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By Joe Overby
SouthernPigskin.com ACC Columnist
SouthernPigskin.com ACC Columnist Joe Overby recaps the Thursday night match up between Florida State and North Carolina.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- With former UNC linebacker and NFL legend Lawrence Taylor standing on the Tar Heel sidelines, North Carolina's defense had pushed around a flat Florida State squad for two quarters in what FSU coach Bobby Bowden called the "worst half of football I could ever remember."
And then, Christian Ponder showed up.
After a respectable but not spectacular first half, the FSU quarterback erupted after halftime, carving up the Tar Heel defense for 204 yards and two touchdowns in the third quarter alone. He would finish with a career-high 395 yards on 33-of-40 passing with three touchdowns and no interceptions, leading the Seminoles to a 30-27 come-from-behind victory over the Heels.
"You gotta be kidding me. Boy, I tell you what," Bowden said during the post-game press conference upon hearing Ponder's statistics for the night.
"He's probably the most underrated in the country," Bowden added. "You talk about the Super Three up there (Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy), which they are, but this kid might be sitting right up there with them."
Carolina entered the game ranked No. 1 in the ACC in passing defense (allowing just 125.6 yard per game) and was tops in scoring defense as well, with opponents scoring a paltry 14.2 points per game. And for two quarters and roughly three minutes, it looked like this game would be another feather in the cap for the UNC defense. With 11:38 left in the third, the Heels were up 24-6 and had stifled any progress FSU had made on offense. In fact, the Seminoles didn't convert on third down until just under 11 minutes left in the third quarter, missing on their first six attempts.
But things quickly fell apart for the Carolina defense, which allowed FSU to convert on all four of their third-down attempts the rest of the way. "It's just a bad feeling," said UNC linebacker Kevin Reddick. "I guess we got too happy when we were up 24-6. We've just got to hold our composure and stay humble."
Unfortunately for the Heels, they simply couldn't hold the Seminoles' offense, which suddenly and aggressively stole momentum from the Heels. "I'm just proud of the way we fought back. Down 24-6, we had an opportunity to give up and we didn't," Ponder said. "We just had to relax. We were so tight in the first half. "We got the momentum on our side, took advantage and kept going," he added.
With UNC up 24-13 and driving into FSU territory, Carolina quarterback T.J. Yates threw deep into the red zone, but was picked off by Seminole safety Jamie Robinson at the FSU 3-yard line. After a penalty pushed the Seminoles back to the 2-yard line, Ponder hit Rod Owens for a 98-yard touchdown strike, the longest touchdown pass in Kenan Stadium history.
Owens, who led FSU with nine catches for 199 yards, caught the ball between the 30- and 40-yard lines but sprinted down the sidelines, almost getting tripped up by a UNC defender not far from midfield. And with that, the mood -- and momentum -- suddenly changed in Kenan.
"There's no doubt it turned, right there," Bowden said.
Ponder would continue to chip away at the Carolina secondary, leading the Seminoles on two more scoring drives. The first was an 11-play, 54-yard drive that melted 5:27 off the clock, capped off with a 40-yard Dustin Hopkins that made it 24-23 UNC with 12:12 left in the game.
Then, after UNC kicker Casey Barth's field goal made it 27-24 with just over seven minutes to go, Ponder led the Seminoles 63 yard downfield in just four plays, throwing an 18-yard, game-winning touchdown strike to tight end Beau Reilford on a beautifully executed play.
The Seminoles had taken their first -- and final -- lead of the night at 30-27 with 6:20, escaping Chapel Hill with a much-needed victory and avoiding an 0-4 start to league play. "We finally won the fourth quarter. We've lost four fourth quarter," Bowden said. "We finally won one tonight, so I'm proud of the boys for coming back."
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