Chapel Hill, N.C. --
I've been watching football since I was five years old.
I used to be so amazed by what happened on the field. And I still am. I love football because of those rare times I get to say, "I can't believe what I just saw."
Well, Saturday's game in Chapel Hill had me in complete disbelief as I found myself uttering those words every five minutes. Here's a rundown of what was so shocking Saturday:
1. Chris Gould's 4th of 5 field goals was called no good. I couldn't believe my eyes when Al Groh challenged the call -- and won.
The kick went up like normal, came down as such and seemed to pass inches from the left upright. From my view in the press box, I couldn't tell if it had really gone in or not. But I trusted the referee.
"We had people on the sidelines that were insisting that the kick was good," Groh said. "They brought it to my attention, and they were very adamant about it."
According to a photographer behind the endzone, the referee turned his head as the ball came close to hitting him, completely missing the play.
Groh used his challenge on the call and got his team three more points. Three points that ended up costing Carolina the game.
2. Two-minute warnings are standard in the NFL, but I wasn't sure what to think when the announcers told us there'd be a two-minute warning near the game's end, a factor not traditionally applied to college football.
"It was determined before the game so that each side would have a representative idea of where the time was," Groh said.
Lightning the previous night zapped the scoreboards, keeping both teams in the dark for the last 10 minutes of the game ... at least I think it was 10 minutes.
"We kind of assumed in a situation where we got the ball how much time was running off the clock," Groh said.
With the game on the line and time running out, Carolina marched 85 yards downfield with about two minutes remaining. I figured the players would settle with a soccer-style ending, with the referee simply waving his hands and saying the game was over.
3. Last week, with Duke clawing at Virginia's heels and cutting its lead down to a 17-13 margin, Virginia turned to its freshman quarterback Peter Lalich to drive the team.
This week, with UNC sprinting towards Virginia one rocket pass after another, the Cavaliers went to a more common source -- its veteran defensive line -- to hold Virginia's lead.
UNC freshman quarterback T.J. Yates had been on all second half. Throwing to the left side, Yates released the ball in the direction of an outstretched Chris Long.
"I knew that this quarterback was doing a good job getting out of the pocket on us, and that was pretty much our fault, so I just wanted to have a nice contained rush and get my hands up," Long said.
The ball fell from Long's hands and dropped in front of him, and Long wrapped his hands around the ball for the interception.
"That was obviously an All-American-type play," Groh said.
After securing the ball, Long carried it 25 yards before being tripped up deep in Tar Heel territory.
"I was just trying to knock it down and I got fortunate," Long said.
It was Long's first interception since high school. I had never seen a defensive lineman look so much like a tailback.
Three games into the season, the defensive line has more interceptions than the entire secondary. The secondary might want to divert more attention to their majors; after all, if this trend continues, who needs a secondary when the defensive line does the whole job?
4. I have never seen a Carolina offense whose athleticism reminded me of Reggie Bush. The Tar Heels looked mighty good, which was surprising, given just how bad they've been the last few years.
To see T.J. Yates and Hakeem Nicks shock me play after play, I wonder how much UNC will change in the next year or two. Or what calls will be changed because of replay. Or what our defensive line can do next.
Who knows what will change next? I sure don't. But I can't wait for the next time I get to say, "Well, I've never seen that before"
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