A first half for the birds

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As the football slipped through the outstretched arms of Erik Highsmith while he stood in the end zone at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium on Saturday, so, too, did North Carolina’s chances of pulling off what would have been the biggest comeback in program history.

But even more haunting for the Tar Heels was the realization that, had they made even just one more stop in the first half, they might not have needed that touchdown.

Largely in part to a first-half defensive performance that coach Larry Fedora called “God awful,” North Carolina fell to then-No. 19 Louisville, 39-34.

“It was lack of effort, lack of intensity, lack of passion, lack of enthusiasm, a lot of mental mistakes, you name it,” Fedora said. “Whatever could go wrong went wrong in the first half.”

The UNC defense couldn’t make a stop. In the first half, Louisville averaged almost nine yards per play. The Cardinals scored on every possession and converted three of their four third-downs.

On Louisville’s last drive of the second quarter, defensive end Kareem Martin attempted to redeem the Tar Heel unit, sacking Cardinal quarterback Teddy Bridgewater for a loss of two yards.

But two plays later, linebacker Kevin Reddick missed a tackle on 3rd and seven, letting receiver Damian Copeland slip through and gain 26 yards. Bridgewater capped the drive with a four-yard touchdown pass to put Louisville on top 36-7 at halftime.

To Fedora the first half was a blur. He was disappointed with his defensive unit’s lack of effort.

“You’ve got to play with energy. You’ve got to play with enthusiasm,” Fedora said. “And when you keep giving up play after play after play after play after play, eventually you just don’t have it anymore.”

So at the break, an angry Fedora told his team to forget about what happened in the first half. They simply had to play better.

When both teams ran out to begin the third quarter, a trumpeter blasted the traditional Kentucky Derby Call to the Post.

As if taking the tune as an invitation to start the competition anew, the UNC defense looked like a different squad in the second half. After allowing 360 yards before the break, the Tar Heels let Louisville have just 102 yards in the second half. The North Carolina offense used the opportunity to catch up.

“If we even played half as hard in the first half as we did in the second half,” linebacker Tommy Heffernan said, “We would have won that game.”

Down by five with less than two minutes to go, Renner threw to Highsmith, who stood just four yards away in the end zone. As the ball hit the ground, the comeback proved too good to be true.

“I’ll throw it to him 100 times if we run that play again,” Renner said. “The defender made a good play.”

In that moment, Louisville’s defense quelled UNC’s dreams of returning to Chapel Hill victorious. But it was North Carolina’s own defense, Heffernan conceded, that helped squash it long before that.

Contact the desk editor at

sports@dailytarheel.com.