No. 1 Miami Squeaks By Tar Heels, 38-35 - University of North Carolina Athletics

Saturday, October 31

Chapel Hill

7:30 P.M.

North Carolina

4-4 , 2-3

#1 Miami

8-0 , 6-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Miami (FL)	7	10	7	14	38
North Carolina	0	14	7	14	35

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October 31, 2026 | Football

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By: Matt Bowers

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.— Miami's Justin Scott recovered a Billy Edwards Jr. fumble at the North Carolina 37-yard line with 5:33 left in the fourth quarter, leading to what proved to be the clinching touchdown pass six plays later as the top-ranked Hurricanes barely held off the Tar Heels, 38-35, on Saturday night at Kenan Stadium.

Miami quarterback Darian Mensah connected with fellow Heisman Trophy candidate Malachi Toney for a nine-yard score with 2:33 remaining to put the Hurricanes ahead, 38-28. The Tar Heels responded with a Trech Kekahuna TD reception less than a minute later, but the Hurricanes then recovered the ensuing onside kick attempt and ran out the clock to clinch the win.

Carolina played one of its best games of the season but came up short as each team scored 21 points in a wild, back-and-forth second half.

Miami improved to 8-0 overall and 6-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference with the victory, winning its 15th game in its last 16 dating back to last season. The Hurricanes have scored 20 or more points in 25 consecutive ACC games. Carolina lost its third consecutive home game and fell to 4-4, 2-3 ACC.

UM snapped Carolina's five-game winning streak in the rivalry and beat the Tar Heels for the first time since 2018. UNC leads the all-time series, 16-12.

Carolina fell to 1-1 against ranked teams this season, having won 21-17 at Pitt on October 10. UNC was playing the nation's top-ranked team for the 11th time in its history and the first time since hosting Clemson in 2019 in Kenan Stadium. The 'Canes have won 32 games in a row when ranked No. 1 by the Associated Press.

"They're very good, very good on offense," Tar Heel head coach Bill Belichick said of Miami. "One-score, back-and-forth game, and then they got the turnover [and] it became a two-score game, and we couldn't get the onside kick. [We showed] a lot of effort, a lot of toughness, a lot of mental toughness, a lot of competitiveness, and [it's] just disappointing to come up short here two weeks in a row."

Mensah completed 22 of 29 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns, posting a passer rating of 189.4. He now has 25 TDs with just one interception this fall.

Edwards played his best game as a Tar Heel and may have outplayed Mensah, compiling a season-high 341 yards through the air on 28 of 34 passing with a career-high four scores despite the game-changing fumble in the final minutes. Edwards set season bests in completions, completion percentage (82 percent) and yards. He's been at his best in big games this season, tallying three or more scores against both No. 1 Miami and No. 3 Notre Dame in Kenan Stadium.

"Obviously with a team like Miami, it's going to come down to critical plays, critical moments," Edwards said. "We'll go back and obviously see the strip sack and maybe a few other plays that if we had been able to execute better offensively we may have a different outcome."

Toney caught seven passes for 75 yards, four of which came on the game's opening drive. The Tar Heel defense bottled him up for much of the game but did allow him to score a pair of touchdowns in key moments.

Carolina played well in the first half, keeping the game close and trailing just 17-14 at halftime. The Tar Heel defense limited big plays and held the explosive Hurricane offense to 228 overall yards before the break. Toney had four catches for 27 yards before intermission, and Mensah passed for 153 yards on 13 completions in 19 attempts for a rating of 170.8.

Tight end Jelani Thurman snared two first-half Edwards passes for touchdowns. Edwards connected on 14 of 18 attempts for 152 yards in the opening 30 minutes, taking what the Miami defense offered and compiling an impressive passer rating of 185.4 before the half.

In the game, Carolina managed just 66 rushing yards on 30 carries while the Hurricanes amassed 142 yards on 33 attempts, averaging 4.3 yards per try and scoring twice on the ground. The Tar Heels outgained Miami through the air, 341 to 274. Both teams averaged over six yards per play and more than 12 yards per completion, and each went five-for-five in red zone opportunities.

Carolina matched its season high with 35 points, tying the most the Hurricanes have allowed all season.

"Just an awesome game, an awesome college football [game], going back and forth, maybe an instant classic," said Hurricane head coach Mario Cristobal. "At the end of the day, we scored on six of seven possessions, they scored on five of seven. Really proud of our team's resiliency, certainly some things we have to remedy and tune up and fix. On the defensive side, the onside kicks at the end, there were a couple of issues with their (UNC) side with penalties. But again a low-possession game, got to make them all count on both sides of the ball. In games like that, it's really important, like we tell our players, to just keep playing because you don't know what play is going to turn the whole thing around. Certainly the fumble was a massive turnaround, turned around the momentum of the game."

How It Happened
First Quarter
• Miami took the opening kickoff and took a 7-0 lead on an impressive fade pattern pass from Mensah to Toney in the right side of the end zone, capping a 13-play, 74-yard drive to start the game

Second Quarter
• On the Tar Heels' second drive of the night, Edwards hit Thurman from eight yards out for a game-tying TD. Carolina drove 84 yards in 11 plays in a lengthy drive of 5:28 to make it 7-7 with 11:50 left before halftime.
• Mensah connected with Mark Fletcher Jr. on a 31-yard, screen play to the right side to give the Canes a 14-7 advantage with 7:41 left in the half.
• Edwards and Thurman connected for their second scoring pass of the night, another eight-yard score, to tie the score once again at 14-14 in the final two minutes of the half. The TD finished another long drive for UNC, and this one went 12 plays for 75 yards.
• The Canes got the ball back and used a 40-yard pass from Mensah to Cooper Barkate down to the Tar Heel nine in the final minute before Jake Weinberg hit a 24-yard field goal to give Miami a 17-14 lead at halftime.

Third Quarter
• Carolina took the second-half kickoff immediately marched 75 yards in eight plays, with Edwards hitting Jordan Shipp for a 16-yard score to give the Tar Heels a 21-17 lead four minutes into the third period.
• Miami replied and retook the lead, 24-21, with a TD drive on its next possession. After a pass interference penalty on the Tar Heels in the end zone while covering Toney, Fletcher ran it in from two yards for his second score of the night.

Fourth Quarter
• The Tar Heels stormed back and marched decisively down the field until Demon June dove in from a yard away to finish a dominant drive in 8:28. With the extra point, Carolina took its second lead of the game at 28-24 with 11:46 to play.
• On a fourth-and-one play from the Tar Heel two-yard line halfway through the final quarter, Fletcher drove in over right tackle to give Miami a 31-28 lead.
• On Carolina's next drive, Marquise Lightfoot hit Edwards from behind and forced a fumble recovered by Scott at the UNC 37 with 5:33 on the clock for the only turnover of the game by either team.
• Miami took the ball and drove down the field for the winning score when Mensah connected with Toney for a nine-yard TD with 2:33 on the clock that made the score 38-28 after the extra point.
• The Tar Heels refused to go away, and Edwards hit Kekahuna for a 15-yard score with 1:38 remaining. Edwards continued his dominant night, connecting on his 28th completion in 34 attempts, and the score was 38-35.

Up Next
The Tar Heels will hit the road and head out of conference to play at UConn at noon next Saturday (November 7) on CBS Sports Network.

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