Achane scores twice late to lift Aggies over Tar Heels

MIAMI GARDENS — This time, North Carolina was the team having a hard time keeping its opponent from scoring rushing touchdowns in Hard Rock Stadium.

Three weeks after downing the Miami Hurricanes in Miami Gardens thanks to a dominant rushing performance, the Tar Heels allowed No. 5 Texas A&M to score five touchdowns on the ground en route to an Aggies’ 41-27 win over No. 13 UNC in the Orange Bowl on Saturday.

Devon Achane paced Texas A&M in rushing yards and was named the Orange Bowl’s MVP after having the game-deciding scores late in the fourth quarter.

With the game tied at 27, Achane evaded multiple UNC defenders and ran down the left sideline into the Tar Heels’ end zone to give the Aggies a 34-27 lead with 3:44 left in the game.

After Texas A&M forced UNC (8-4, 7-3 ACC) to turn the ball over on downs, Achane put the game out of reach on the Aggies’ next possession by scoring a 1-yard touchdown on the ground to give Texas A&M a 41-27 lead with less than two minutes left in the game. The Aggies scored 24 points in the fourth quarter to win their first Orange Bowl in program history.

“I’m so proud of this team,” Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher said, “and what it accomplished.”

Achane finished with 140 rushing yards on 12 attempts and two touchdowns. Aggies running back Isaiah Spiller rushed for 50 yards and two touchdowns, while quarterback Kellen Mond contributed 36 yards and a touchdown to the team’s rushing attack, which finished with 225 yards on 35 rushing attempts.

Fisher maintained his perfect record at Hard Rock Stadium as a head coach with Texas A&M’s win. He won the Orange Bowl with Florida State following the 2012 and 2016 seasons and picked up wins against the Hurricanes in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016.

Texas A&M (9-1, 8-1 SEC) finished its season on an eight-game winning streak after its 52-24 loss to Alabama on Oct. 3 and with its best winning percentage since the 1994 season when it finished 10-0-1.

Notre Dame’s 17-point loss to Alabama on Friday and the Aggies’ win against a common opponent in UNC — albeit a shorthanded version of the team — gave further credence to Texas A&M’s contention that it should’ve been in the four-team College Football Playoff tournament.

“Well, a couple weeks ago I thought it was in,” Fisher quipped when asked how close he thinks the program is to making the playoffs next season. “But no, they made a great choice.”

Fisher added he hopes the Orange Bowl win helps set up a more successful 2021 season.

“This is a different stage,” he said. “It’s a different atmosphere, and you have to learn that. And I hope seniors laid that groundwork and our young guys will remember, and now they’ll pass it on.”

UNC was without multiple key players, with its leading rushers in Michael Carter and Javonte Williams, receiver in Dyami Brown and defensive playmaker in linebacker Chazz Surratt opting out of the bowl game to prepare for the NFL draft.

The Tar Heels’ loss also left the ACC winless in bowl games this season.

North Carolina State fell to Kentucky earlier on Saturday in the Gator Bowl, Miami lost to Oklahoma State in the Cheez-It Bowl on Tuesday, Wake Forest fell to Wisconsin in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Wednesday and Clemson and Notre Dame (who played in the ACC during the 2020 season) both suffered losses in their respective CFP semifinal games.

Tar Heels quarterback Sam Howell finished 18 of 31 for 234 yards and three touchdowns, tying Darian Durant’s program record for career passing touchdowns (68) in the game. UNC wide receiver Josh Downs finished with four catches for 91 yards and two touchdowns.

“Sam is the reason,” UNC coach Mack Brown said, “we were in the game.”

Texas A&M scored first after Aggies linebacker Andre White Jr. intercepted Howell on UNC’s side of the field on the Tar Heels’ first drive.

The Aggies used a seven-play drive on the ensuing possession that ended with Spiller rushing 9 yards into the end zone to give Texas A&M a 7-0 lead with 9:11 left in the quarter.

UNC kicker Grayson Atkins made a field goal on the Tar Heels’ next two possessions to bring Texas A&M’s lead down to 7-6 early in the second quarter.

Texas A&M drove 68 yards down the field in seven plays on its next possession, but UNC’s defense stayed strong and held the Aggies to a field goal, giving Texas A&M a 10-6 lead with 7:40 left until halftime.

The Tar Heels responded with a scoring drive of their own. After rushing for 18 yards on the previous play to get UNC into scoring position, Howell connected with Dazz Newsome for a 28-yard touchdown pass that gave the Tar Heels a 13-10 lead with 4:46 left in the first half after Atkins made the extra-point attempt.

The Aggies quickly took the lead back when Spiller scored for the second time on a 3-yard rushing touchdown with 20 seconds left in the first half, giving Texas A&M a 17-13 lead before halftime.

UNC scored first in the second half when Howell found Downs on the other end of a 10-yard touchdown pass to give the Tar Heels a 20-17 lead midway through the third quarter.

“This entire season we faced adversity, even before the season started,” Aggies defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal said. “So we’re used to it, and we’re used to coming together when times get tough, and that was the outcome.”

Texas A&M’s Seth Small tied the game at 20 with a 23-yard field goal with 14:02 left in the game.

It didn’t take long for UNC to regain the lead, with Howell connecting with Downs on a 75-yard touchdown pass on the Tar Heels’ first play of the ensuing possession to give UNC a 27-20 lead. The score was the third-longest touchdown pass in Orange Bowl history.

The Aggies responded with a sevenplay, 75-yard drive that ended with Mond running one in from 4 yards out to tie Johnny Manziel’s school record for total touchdowns (93) and tie the game at 27 with 10:11 left in the fourth quarter before Achane scored the game-clinching points.

“This game says a lot,” Aggies receiver Ainias Smith said. “This was the start of the next season, and going into next year we’ve just got to come out with the exact same attitude that we had in the fourth quarter.”

Hard Rock Stadium will host the final game of the college football season when Alabama and Ohio State face off in the national championship game on Jan. 11.

Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the game will be broadcasted on ESPN.

MICHAELLAUGHLIN/SUN SENTINEL Texas A&M running back Devon Achane tosses oranges to his teammates after he was named MVP of the Orange Bowl on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium.