North Carolina Tar Heels vs Florida State Seminoles Match Player Stats On Oct 01, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Oct 1, 2016

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- North Carolina senior kicker Nick Weiler booted a career-long 54-yard game-winning field goal Saturday to stun No. 12 Florida State 37-35 and end the Seminoles' nation-leading longest home winning streak at 22 games.

The kick signaled redemption for Weiler, who just a few minutes earlier had his extra point blocked on North Carolina's go-ahead touchdown, leaving the door open for the Seminoles.

Florida State rallied from down 21 points and took a 35-34 lead with 23 seconds to play on a 2-yard touchdown scramble from quarterback Deondre Francois, but the Tar Heels still had two timeouts and a red-hot quarterback in Mitch Trubisky, who finished the day with 405 yards passing and four total touchdowns.

Trubisky hit receiver Mack Hollins for 23 yards to get the ball to the North Carolina 48, then Florida State defensive back Tavarus McFadden was flagged for pass interference with four seconds left, pushing the ball to the Florida State 37-yard line.

Tar Heels coach Larry Fedora called North Carolina's final time out and sent out Weiler, who drilled the kick and then streaked across the field as blue and white jerseys followed, flooding from the sidelines.

North Carolina improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in ACC play, while the Seminoles dropped to 3-2 and remain winless in the conference at 0-2.

Trubisky, a junior who came into the game second in the nation in completion percentage at 74.5 percent, rushed for a touchdown and was also 31-of-38 passing, including a score with 2:31 left in the game from 34 yards out to receiver Thomas Jackson.

With the victory, The Tar Heels won for just the third time in 19 meetings against the Seminoles, who still lead the all-time series 15-3-1. Florida State has now lost two in a row to North Carolina.

Their most-previous meeting was 2010, and the Tar Heels won by the same score, 37-35 -- also on a game-winning kick, that one by Casey Barth.

The Tar Heels remain the lone ACC program head coach Jimbo Fisher has not beaten in seven years in Tallahassee.

Florida State fell behind early, 21-0, and -- unlike the season opener against Ole Miss when Florida State rallied from 22 points down to win, 45-34 -- couldn't complete the comeback.

North Carolina receiver Ryan Switzer torched the Florida State secondary with 14 catches for 158 yards, and running back T.J. Logan scored two touchdowns in the win -- one rushing and one receiving.

Florida State looked to be one defensive stop away from victory after a nine-play, 75-yard fourth-quarter march that ended with Francois' furious scramble and dive across the goal line. Francois finished the game 20 of 32 for 372 yards, while the loss erased a huge day from star running back Dalvin Cook, who finished with 140 yards rushing on 29 carries, and he was also second on the team in receiving with six catches for 106 more yards.

North Carolina, which came into the game as 11-point underdogs, took a 21-7 lead to halftime.

The Tar Heels capitalized on some early conservative play-calling by Florida State after the Seminoles' first drive was stopped on the North Carolina 28-yard line with a fourth-and-1 decision. Rather than go for it, head coach Jimbo Fisher opted for a 45-yard field goal try, and freshman kicker Ricky Aguayo missed wide left.

North Carolina then drove 72 yards in nine plays as Trubisky was a perfect 4-for-4 for 44 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown pass to Logan to open the scoring.

It marked the fourth time in five games this year Florida State's defense has allowed its opponent to score on their opening drive.

The troubles, however, didn't end there for Aguayo, who had been 10 of 11 on the year coming into Saturday. But before the end of the first quarter, he would also miss a 52-yarder that was blocked and another 45-yarder, also wide left.

Florida State's first four drives all reached Tar Heels territory, but they resulted in zero Seminole points.

North Carolina went up 14-0 late in the second quarter after capping a second 72-yard drive, this one in seven plays, as Logan's 13-yard rush up the middle gave him his second touchdown of the game. The Tar Heels than made it 21-0 with 6:52 left in the first half when Trubisky turned a third-down scramble into a four-yard rushing score.

The Seminoles didn't get on the board until Cook found the end zone from 9 yards out late in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 21-7.

NOTES: In a great show of sportsmanship Saturday, both Florida State and North Carolina wore Kidz1stFund decals on their helmets in a show of support of Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher's charity he established in honor of his son, Ethan, who suffers from a rare disease called Fanconi anemia. Kidz1stFund was created with the goal of improving treatment options, raising awareness and helping fund research that will lead to a cure. So far, Kidz1stFund has raised more than $4 million dollars. ... North Carolina was not ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll coming into Saturday's game, but the Tar Heels were ranked No. 23 in the Coaches' Poll. ... Saturday's announced attendance was 77,584.