Jacory Harris is a good quarterback. He has a tremendous arm, the ability to scramble, and great presence to get the ball off as he's being crushed by an oncoming blitz. Unfortunately, you only have so much control once you let that ball go while being pasted into the turf. And today, that ball kept headed towards Carolina blue jerseys.
Specifically, Kendric Burney's jersey, as he intercepted three of Harris' passes, ran one back, and started another, one of the most convoluted defensive touchdowns I've seen in quite some time. Toss in a fourth interception from Da'Norris Searcy and it was a rough afternoon for the most intercepted quarterback in the conference.
It helped that the second most intercepted quarterback kept the ball out of the Hurricanes' hands, even if he put it in the turf a little too often. The Tar Heels were turnover-free, and although half their drives were three-and-outs, managed to consistently drive into Hurricane territory, resulting in four Casey Barth field goals and beautiful touchdown pass to Greg Little. More importantly, after Miami came back in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 6 at 30-24 managed an eleven-play, five-and-a-half minute drive to the Miami 16 and a game-clinching field goal. John Shoop called a great game, putting the ball in the hands of twelve different players, and ending with Ryan Houston, who ground out 24 carries for 76 yards.
But this was the defense's game, constantly plowing through the Miami line and snatching the ball from opposing receivers every time the game was in doubt. And as a result, UNC is bowl eligible, the same week a quarter of the conference had their postseason hopes dashed. With the remaining two games on the road against hapless Atlantic teams, the Heels have a good chance of getting their highest win total since 1997. So, there's that.