Mack Brown reveals what victory over Wake Forest, punching ticket to ACC Championship game means for North Carolina

The North Carolina Tar Heels just knocked off their in-state rival, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, on the road Saturday night in a hard-fought victory. More importantly, that win punched the Tar Heels’ ticket to the ACC title game. It is the first time North Carolina has made the championship game since 2015. And after the game, head coach Mack Brown revealed what it means to him.

“Well, it’s important for these kids. They’ve played so hard — six-road games out of 10,” said Brown. “All of them come down to games like this. Wake Forest played well. We couldn’t make a fourth down, and we’ve been living on fourth downs; then stopping fourth downs and making fourth downs ended up winning the game for us. So just proud of these guys.

“We’re not through yet. We got two games left. And I’m really proud that they didn’t back in.”

Just ahead of Saturday night’s matchup with Wake Forest, Brown said he did not want his Tar Heels to back into the ACC championship game. Rather he wanted them to go out there and earn their spot in the title match. And that’s just what North Carolina did with their 36-34 victory on the road.

The season is not over for the Tar Heels, as they still have two games left on the schedule, plus the ACC championship game and a bowl game. Winning out could give North Carolina a puncher’s chance at the College Football Playoff provided the right teams ahead of them lose. But before the Tar Heels start thinking about a possible berth in the CFP, they first must review the lessons Brown learned about them in their victory over Wake Forest.

“I learned that, when we had to, the defense stepped up. We didn’t make the fourth downs early. They made a difference in the ball game at the end. I learned that we can still get better on offense. We got nearly 600 yards, but we didn’t do some things that we’ve been doing to play well. And our kicking games helped us. So, we can get much better as a football team, and that’s what we’ve got to go back home and do.”

Those nearly 600 yards of total offense came courtesy of North Carolina’s redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Maye. Maye threw for 448 yards and rushed for another 71; racking up 519 yards of total offense. Oh, and he was responsible for four of North Carolina’s five touchdowns. And you know Brown could not leave without giving a glowing review of his young talented star.

“His confidence, composure, and ability to compete, because he competes just like that last play. We needed to make the first down. He waits, hesitates, finds a little crease, and makes it. I think he’s one of the best in the country.”