Mack Brown shares heartfelt message after North Carolina upset

Mack Brown’s North Carolina Tar Heels never once gave up against the undefeated, No. 9-ranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons, even after Wake Forest jumped out to a 45-27 lead early in the third quarter.

The Tar Heels fought back all game and in the end, North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell was able to lead the offense to a huge fourth-quarter comeback. North Carolina outscored Wake Forest 24-7 in the fourth, and Brown’s team ultimately prevailed 58-55, moving North Carolina’s record to 5-4 and giving Wake Forest its first loss of the season.

Brown was emotional after North Carolina’s upset victory, especially considering the difficulties presented in 2021. The Tar Heels began the season projected to be one of the top teams in the ACC, while Howell was projected as a Heisman Trophy candidate; instead, North Carolina fell short of expectations, and so too did Howell.

“It’s been a hard year. Just everything has been tough. Nothing has been easy. What [the win] does is it gives them some hope that there’s still some more out there,” Brown said postgame. “We’ve got to get one more to get to a bowl and that was a commitment we made to the seniors. We wanted them to have three-straight bowls. And that was really important. I told the guys after the Notre Dame game that when you lose a tight game, the rewards you get are the lessons that you learn. You don’t have much joy in it, but it’ll help you for the rest of your life.”

North Carolina took those lessons in stride and executed Saturday against Wake Forest. Running back Ty Chandler had a career-best day, rushing for 213 yards and four touchdowns, helping North Carolina overcome the 18-point deficit. Meanwhile, Howell overcame his early-season struggles and threw for 216 yards and a touchdown, all while rushing for 104 yards and two touchdowns. Howell executed five-straight perfect drives at the conclusion of the game, as North Carolina scored on each of their last five possessions.

In the process of leading Brown’s Tar Heels to a win, Howell also became the North Carolina program’s career leader in total offense, breaking a record previously set by Marquise Williams, who held the record with 10,423 yards.

“After a game like today, you get rewarded for all that you put in,” Brown said. “This is the enjoyment. So, it should give them more confidence, it should have people look at them differently — I don’t think people across the country thought we would beat Wake Forest, and they’ve got a great team. And again, to play two great teams like we have back-to-back, and really Miami, before the open date, we’ve had three tight games heading into Pitt.

“I think what [the win] will do is it will get them up early in the morning with a smile on their face ready to go compete against Pitt,” Brown said.