“Louisville had it in the bag, or so it seemed.
“The No. 19 Cardinals were up 36-7 on North Carolina at the end of the first half. But the game wasn’t decided until UNC, trailing 39-34, failed to complete a Bryn Renner pass from the Louisville 4-yard line with 1:49 left in the game.
A game that should have—could have—been a blowout quickly turned into a nailbiter as the UNC defense clamped down and Louisville fought just to hang on.”
– Sporting News
“Down five points, the Tar Heels were given an incredible opportunity to complete the rally after Louisville fumbled on their 25-yard line. It came down to a 4th and goal for North Carolina, but Bryn Renner’s final pass attempt was broken up by Andrew Johnson. By ‘broken up,’ I meant Johnson pulled Erik Highsmith’s helmet off by the facemask.”
– Joe Ovies, 99.9 FM The Fan ESPN Radio
“We had to come up with a big-time play in a big-time game. I saw (Tar Heels receiver Erik Highsmith) jump and I knew I would outjump him, so I got my hand on the ball and tried to strip the ball. … But with (losing) such a big lead, no coach should be happy.”
– Andrew Johnson, who contested the fourth down pass
“I really thought we were going to come back and win this. Everything was going in our favor in the second half. I mean, I just gotta make that play. I’m probably gonna have nightmares about it. I gotta make that play.”
– Erik Highsmith, UNC receiver
“I thought second half we came back and competed our butts off.”
– Bryn Renner, UNC QB
“From what I can remember from the first half, it looked like a lack of effort, a lack of intensity, a lack of passion, a lot of mental mistakes. You name it: whatever could go wrong went wrong in the first half. You gotta give Louisville credit, but we can’t play football the way we played in the first half.”
– Larry Fedora, UNC coach
