causing the Tar Heels to burn their last timeout of the half with seven seconds left, enough for one more shot at the end zone.

UNC quarterback Darian Durant accounted for 330 yards of total offense(266 passing, 64 rushing) and threw two touchdown passes.

However, Durant would be intercepted by Miami defensive back Greg Threat in the end zone, who decided to take it out and try to run all the way back to the North Carolina end zone for a touchdown before halftime.

Threat made a great effort but he was stopped by North Carolina wide receiver Jesse Holley at the Tar Heels 39-yard-line following a 61-yard return as the first half came to an end with the Tar Heels up 21-14.

Both teams would trade punts to start the second half until the Hurricanes took over at the North Carolina 38-yard-line after Tar Heels punter David Woolridge shanked a punt which went only 14 yards.

It would take the Hurricanes five plays to travel the 38 yards needed for the touchdown as Tyrone Moss ran it in from eight yards out to tie the game at 21 with 3:13 left in the third quarter.

The Tar Heels would get the ball back at their 22-yard-line and proceed to drive down the field as Durant hit Hamlett for 11 yards on 3rd & 5 from the UNC 27-yard-line, then connected with Holley for 15 yards on 3rd & 7 to give the Tar Heels a 1st down at the Miami 44-yard-line as the game moved into the fourth quarter.

After the Tar Heels picked up another 1st down, disaster nearly struck as at the end of an eight-yard run, Scott fumbled the football, only to have it recovered by UNC tight end Jocques Dumas at the 25-yard-line.

Three plays later, Scott was in the end zone as his nine-yard touchdown run capped off a 12-play, 78-yard drive that took up more than seven minutes off the clock but more importantly gave the Tar Heels a 28-21 lead with 10:57 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Despite playing with a hip pointer, UNC running back Chad Scott ran for 175 yards on 25 carries and scored two touchdowns.

The Hurricanes would get the ball back at their 20-yard-line where it took them six plays to drive to the North Carolina 35-yard-line as Berlin completed passes of 14 yards to Darnell Jenkins, 23 yards to Leggett, and 14 yards to Sinorice Moss.

But the next three Miami plays only picked up two yards setting up a 4th & 8 at the UNC 33-yard-line.

In no man's land and a field goal doing them no good, the Canes went for the 1st down but failed to convert as Berlin's pass for Olson fell incomplete, giving the ball back to Carolina at its 33-yard-line.

However, the Miami defense would force a three-and-out to get their offense the ball back at their 10-yard-line with 5:24 left to drive for the game-tying touchdown.

The drive would begin with a 24-yard screen pass to Gore to give the Hurricanes a 1st down at thier 34-yard-line, which was followed by an incomplete pass, and then a strange play when Berlin's pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage, only to end up in the quarterback's hands for a catch that cost Miami two yards and set up 3rd & 12.

That is when Berlin found Leggett for 22 yards and a 1st down at the Tar Heels' 45-yard-line.

Berlin would then hit Leggett for nine yards before firing an incomplete pass to set up 3rd & 1 when Berlin handed the ball off to Gore, who ran up the middle for just three yards but enough for the 1st down.

Then, Berlin hit Parrish for 22 yards to give the Hurricanes a 1st down at the UNC 11-yard-line when Berlin handed the ball off to Hester on a sweep in which Hester scored that with the extra point tied the game at 28 with 2:25 left in regulation.

The Tar Heels would take over at their 10-yard-line, only to drive far enough to give Barth a chance at a a game-winning field goal.

The drive began with a four-yard run by Scott, which was followed by a 12-yard pass to Scott, giving the Tar Heels a 1st down at their 26-yard-line.

After Durant ran for four yards on 1st down, he found Pollock for 14 yards, then fired over the middle for Hamlett for a 22-yard completion to put the Tar Heels at the Miami 34-yard-line.

The Tar Heels figured they needed one more 1st down to feel comfortable enough for Barth to try a field goal so they went back to the running game only to have Scott but dropped for a two-yard loss on 1st down, which was followed by a six-yard pass to Hamlett as the Tar Heels called timeout with 17 seconds left and a 3rd & 6 at the Miami 30-yard-line.

That is when Durant called his own number and went up the middle on a draw play that picked up five yards as the Tar Heels wound the clock down to four seconds before calling timeout as Bunting sent in Barth to attempt a potential game-winning 42-yard field goal.

Miami called timeout in hopes of icing Barth but it was to no avail as Barth's 42-yard kick sailed through the uprights as time expired, giving the Tar Heels a shocking 31-28 victory over the #4 ranked Hurricanes.

The win sent the Kenan Stadium crowd into a frenzy as students ran out onto the field to tear down the goal posts after the Tar Heels had pulled off their first victory over a Top-5 ranked team in school history.

The Tar Heels' upset over Miami would be the difference in the Tar Heels being eligible for a bowl game as they finished with a 6-5 record, which earned them a berth in the Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte, where they fell to future ACC member Boston College 37-24 to finish the season with a 6-6 record.

As for Miami, they  never fully recovered from the loss to the Tar Heels as they would lose to Clemson the following week and then to Virginia Tech in the regular season finale where the winner would win the ACC title as the 16-10 loss to the Hokies sent the Hurricanes to the Peach Bowl where they would beat the Florida Gators 27-10 to finish with a 9-3 record and #11 ranking in both polls.

Since then, the Hurricanes have not been a dominant presence in the ACC as their fans thought they would be as they have yet to win a conference title and have only played in the ACC Championship Game, which was introduced in 2005, once.