By Randy Moore
InsideTennessee.com
December 31, 2010
NASHVILLE - College football's lack of a "run-off" rule turned an apparent 20-17 Tennessee victory into a 30-27 North Carolina victory in Thursday night's Music City Bowl at LP Field.
In a finish eerily similar to Tennessee's October loss at LSU, the Vols left the sidelines to celebrate a dramatic victory when the Tar Heels apparently botched the final snap of regulation by running players on and off the field as the clock expired.
Seconds after the referee signaled "Game over," however, a replay review reportedly showed that Carolina quarterback T.J. Yates got the ball spiked with one second left on the clock. The NFL's run-off rule prevents an offense from profiting via a clock-stopping penalty in the game's final 10 seconds but the NCAA has no such rule. So, after a five-yard illegal-procedure penalty moved the ball from Tennessee's 17-yard line to the 22 and one second was put back on the game clock, Carolina placekicker Casey Barth booted a game-tying 39-yard field goal.
Essentially, Carolina was rewarded for committing an infraction (snapping the ball with several players in motion) on what should've been the game's final play.
"It's why they have a 10-second run-off rule in the NFL," Tennessee coach Derek Dooley said.
Both teams scored touchdowns in the first overtime but Barth booted a 23-yard field goal in the second OT to give the Tar Heels a bizarre 30-27 win.
"I thought I'd seen it all in Baton Rouge," a dejected Dooley said afterward. "But, just when you think you've seen it all, you haven't."
Trying hard to be philosophical, the head man added that his team had "a lot of opportunities before the end to win the game."
Down 17-14 at halftime, Tennessee took a 20-17 lead when Tyler Bray hooked up with fellow freshman Justin Hunter on an eight-yard touchdown pass with 5:16 remaining. Daniel Lincoln's point-after was blocked, however, and that would prove crucial.
After stopping Carolina's offense, Tennessee took possession at the UNC 44-yard line with 1:36 remaining. One Vol first down would've sealed the win but three running plays lost a yard and Chad Cunningham punted into the end zone. Still, the Tar Heels had just 39 seconds to move from their 20-yard line into field-goal position. Unfortunately for the Big Orange, that was time enough.
A 28-yard pass from Yates to Todd Harrelson, coupled with a questionable 15-yard penalty against Vol safety Janzen Jackson for leading with the helmet, advanced the ball to Tennessee's 37-yard line. Three plays and one controversial replay review later, Barth booted his game-tying field goal.
Dooley carefully avoided ripping the officials but suggested that the Heels never should have gotten a second put back on the clock following their mishandling of the spike play.
"It was chaos again (as happened vs. LSU in October)," the Vol coach said. "They run a bunch of guys on the field and the umpire doesn't jump up and allow (Tennessee's defense time to answer with) a substation. They let
