ACC – UNC still deserved 1 second against Wake

RALEIGH, NC – The Atlantic Coast Conference said Saturday that the replay manager made a mistake on the final game of the Demon Deacons game from the Tar Heels-Wake Forest in North Carolina by failing to initiate a review that would have put a second to the clock.

Dennis Hennigan, supervisor of the Football Official League, said in a statement that the officials had determined that the advance of the attacking half Michael Carter had been stopped and that the time had elapsed since the victory of 24 to 18 from Wake Forest on Friday night. But he added that the head of the retransmission "should have stopped the game for further examination", which should have helped to restore the last second.

The officials then spotted the ball on Wake Forest's 43-yard line and put the clock back at the designated time. It is unclear whether the Tar Heels would have been able to escape in time, once the officials restarted the clock for a final desperate uprising in the end zone.

"All disciplinary measures related to the retransmitters are handled internally and the CAC considers that the case is closed," Hennigan said.

At that point, it seemed that Carter just could not get out of bounds in time to stop his 13-yard run while the Tar Heels were trying to make a final lap without any time out. Carter was pushed off the field with replays pretending that he had walked on the sideline with a second left, several UNC players and coaches immediately raising a finger on that sideline for note that it should stay a second.

However, the officials immediately left the field and there was no replay examination.

"The manager on my side (…) held the shot for a second and ran to tell them," said UNC coach Mack Brown. "The next thing I know, they run away (with) the balloon … I would have liked to have Hail Mary's chance."

Carter assumed responsibility for what he described as a "mental error" by hesitating slightly as he approached the sideline of the UNC.

"Honestly, I've slowed down a bit to try to put the blocks in place," he said. "If I had run straight, we probably would have had about three seconds, but I thought it would be the last part of the game." It was a mental mistake on my part.