Wake Forest won a heart-stopper over SMU on the final play, while UNC had its heart broken at the goal line. An App State rally fell just short at Old Dominion, while NC State was no match for streaking Pittsburgh and gun-slinging freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel.
Week 9 of the North Carolina FBS college football season had a taste of just about every emotion for our teams, bringing to mind the old ABC Wide World of Sports mantra: the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. Mostly agony, though.
Charlotte played Friday night, losing to record-setting quarterback Drew Mestemaker and North Texas 54-20 (more agony). ECU and Duke had this weekend off.
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| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | App State | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 21 | Final | |
 | Old Dominion | 7 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 24 | ESPNU | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | SMU | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 12 | Final | |
 | Wake Forest | 3 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 13 | The CW | |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | Virginia | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 17 | Final OT |
 | UNC | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 16 | ACC Network |
| TOTAL | ||||||||
 | NC State | 7 | 14 | 0 | 13 | 34 | Final | |
 | Pittsburgh | 10 | 21 | 15 | 7 | 53 | ACC Network |
✅ North Carolina FBS Wrap-Up
Only one FBS team won today (Oct. 25), but what a win it was. Here are our takeaways from a roller-coaster day of action:
🏆 Biggest Win of the Day
When Demond Claiborne fumbled at the SMU 5 with less than two minutes to play and Wake Forest trailing 12-10, we tweeted this out: “What could have been, Deacs.”
Oops. Spoken too soon. Wake Forest held SMU to a three-and-out, got the ball back with 12 seconds left and completed a miracle fans in Winston will be talking about decades from now.
Deshawn Purdie completed a 25-yard pass to Kamrean Johnson to put the Deacs in position for a field goal with just a few ticks left. Connor Calvert’s 50-yarder barely fell over the crossbar as time expired, and Wake Forest became the first ACC team to beat SMU in regular season conference play.
“I always pride myself on being a guy that is able to hit from deep distance,” Calvert told reporters after the game (as reported by the Associated Press). “I hadn’t had a moment quite like that.”
We wrote more about this great game HERE.
💪 Standout Performance
Wake Forest’s defense held SMU (5-3) to 246 yards of offense, its lowest output since 2015, according to WFU sports information. The Deacons forced three fumbles and held the Mustangs to 4-for-17 on third down and 0-for-1 on fourth down.
Maybe the biggest unsung play of the game: Dallas Afalava blocked SMU’s extra point after the Mustangs scored to go ahead 12-10 with 2:58 left in the third period. That point proved the different between Calvert’s last-second field goal being for the tie or the win for Wake Forest.
⚡ Biggest Upset
SMU had won 11 straight ACC regular season games before Saturday. The Mustangs won their final nine regular season contests in the American before joining the ACC. That amazing streak came to an end in Winston-Salem thanks to a gritty, no-quit Wake Forest team that overcame two fumbles in the red zone and five total turnovers.
Wake Forest improved to 5-2 under first-year coach Jake Dickert, 2-2 in ACC play. The Deacs did not lose a game in October.
🔥 Other Highlights & Takeaways
- Appalachian State rallied from a 24-7 deficit in the fourth quarter to pull within a field goal. AJ Swann came off the bench to throw two touchdown passes to Kanen Hamlett and Davion Dozier. But ODU recovered the onsides kick after the second score with 1:34 left and ran out the clock.
- Colton Joseph led Old Dominion with 305 passing yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 62 yards, more than any App State back managed on the day. The Mountaineers were held to 73 rushing yards for the game.
- Former North Carolina Central standout J’Mari Taylor scored what would be the winning touchdown for Virginia at UNC. Taylor’s 1-yard run in overtime, plus the PAT, gave the Cavaliers a 17-10 lead. North Carolina answered with a 9-yard touchdown run by Davion Gause, but Ben Hall came up inches short of the pylon on a 2-point conversion attempt.
- For the second week in a row, North Carolina had a touchdown negated by a turnover at the goal line. Kobe Paysour lost possession inside the 1 in the opening quarter, stretching for the end zone pylon. It was similar to a fourth-quarter play at Cal last week when Nathan Leacock had a ball punched out of his grasp just a stride away from crossing for go-ahead points.
- Bill Belichick is right: his North Carolina team is showing improvement (if only incrementally). North Carolina outgained Virginia 353-259 and held the Cavaliers to 59 yards on the ground. But two Gio Lopez interceptions and the goal-line fumble negated positive strides being made by the defense. Lopez still doesn’t seem like a great fit for the offense at times.
- The air seems to be coming out of NC State’s season as Pitt handed the Wolfpack (4-4) its second-straight lopsided defeat. Pitt freshman QB Mason Heintschel threw four a freshman record 423 yards and three touchdowns. Heintschel just won the job in late September.
- CJ Bailey threw three touchdown passes for NC State. Justin Joly caught one for 59 yards but suffered an injury as he finished his strides into the end zone. Joly had two TDs on the day, with Teddy Hoffman catching the other. Hollywood Smothers finished with 86 rushing yards, scoring on a 65-yard burst.
- Kenny Soares Jr. was a bright spot for the Wolfpack defense, recording 12 tackles and a TFL. Caden Fordham had eight stops.
- Is this the end of the Dave Doeren era at NC State? Saturday had looked like a spot, coming off a bye, where past Doeren teams would have thrived. But this NCSU group looked overmatched and out-schemed, especially the defense. There have been rumors since August that Doeren might retire at season’s end. But could the Pack and their long-time head coach part ways before that?
