NFL
By: George Lopez
The 2022 Holiday Bowl between the Oregon Ducks and North Carolina Tar Heels lived up to the game’s legacy of exciting endings as the Ducks came from 10 points down and defeated the Tar Heels 28-27 as Oregon quarterback Bo Nix lead the Ducks on an 8 play, 75-yard drive capped off with Nix throwing the game-winning touchdown pass to TE Chase Cota on 4th down with 19 seconds remaining in the game. The Ducks defense knocked down North Carolina’s quarterback Drake Maye’s Hail Mary pass in the end zone to seal the win for the Ducks. The game provided an exciting ending as well as some surprises.
North Carolina’s defense entered the game not at full strength as 3 of their starters in the secondary did not play due to entering the transfer portal. It was expected that the Ducks, led by quarterback Bo Nix, would look to exploit this and stretch the ball downfield with their passing game. That wasn’t the case early on in the game. The Ducks surprisingly had a conservative passing attack for most of the game. Nix, who ended the game completing 23-30 passes for 205 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, had passed for only 102 yards through 3 quarters. Most of Nix’s completions were on short passes. Nix did attempt a few passes downfield, but those attempts were unsuccessful.
The catalyst of the Ducks offensive attack was their running game. The Ducks ran for 209 yards on 32 attempts led by Bucky Irving’s 149 yards on 13 carries with 2 touchdowns. On their opening drive, Irving ran for 41 yards on 4 carries capped off with a 2-yard touchdown run. Oregon used 3 running backs throughout the game as Noah Whittington and Jordan James were used to spell Irving. North Carolina’s defense was having difficulties with Oregon’s running game in the first half as the Ducks ran for 156 yards on 16 carries. The Tar Heels were able to make adjustments at halftime as they held the Ducks to 53 yards rushing on 16 carries in the 2nd half. In the 2nd half, the Tar Heels defense had better pursuit angles and were able to close up running lanes quicker to slow down the Ducks running backs.
After forcing North Carolina to punt on their opening possession, the Ducks proceeded to march downfield with a 6-play, 54-yard drive ending with RB Bucky Irving scoring from 2 yards out. North Carolina was able to answer right back as quarterback Drake Maye led the Tar Heels on a 12-play, 44-yard drive capped off with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Andre Greene, Jr. Midway through the 2nd quarter, Bucky Irving broke through the line and raced 66 yards for a touchdown to give the Ducks a 14-7 lead. North Carolina responded with a 10-play, 75-yard drive with Maye finding TE Bryson Nesbit for a 14-yard touchdown pass to tie the game.
Towards the end of the 1st half, Nix was driving Ducks deep into North Carolina territory. Oregon was in a position to at minimum attempt a go-ahead field goal that would give the Ducks the lead heading into halftime. Tar Heels LB Power Echols was able to make a shoe-top catch on a tipped pass and intercepted Nix at the Tar Heels 11-yard line and advanced the ball to the Ducks 49-yard line. It took 1 play for North Carolina to take advantage of the turnover as Maye hit WR Kobe Paysour on a 49-yard touchdown pass to give North Carolina a 21-14 lead at halftime. The Ducks were in control of the game in the 1st half. The interception and ensuing touchdown pass changed the momentum of the game in the Tar Heels favor going into the 2nd half.
North Carolina was without their #1 WR as Josh Downs opted out to prepare for the NFL draft. How was that and having a new play caller for the game, going to affect the Tar Heels passing attack. Maye’s completion percentage wasn’t that high as he completed 18-35 passes. Maye did pass for 206 yards and threw 3 touchdowns. The Tar Heels offensive line, which allowed 38 sacks entering the game, only allowed 2 sacks to the Oregon defense. North Carolina rushed for 129 yards on 34 carries led by Elijah Green with 50 yards on 17 carries. Drake Maye accounted for 45 yards on 12 carries when he scrambled out of the pocket. Entering the game, Maye was the Tar Heels leading rusher. Oregon made the decision not to have a defensive player spy Maye when he dropped back to pass. That decision seemed to pay as Maye had one long run of 24 yards and was held to 21 yards on the remaining 11 carries.
The 3rd quarter was uneventful in terms of offensive production as neither team was able to mount any serious threats to score. Defensive adjustments made at halftime were evident throughout the 3rd quarter as the opposing defense stymied both offenses. The 4th quarter saw a total of 20 points scored between the 2 schools. North Carolina opened the scoring in the 4th quarter when Noah Burnette connected on a 19-yard field goal to give the Tar Heels a 24-14 lead. Oregon responded when Nix found WR Troy Franklin for a 6-yard touchdown pass with 6:58 remaining in the game to cut the Tar Heels to 24-21. North Carolina proceed to drive 43 yards on 11 plays ending the drive with a 44-yard field goal by Burnette giving the Tar Heels a 27-21 lead with 2:29 remaining in the game. Oregon quarterback Bo Nix, held in check most of the game, was able to deliver for Oregon when it matter most.
Nix led the Ducks 75 yards in 8 plays, using 2:05 of the clock, finding TE Chase Cota on a 6-yard touchdown pass on 4th down. After the game, Nix talked about that play call “It’s an option route and there’s a lot of different angles, so it’s hard to stop. That’s what I want to call because we have the most reps at it and I know exactly where each guy is going to be…” The extra point attempt to give the Ducks the lead did cause a moment for Ducks fans to hold their breath as Ducks place kicker Camden Lewis’ attempt hit the left upright and bounced over the crossbar to give the Ducks a 28-27 lead with 19 seconds remaining. Maye looked to drive the Tar Heels into field goal range to give Burnette a shot at a game-winning field goal. With 6 seconds left in the game, Maye completed a pass at the Ducks 41 yard line leaving 1 second on the clock. It would have been a 59-yard field goal attempt, which was out of Burnette’s range. Coach Mack Brown elected to go with a Hail Mary pass into the end zone hoping for a Tar Heel touchdown or a defensive pass interference call that would have moved the ball to the Ducks ‘ yard line on the 15-yard penalty and given Burnette a good look at a potential game-winning field goal. Maye’s pass was knocked to the ground, giving the Ducks the victory.
Oregon entered the game having lost 2 of its previous 3 games. Their last defeat to their in-state rivals Oregon St knocked them out of the PAC12 championship as well as a possible berth in the CFP. North Carolina entered the game having lost 3 straight. Both teams could have come into the game and just gone through the motions. Neither team did that. The Ducks and Tar Heels gave everything they had, left it all on the field, and lived up to the Holiday Bowl legacy of providing exciting endings to good games.
