CHARLOTTE -- About the moment that Urban Meyer jolted the American football mind last night, North Carolina jumped offside and helped Pitt kick a shorter field goal for a 19-17 victory.
That's the Abbreviated History of the Meineke Car Care Bowl, Part VIII.
In bowl seasons to come, the world will little note that Pitt freshman Dion Lewis scooted 159 yards through a defense ranked ninth nationally against the run. The world will not long remember that Carolina led for 18 straight minutes down the stretch, until Dan Hutchins kicked the 33-yard winner with 52 seconds left.
By then, breaking-news accounts of Meyer's decision to stop coaching the Florida Gators for health reasons had stolen the public's attention, turning the muffler bowl into the smaller picture within the wide-screen college picture.
Pitt and Carolina, oblivious to distant developments, kept playing hard. The Panthers played smart, or at least smarter than Carolina. The pivotal moment arrived with 1:55 on the clock. Hutchins, full of nervous energy during a timeout, swung his leg and measured the 47-yard attempt -- 2 yards farther than his career best and 7 yards farther than a first-quarter flub.
The Panthers hoped to draw the Tar Heels offside on fourth-and-2. It happens all the time, and it works almost never. This time, it worked.
The center bobbed his head, as scripted. Instead of following the season-long protocol, the Tar Heels did not snicker and stay put. The heart of the line lurched forward, led by a defensive tackle named (of all things) Cam Thomas. Sidekick tackle Marvin Austin found the call hard to swallow and harder to overcome.
"We knew it was a big field goal, and we wanted to get off the ball and get penetration," Austin said. "The center lifted his head up.
"We were timing it on the previous field goals. They delayed it, and it just got guys riled up and wanting to go make a play."
The 5-yard penalty gave Pitt a first down at the Carolina 25. Hutchins soon saddled Carolina with its second muffler defeat in two seasons and third in three tries overall.
On a gray, 45-degree afternoon, the promoters had to stretch and strain to announce a tickets-sold audience of 50,389, 23,000 lower than last year and the lowest in the bowl's history.
The Tar Heels devised a sequel to receiver Hakeem Nicks' 2008 electric show, with junior Greg Little running 31 yards on their first play and catching seven passes for 87 yards.
Little concocted a little acrobatic magic, floating above defenders to snag T.J. Yates' touchdown pass in the first quarter.
Little promptly jogged to the back of the end zone and punted the ball into the seats. The refs dropped the flag, 15 yards on the kickoff. Talk about riled up. Coach Butch Davis lectured Little before he reached the bench.
The extra punt seemed inexplicable, but Little tried to explain something anyway.
"A lot of excitement," Little said. "Just having these seniors as my teammates, I wanted to send them out the right way. I was just overwhelmed."
And how was Coach Davis? "I won't say what he said," Little replied, smiling sheepishly. "I won't repeat that."
Davis described other mistakes as inexcusable, especially an interception at the Pitt 2-yard line and an out-of-bounds kickoff that set up a Pitt field goal on the first half's last play.
Cornerback Kendric Burney summarized the follies with a straight face. "We kind of did some dumb things that came back to bite us," he said.
Before the bites could turn to bruises, Davis declared the season dead and turned the calendar to 2010. Nobody dared call him offside.
lrawlings@wsjournal.com
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