Was T.A. in? Controversy remains around famous — or infamous — 2004 UNC-NC State game
T.A. McLendon smashed into the line, the referee raised his arms and everyone thought it was over.
Touchdown, N.C. State. The Wolfpack was going to beat North Carolina.
High above Kenan Stadium that October night in 2004, a News & Observer sportswriter was quickly putting a top on his story, to be filed when the game ended. The Kenan scoreboards read 30-30 and all that was needed was a successful extra point to make it a 31-30 Wolfpack comeback victory.
The sportswriter glanced up from his laptop to see the kick, only to see a discussion going on among the game officials. What the …?
“They’re saying T.A.’s knee was down before he scored,” someone said in the press box.
Side judge Rick Page made that call. After the initial TD signal by head linesman Mike Owens, Page ran in to argue his case, the officials huddled, and Page won out. The knee was down.
No touchdown, N.C. State. Take the points off the board.
The ball was spotted inside the 1-yard line with 14 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Wolfpack quarterback Jay Davis would later say when he walked up under center for the next play, he thought of “pulling a Bart Starr” and quickly getting off a quarterback sneak to win it like the old Green Bay Packers QB did to the Dallas Cowboys in the famous “Ice Bowl” NFL title game.
Call it a fleeting thought. Davis had T.A. McLendon behind him. The call was a handoff to the big tailback and Davis was going to run the play as called. McLendon would bang his way in and that would be that.
“How are you going to stop T.A. from a half a yard?” Mick Mixon, then the UNC radio analyst, said on the broadcast.
Again, more banging on the laptop in the press box. “On his second try, McLendon did get the ball over the goal line and …”
McLendon fumbled.
Trying to leap over the pile instead of bulldozing his way in, McLendon had the ball jarred loose by UNC’s Khalif Mitchell and Kareen Taylor recovered for the Heels with six seconds left.
North Carolina was going to beat N.C. State.
Then, the controversy, which lasts to this day and surely will talked about again this week, 20 years later.
Wolfpack fans will always believe “T.A. was in” and scored on the first carry. The ref had his hands up, didn’t he? UNC fans don’t really care — the Tar Heels won the game on the McLendon fumble, 30-24.
“I know we were cheated,” McLendon told the N&O in 2014.
There were no official video replays or reviews then, although it was being planned for the 2005 season. Video of the play would be provided by WTVD, ABC11 in Durham.
As the N&O sportswriter left the press box to go to the UNC locker room, sharing the elevator with quarterback recruit Cam Sexton, the thought was that Rick Page should hope that any video of the play clearly showed his call was correct.
Otherwise, wrath from Wolfpackers.
Nope. The ABC11 clip was not conclusive.
UNC coach John Bunting later said his team’s game film showed McLendon’s knee went down at the 2-yard line. He did not make the video available.
The Pack had 30 first downs, 304 yards rushing and 577 yards in total offense in the game. And lost.
After the game, Pack coach Chuck Amato said of the fumble, “The ball was on the six-inch line. Doggone, if you’ve rushed for 300 yards, you ought to be able to get six inches.”
The Pack didn’t get it. N.C. State would go on to finish 5-6 that season.
The N&O’s Sunday sports headline the next day: “UNC Wins By A Knee.”
In the Kenan press box that Saturday night, a rewritten story was being filed to the N&O:
“For N.C. State, it will always be remembered for the T.A. McLendon touchdown that wasn’t. For North Carolina, the game Saturday at Kenan Stadium will be remembered for the McLendon fumble that was …”
(Chip Alexander covered the 2004 game for the News & Observer)
This story was originally published November 26, 2024 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Was T.A. in? Controversy remains around famous — or infamous — 2004 UNC-NC State game."
