North Carolina: 2019 Military Bowl Champions

North Carolina coach Mack Brown told anyone who would listen that the Tar Heels were going to win right away in his first season there.

Few believed it was possible. The Tar Heels were coming off a 2-9 season in 2018, and 3-9 in 2017.

Turns out, he was right.

And just as the Tar Heels opened their season with a victory, they ended it with one, too.

The Tar Heels dominated Temple in the Military Bowl in Annapolis, Md 55-13. on Friday. They will finish the 2019 season 7-6, their first winning season since 2016. It was also the Tar Heels’ first bowl win since 2013.

With the win Brown is now 14-8 all time in bowl games, and 4-2 at UNC.

Temple entered the game with some big wins this season, including a 30-28 victory over Memphis, which is playing in one of the New Year’s Six bowl games.

But in this game, the Tar Heels looked more confident, more polished, and the better overall team.

They were led by true freshman quarterback Sam Howell, who for much of this season, has delivered when needed. He completed 25 of 34 passes for 294 yards, and three touchdowns.

He even caught a 2-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter.

The Tar Heels’ defense was just as good as the offense.

They allowed only two touchdowns, and in the third quarter scored one of their own. Storm Duck intercepted Temple quarterback Anthony Russo, and took it back 20 yards for a touchdown.

It was one of three touchdowns the Tar Heels scored in the third quarter. And by the end of that quarter, the game was all wrapped up, as the Tar Heels led by four touchdowns.

The Tar Heels 42-point victory was its second-largest of the season. They never trailed in this game.

FIRST DOWN
The Tar Heels intercepted two passes, including the pick-six from Duck. The second interception was by UNC linebacker Tomon Fox in the fourth quarter. They won the turnover battle 2-1, which helped their dominating effort.

TOUCHDOWN
The Tar Heels had one of their best offensive performances of the season. They gained 534 total yards. They did it by establishing the run.

Even Howell got into the action. He had 53 yards rushing at halftime. That kept Temple guessing all game. Running it with Howell is something the Tar Heels haven’t been able to do this season with the lack of depth at the position. Backup quarterback Jace Ruder is out for the season with a leg injury.

PENALTY
The Tar Heels made few mistakes on Friday. But the one mistake they did make was a turnover in the third quarter. Junior wide receiver Dazz Newsome caught a screen pass from Howell, and fumbled it as he was tackled. The turnover gave the Owls the ball near the 50-yard line, and set up a 45-yard touchdown a short time later.

ICYMI
Howell, who won the game’s MVP award, passed Clemson’s Tahj Boyd for third place for most passing touchdowns in a single season in the ACC. He finished with 38.

Boyd threw 36 passing touchdowns in 2012, and Howell entered the game one touchdown behind him. The ACC record is 41 touchdown passes thrown by Clemson’s Deshaun Watson in 2016.

UNC junior running back Michael Carter rushed for 1,000 yards this season.

And UNC wide receivers Dyami Brown and Dazz Newsome became the fourth and fifth UNC receivers to join the 1,000-yard club. They are also the first wide receiver duo to get a 1,000 yard season in the same year.

KEY NUMBERS
238 rushing yards. The Tar Heels were 4-0 this season when they rushed for 200 or more yards in game.

11 out of 14conversions on third downs. Temple could not get the Tar Heels off the field.

55 The number of points UNC scored. It was a Military Bowl record.

North Carolina: 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Champions

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- It's OK, Carolina, you can open your eyes.

An unwatchable game turned into a beautiful night for the Tar Heels, who turned a free-throw contest into a championship they've been waiting an entire year to celebrate.

Justin Jackson delivered the go-ahead 3-point play with 1:40 left Monday and North Carolina pulled away for a 71-65 win over Gonzaga that washed away a year's worth of heartache.

It was, in North Carolina's words, a redemption tour -- filled with extra time on the practice court and the weight room, all fueled by a devastating loss in last year's title game on Kris Jenkins' 3-point dagger at the buzzer for Villanova.

"I wanted to see this confetti fall on us and we're the winners," said Carolina's Joel Berry II, who led the Heels with 22 points. "We came out here and we competed. It came down to the last second, but we're national champs now."

Berry, along with most of Roy Williams' players, returned for another run. To say everything went right for them at this Final Four would not be the truth.

The Tar Heels (33-7) followed a terrible shooting night in the semifinal with an equally ice-cold performance in the final -- going 4 for 27 from 3-point land and 26 for 73 overall.

Gonzaga, helped by 8 straight points from Nigel Williams-Goss, took a 2-point lead with 1:52 left, but the next possession was the game-changer.

Jackson took a zinger of a pass under the basket from Theo Pinson and converted the shot, then the ensuing free throw to take the lead for good. Moments later, Williams-Goss twisted his right ankle and could not elevate for a jumper that would've given the Bulldogs the lead.

Isaiah Hicks made a basket to push the lead to 3, then Kennedy Meeks, in foul trouble all night, blocked Williams-Goss' shot and Jackson got a slam on the other end to put some icing on title No. 6 for the Tar Heels. Williams got his third title, putting him one ahead of his mentor, Dean Smith, and now behind only John Wooden, Adolph Rupp and Mike Krzyzewski.

"I think of Coach Smith, there's no question," Williams said. "I don't think I should be mentioned in the same sentence with him. But we got three because I've got these guys with me and that's all I care about right now -- my guys."

Berry recovered from ankle injuries to lead the Tar Heels, but needed 19 shots for his 22 points. Jackson had 16 on a 6-for-19 night and, overall, the Tar Heels actually shot a percentage point worse than they did in Saturday night's win over Oregon.


Thank goodness for free throws. They went 15 for 26 from the line and, in many corners, this game will be remembered for these three men: Michael Stephens, Verne Harris and Mike Eades, the referees who called 27 fouls in the second half, completely busted up the flow of the game and sent Meeks, Gonzaga's 7-footers Przemek Karnowski and Zach Collins and a host of others to the bench in foul trouble.

The most bizarre sequence: With 8:02 left, Berry got called for a foul for (maybe) making contact with Karnowski and stripping the ball from the big man's hands. But as Karnowski was flailing after the ball, he grabbed Berry around the neck and, after a long delay, got called for a flagrant foul of his own.

That resulted in four straight free throws, a 52-all tie and booing from every corner of the massive Phoenix University Stadium.

North Carolina Tar Heels: 2015-16 ACC Men's Basketball Champions

WASHINGTON -- Thanks to the sort of defensive dominance coach Roy Williams has been seeking, North Carolina's longer-than-usual wait for its latest ACC tournament championship is over.

Now the Tar Heels can turn their focus to returning to their customary results in the NCAAs too.

No. 7 North Carolina held No. 4 Virginia without a field goal for more than 8 minutes in the second half to break open a back-and-forth Atlantic Coast Conference final, and tournament MVP Joel Berry II scored 19 points Saturday night, giving the Tar Heels a 61-57 victory for their first league title since 2008.

Since then, Williams had led the Tar Heels to four ACC finals -- in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015 -- and lost each one. Even Virginia owned a more recent ACC trophy, from 2014.

Marcus Paige added 13 points to help North Carolina (28-6) win its 18th league championship.

Malcolm Brogdon led Virginia (26-7) with 15 points, but the conference player of the year was limited to 6 of 22 on field-goal attempts, 2 of 9 on 3s. In all, Carolina held the Cavs to 37 percent shooting.

Now comes the NCAA tournament and an all-but-certain No. 1 seeding that often feels like a birthright for the kids who wear Carolina blue. UNC hasn't been to the Final Four since winning its second national title under Williams in 2009 -- which would not seem all that long ago for most schools but feels like a lifetime to the folks from Chapel Hill.

Virginia would have been a No. 1 with a victory Saturday, it seems clear, but now who knows where the Cavaliers will end up when the brackets come out Sunday?

Paige only scored four in the first half but he took over at the beginning of the second for UNC, continuing the resurgence he began in Friday's semifinal. So much for his supposed slump. The lithe guard scored nine of 10 points for the Tar Heels in one stretch, including a steal and end-to-end drive for a layup, a jumper as he curled around a screen and a pull-up floater.

Then Berry got going on offense, while the entire Tar Heels squad displayed the sort of defensive toughness and will that Williams has been begging to see consistently.

After Anthony Gill put Virginia ahead 44-40 with a little under 10 minutes left in regulation, the Cavaliers missed their next 12 shots, part of a larger 2-for-20 rut. That allowed UNC to go on a 15-2 run capped by Brice Johnson's putback layup for a 55-46 lead with under 2 minutes to go -- the largest margin for either team.

Virginia would cut it to two in the closing moments, but UNC held on.

It was a similar defensive shutdown to the one North Carolina used to fuel a 24-point run that put away Notre Dame in the semifinals Friday.

These were the top two seeds in the conference tourney -- UNC finished atop the standings, UVA was No. 2 -- and both teams are capable of playing shutdown defense.

Virginia, best known for that aspect of its game, ranks second nationally in opponents' scoring average at a hair under 60 points, while UNC only allowed one foe to shoot better than 50 percent all season and held semifinal opponent Notre Dame scoreless for 9 1/2 minutes.

So not surprisingly, they were quite good at forcing the other into problems on offense right from the outset Saturday.

North Carolina turned the ball over eight times in the first 12 1/2 minutes. Virginia missed its first four shots and started 4 for 13 on field-goal attempts.

All in all, it was evenly matched, high-level basketball. For a half-plus, anyway.

The teams were tied at 28 at halftime, and were each other's equal in various other ways to that point. Each had 14 rebounds. Each had 16 points in the paint. Each held the other under 30 percent on 3-point tries.

Very clean, too: Only six combined fouls were whistled in the opening half, providing the sort of continuity that's a rarity these days in college basketball.

BEEN A WHILE

The previous four ACC titles had been won by a school from outside of the North Carolina center of power: FSU in 2012, Miami in 2013, Virginia in 2014, Notre Dame in 2015. That drought was the longest for that state in league history.

TIP-INS

North Carolina: Now only one behind Duke's ACC record of 19 titles. ... This was the Tar Heels' 34th appearance in an ACC final, most in conference history. ... Over the past 13 years, UNC has appeared in seven ACC finals -- against seven different schools.

Virginia: This was the Cavaliers' eighth ACC final; they beat UNC in 1976 and Duke in 2014. ... Beat North Carolina 79-74 on Feb. 27.

UP NEXT

North Carolina: NCAA tournament.

Virginia: NCAA tournament.

North Carolina: 2013 Belk Bowl Champions

North Carolina was one of the best teams in the ACC during the second half of the season and carried that momentum into its bowl game. The Tar Heels showed little problem with the Cincinnati Bearcats in the Belk Bowl, defeating Tommy Tuberville's squad 39-17 in Charlotte.

On third-and-goal, Romar Morris burst through the hole and into the end zone to give North Carolina the 7-0 lead. Two drives later, Kareem Martin broke through two Bearcat offensive linemen to bring down Brendon Kay in the end zone for a safety. T.J. Loganreturned the ensuing safety punt 78 yards for a touchdown and the Tar Heels suddenly led 16-0 in the first quarter.

The two teams traded scores in the second quarter -- unfortunately for the Bearcats, they traded a field goal for a touchdown. Tony Miliano's 34-yard field goal put Cincinnati on the board, but Marquise Williams' 3-yard touchdown pass to Jack Tabb four minutes later made the score 23-3.

The Tar Heels started out the third quarter with a bang, as Ryan Switzer returned a sky-high punt 86 yards for his fifth punt return touchdown of the season, tying an NCAA record.

Cincinnati tried to make it a game with two of the next three touchdowns, but were stopped short near the goal-line with about ten minutes left in the game. That allowed North Carolina to run down clock and put the game out of reach.

Box Score Hero: T.J. Logan. The running back carried 15 times for 77 yards while also returning three kicks for 120 yards and a touchdown.

Rankings Ramifications: Neither team was ranked, and neither will be.

But Did They Cover? North Carolina was a 3-point favorite, so they did.