October 28, 2017 Week 9 · Regular Season Belt defended

Miami defends the belt, 24–19, on the road at North Carolina.

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North Carolina 19

Away · Defending Holder

MiamiAP No. 8 24

AP poll, week 9: Miami No. 8 at North Carolina unranked · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Miami came in 7 days into reign #300, which began with a win over Syracuse, with no defenses yet; this was its first defense. Miami went on to defend it 3 more times before Pittsburgh took it on November 24, 2017, 34 days after the reign began.

For North Carolina this was its 13th shot at the belt; it had held the belt once before.

It was the 2nd of 2 belt games between the two; going in, North Carolina led the belt series 1–0; all-time it is 1–1.

AI-Written

Recap

Miami's defense made crucial plays late to hold off North Carolina and retain the belt in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels started strong with Freeman Jones kicking a pair of field goals in the first half to build an early lead, but Miami's offense found its rhythm through the air, with Malik Rosier connecting on long touchdowns to Christopher Herndon IV (51 yards) and Jeff Thomas (78 yards) to take control. North Carolina's passing game, led by Nathan Elliott, kept the game close and had opportunities to score, but three interceptions in the second half—including two by Rosier to Elliott—proved costly. Miami's defense sealed the victory with a goal-line stand in the final minutes, and despite both teams struggling with turnovers and third-down efficiency, Miami's explosive passing plays proved to be the difference.

Jeff Thomas 78-yard TD reception in Q3 gave Miami a 14-point lead and proved to be the decisive scoring play
Three Nathan Elliott interceptions in the second half, including back-to-back picks in Q3, derailed North Carolina's comeback bid
Christopher Herndon IV's 51-yard TD reception in Q2 gave Miami their first lead of the game
Freeman Jones's field goals (24 and 45 yards) in the first half kept North Carolina competitive early before Miami's offense took over

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

North CarolinaMiami

Total yards428415

Rushing yards17659

Passing yards252356

First downs2716

3rd down conv.6/184/17

Turnovers42

Penalties–yards7–565–60

Time of possession32:5127:09

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 10:00	North Carolina	+23 yd	Chazz Surratt pass complete to Dazz Newsome for 23 yds to the MiaFl 1 for a 1ST down
Q1 12:10	North Carolina	+56 yd	Jordon Brown run for 56 yds to the MiaFl 34 for a 1ST down
Q1 8:55	Miami	+35 yd	Malik Rosier pass complete to Travis Homer for 35 yds to the NCaro 49 for a 1ST down
Q1 6:48	Miami	+53 yd	Michael Badgley 53 yd FG MISSED
Q1 5:55	North Carolina	+33 yd	Anthony Ratliff-Williams pass complete to Nathan Elliott for 33 yds to the MiaFl 4 for a 1ST down
Q1 4:52	North Carolina	+24 yd	Freeman Jones 24 Yd Field Goal
Q2 5:42	North Carolina	+26 yd	Nathan Elliott pass complete to Beau Corrales for 26 yds to the MiaFl 36 for a 1ST down
Q2 3:48	North Carolina	+45 yd	Freeman Jones 45 Yd Field Goal
Q2 1:58	Miami	+51 yd	Christopher Herndon IV 51 Yd pass from Malik Rosier (Michael Badgley Kick)
Q2 1:06	Miami	-4 yd	Malik Rosier run for a loss of 4 yards to the MiaFl 36 Malik Rosier fumbled, recovered by MiaFl Malik Rosier
Q3 14:43	Miami	+78 yd	Jeff Thomas 78 Yd pass from Malik Rosier (Michael Badgley Kick)
Q3 15:00	North Carolina	+22 yd	Freeman Jones kickoff for 65 yds , Jeff Thomas return for 22 yds to the MiaFl 22
Q3 11:03	North Carolina	+0 yd	TEAM punt blocked by Jonathan Garvin blocked by Jonathan Garvin
Q3 9:52	Miami	+21 yd	Michael Badgley 21 yd FG GOOD
Q3 9:52	Miami	+43 yd	Michael Badgley kickoff for 61 yds , Anthony Ratliff-Williams return for 43 yds to the NCaro 47
Q3 7:59	North Carolina	+18 yd	Beau Corrales 18 Yd pass from Anthony Ratliff-Williams (Freeman Jones Kick)
Q3 9:00	North Carolina	+28 yd	Nathan Elliott pass complete to Jordon Brown for 28 yds to the MiaFl 30 for a 1ST down
Q3 4:47	North Carolina	+0 yd	Nathan Elliott pass intercepted Michael Jackson return for no gain to the MiaFl 4
Q3 4:30	Miami	+42 yd	Malik Rosier pass complete to Braxton Berrios for 42 yds to the MiaFl 48 for a 1ST down
Q3 0:53	North Carolina	+1 yd	Nathan Elliott pass intercepted Charles Perry return for a loss of 1 yard to the NCaro 44
Q4 9:26	Miami	+5 yd	Braxton Berrios 5 Yd pass from Malik Rosier (Michael Badgley Kick)
Q4 10:30	Miami	+49 yd	Malik Rosier pass complete to DeeJay Dallas for 49 yds to the NCaro 5 for a 1ST down
Q4 9:13	North Carolina	-17 yd	Nathan Elliott pass intercepted Sheldrick Redwine return for 17 yds to the NCaro 15
Q4 8:08	Miami	-8 yd	Malik Rosier pass intercepted J.K. Britt return for 8 yds to the NCaro 23
Q4 9:00	Miami	-4 yd	Malik Rosier run for a loss of 4 yards to the NCaro 19 Malik Rosier fumbled, recovered by MiaFl Malik Rosier
Q4 3:03	North Carolina	+9 yd	Nathan Elliott pass complete to Beau Corrales for 9 yds for a TD, (Two-Point Conversion failed )
Q4 2:56	Miami	-4 yd	Travis Homer run for a loss of 4 yards to the NCaro 48 Travis Homer fumbled, recovered by NCaro Aaron Crawford
Q4 2:30	North Carolina	+20 yd	Nathan Elliott run for 5 yds to the MiaFl 48 for a 1ST down MIAMI FL Penalty, Personal Foul (Zach McCloud) to the MiaFl 37 for a 1ST down

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

North Carolina

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Nathan Elliott	16/39	173	4.4	1	3	23.9
Anthony Ratliff-Williams	2/3	51	17.0	1	0	99.4
Chazz Surratt	1/3	23	7.7	0	0	5.7
Manny Miles	1/1	5	5.0	0	0	0.0

Miami

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Malik Rosier	16/38	356	9.4	3	1	50.2
Evan Shirreffs	1/3	0	0.0	0	0	2.0

Rushing

North Carolina

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Jordon Brown	19	88	4.6	56
Nathan Elliott	21	79	3.8	16
Dazz Newsome	3	10	3.3	8
Chazz Surratt	3	-1	-0.3	6

Miami

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Travis Homer	16	40	2.5	16
Malik Rosier	12	20	1.7	18
Trayone Gray	1	2	2.0	2
DeeJay Dallas	1	0	0.0	0
Team	2	-3	-1.5	0

Receiving

North Carolina

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Beau Corrales	4	64	16.0	2	26
Jordon Brown	4	51	12.8	0	28
Nathan Elliott	1	33	33.0	0	33
Dazz Newsome	2	29	14.5	0	23
Anthony Ratliff-Williams	2	25	12.5	0	17
Brandon Fritts	2	15	7.5	0	10
Jordan Cunningham	1	14	14.0	0	14
Jake Bargas	1	14	14.0	0	14
Roscoe Johnson	2	8	4.0	0	11
Johnathon Sutton	1	-1	-1.0	0	-1

Miami

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Jeff Thomas	3	101	33.7	1	78
Braxton Berrios	7	78	11.1	1	42
Christopher Herndon IV	2	60	30.0	1	51
Travis Homer	3	57	19.0	0	35
DeeJay Dallas	1	49	49.0	0	49
Ahmmon Richards	1	11	11.0	0	11

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

North Carolina

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Cole Holcomb	9	4	0.5	0.5	3	0
Malik Carney	8	3	1	1	2	1
Cayson Collins	8	2	0	0	0	0
Myles Dorn	5	3	0	0	0	0
J.K. Britt	4	2	0	0	0	0
Jason Strowbridge	4	1	0	0	1	0
M.J. Stewart	3	3	0	1	3	0
Myles Wolfolk	3	2	0	0	0	0
Jalen Dalton	3	1	0	0	1	0
Jeremiah Clarke	3	0	0.5	0.5	0	1
Ayden Bonilla	2	0	0	0	0	0
Dajaun Drennon	1	1	0	0	0	3
Cam Dillard	1	1	0	0	0	0
Hunter Crafford	1	1	0	0	0	0
Brandon Fritts	1	1	0	0	0	0
Anthony Ratliff-Williams	1	1	0	0	0	0
Allen Cater	1	1	0	0	0	0
Aaron Crawford	1	0	0	0	0	0
Tomon Fox	1	0	0	0	0	3
Tyrone Hopper	1	0	0	0	0	0
K.J. Sails	0	0	0	0	2	0

Miami

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Jaquan Johnson	11	10	0	0	0	0
RJ McIntosh	11	3	0	1	1	0
Joe Jackson	8	4	0.5	1.5	0	1
Michael Jackson	6	4	0	0	1	0
Sheldrick Redwine	5	3	0.5	0.5	1	0
Zach McCloud	5	3	0	1	0	1
Michael Pinckney	5	2	0	0	0	1
Mike Smith	4	2	0	0	0	0
Darrion Owens	4	2	0	1	0	0
Demetrius Jackson	3	2	1	2	1	0
Shaquille Quarterman	3	2	1	1	2	0
Trajan Bandy	3	1	0	0.5	0	0
Amari Carter	2	2	0	0	0	0
Trent Harris	2	1	0	0	0	1
Anthony Moten	2	1	0	0	0	0
Kendrick Norton	2	0	0	0.5	0	0
Malek Young	2	0	0	0	1	0
Chad Thomas	1	1	0	1	0	0
Charles Perry	1	0	0	0	0	0
Robert Knowles	1	0	0	0	0	0
Pat Bethel	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jhavonte Dean	1	0	0	0	0	0

Fumbles

North Carolina

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Aaron Crawford	0	0	1
Jordon Brown	1	1	0

Miami

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Jaquan Johnson	0	0	1
Malik Rosier	2	0	0
Travis Homer	1	1	0

Interceptions

North Carolina

Player	INT	YDS	TD
J.K. Britt	1	8	0

Miami

Player	INT	YDS
Sheldrick Redwine	1	17
Michael Jackson	1	0
Charles Perry	1	-1

Kick Returns

North Carolina

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Anthony Ratliff-Williams	2	52	26.0	43	0

Miami

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jeff Thomas	2	30	15.0	22	0

Kicking

North Carolina

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Freeman Jones	2/2	100.0	45	1/1	7

Miami

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Michael Badgley	1/2	50.0	21	3/3	6

Punt Returns

North Carolina

No recorded stats in this category.

Miami

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Braxton Berrios	1	15	15.0	15	0
Jonathan Garvin	1	13	13.0	13	0

Punting

North Carolina

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Hunter Lent	5	240	48.0	0	0	68

Miami

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Zach Feagles	8	305	38.1	0	0	46

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 400937508) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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