UNC kicker Nick Weiler chops down Florida State with 54-yard walk-off winner

When the ball cleared the crossbar, Nick Weiler lost his mind.

Seconds earlier, the senior strolled out for the longest kick of his North Carolina career. Cacophony cascaded down from the crowd in Doak Campbell Stadium, which had seen Florida State conquer 22 straight teams in Tallahassee for the nation's longest home winning streak.

But here came Weiler — the former walk-on from Fairfax Station, Virginia, who was borderline unplayable two years ago and couldn't convert an extra point two minutes earlier.

“You've gotta have a short memory,” Weiler said. “You’re only as good as your next kick.”

He had never attempted a kick from 50 yards before Saturday. Entering the final drive, he told Coach Larry Fedora his range was 52 yards. And with four seconds left, he was staring at a 54-yard kick.

But it didn’t matter. He lined up just outside the left hash, took two steps forward and put everything he had into the kick of his life.

“I really didn’t want to even look at it,” Fedora said.

Neither did Weiler. As the ball hurtled through the air, he locked eyes with the official under the uprights. He waited, both for confirmation and affirmation. He was only as good as this kick.

The kick was good, and everything went blank.

“Once he gave the hands up, I was out,” said Weiler, whose kick lifted No. UNC (4-1, 2-0 ACC) to a 37-35 win over the No. 12 Seminoles (3-2, 0-2 ACC).

“And the next thing I remember was the dog pile.”

Between then, he sprinted down the sideline and flashed Florida State’s signature “Tomahawk Chop” — once a symbol of the team’s dominance — in the faces of 77,000 stunned Seminole fans, none of whom had seen their team lose at home since 2012.

His teammates flooded the field and trailed behind the kicker, chasing him and the glory he basked in. But in this moment, Weiler was untouchable.

“As soon as I saw him make it, I dropped everything and ran on the field to celebrate with him …” defensive tackle Nazair Jones said. “I had to get a good angle, because he’s fast.”

Two years ago, Weiler couldn’t outrun the pressure. As the team’s primary placekicker in 2014, he missed two extra points and couldn’t make anything beyond 25 yards. The team eventually abandoned the kicking game, and Weiler was left behind.

But after setting UNC’s single-season points record last season, Weiler was in good graces entering his final campaign. And when the Tar Heels scored a go-ahead touchdown with 2:31 left, a seven-point lead felt like a certainty.

It wasn’t.

The extra-point attempt was blocked, opening the door for a Florida State comeback. Once again, Weiler would bear the burden of a UNC collapse.

“I had a feeling that might bite us in the butt,” receiver Ryan Switzer said.

Sure enough, the Seminoles scored a touchdown with 23 seconds left to tie the game. And first-year kicker Ricky Aguayo — who had missed three field-goal attempts earlier in the game — tacked on the extra point to take a one-point lead.

The point Weiler left behind.

Three plays later, he took the field again with one last shot at redemption. This was his chance to make his name — not as a scapegoat, but as a savior.

“I was just praying that it would go in, because somebody always comes up big at the end of the game for us,” Jones said. “And today was his day.”

Weiler buried the kick, chopping his way to Florida State infamy and internet fame. The win was UNC's first over a top-20 foe since 2009 and vaulted the Tar Heels to No. 17 in the polls.

But as he entered the press room minutes later, the bleary-eyed reporters struggled to identify Weiler — whose flowing black hair and 6-foot, 190-pound frame hardly resembled that of a football hero.

“They asked if you were the kicker,” a team spokesperson whispered to Weiler, who settled behind the postgame podium.

“Yeah,” Weiler replied. “I’m the kicker.”

@CJacksonCowart

sports@dailytarheel.com