John Walters

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -

The Tar Heel sideline raced onto the field. Stacey Dales, the ABC sideline reporter, ran onto the field. Even Ramses, the Horned Dorset Sheep that is the North Carolina mascot, had ambled past the hashmarks. The game was over.

Or was it?

Turns out that it was, even though three seconds remained.

North Carolina outlasted Notre Dame, 29-24, as a potential game-winning drive ended one play shy of Irish euphoria. On 4-and-13 from the Tar Heel 33 and with 11 seconds remaining, Jimmy Clausen hit freshman wide receiver Michael Floyd on a post pattern for a 26-yard gain. Floyd caught the ball for the first down, but wanted more.

Instead of falling to the turf immediately — which would have stopped the clock due to the first down — Floyd fought for more yardage. Tar Heel cornerback Jordan Hemby wrestled the freshman wideout to the ground. Floyd landed atop Hemby, and as he did, the ball popped loose. In fact, Floyd appeared to be desperately lateraling the ball to no one.

“Hey, he thought he could score,” said Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis, “and I’m never going to get down on a guy for trying to make a play when the game’s on the line.”

After the football popped loose, chaos reigned in Kenan Stadium. Tar Heel safety Trimane Goddard recovered the fumble at the 19, but the officials quickly set the ball on the ground. The Irish offense lined up over the ball and snapped it, with Clausen spiking it to kill the clock for one more play. The scoreboard clock read zero.

Was the game over?

Whose ball was it?

Would the Irish have one last snap before the first half of their season concluded?

As the usual suspects rushed the field, the referees huddled on it. That, the first clue that the Tar Heels had not yet won. Lemon wedges began to rain down onto the turf from the Carolina student section, residue of both the lemonade sold here at Kenan Stadium and of the fans’ disgust. Only minutes earlier, Notre Dame had been granted a reprieve when a game-clinching fourth down reception by Brooks Foster was ruled incomplete.

Minutes passed. Finally, the matter of how much time remained was rendered moot. The play was ruled a fumble, a frustratingly fitting conclusion for these Irish on this day. After going 11 quarters without committing a turnover, Notre Dame committed four in the second half on Saturday. And that was the difference.

“You know, that’s all I was thinking about when they were evaluating the call,” said Clausen, referring to the game’s final play. “I just wanted one more chance to make a play.”

Deprived of that opportunity, the Irish enter halftime of their 2008 season a decent, but not dazzling, 4-2. They head into a bye week, and into the following week’s campus-wide fall break, arguably one play away from 5-1 and being ranked for the first time since the end of the 2006 season. Saturday’s outcome will someday be looked back upon as a growing pains loss, but right now only the pain resonates for the Irish.

“This is a tough loss,” said Clausen, who for the third consecutive week set a new career high for passing yards in a game.

The sophomore quarterback completed 32 passes (also a career-best) for 383 yards and two touchdowns. However, after going 132 pass attempts — and six halves — without tossing an interception, Clausen fired his first pass of the second half directly into the arms of Tar Heel linebacker Quan Sturdivant, who returned it 32 yards for a touchdown.

“It was a great play by Sturdivant,” Clausen said. “He just read it.”

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