CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – More than once in recent years, matchups against North Carolina – especially at Kenan Stadium – have been nothing short of a nightmare for the Miami Hurricanes.

Entering this latest meeting, they'd lost five straight to the Tar Heels. And they hadn't won in Chapel Hill since 2017.

All of that frustration came to an end Saturday night in thrilling fashion.

After falling behind early in the fourth quarter, No. 1 Miami scored a pair of touchdowns and forced a crucial turnover in the game’s final eight minutes that helped them secure a 38-35 win over North Carolina in a crucial ACC matchup.

The win keeps the Hurricanes unbeaten and atop the conference standings.

“Just an awesome game, an awesome college football game,” Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal said. “A back-and-forth and maybe an instant classic. At the end of the day, we scored on six of seven possessions, and they scored on five of seven. Really proud of our team’s resiliency. Certainly, some things we’ve got to remedy and tune up, fix on the defensive side … But again, just a low-possession game. Got to make them all count on both sides of the ball. In games like that, it’s really important. We tell our players to just keep playing because you don’t know what play’s going to turn the whole thing around and certainly the [late North Carolina] fumble was massive.”

On a tough night that saw the two teams trade leads multiple times, it was some of Miami’s biggest playmakers that delivered in the game’s most crucial moments.

With the Hurricanes clinging to a 31-28 lead late, Miami’s defense – which struggled at times to contain North Carolina quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. and the Tar Heels passing attack – sacked Edwards and forced a turnover.

Defensive lineman Marquise Lightfoot got to Edwards and forced the ball loose. Fellow lineman Justin Scott recovered the fumble and six plays later, Hurricanes quarterback Darian Mensah connected with wide receiver Malachi Toney on a 9-yard touchdown play that proved the difference, especially given the fact that North Carolina would add one last touchdown with 55 seconds left.

“After that fumble recovery, [the momentum] was most definitely up,” said Lightfoot, who had four tackles and two sacks to go with the forced fumble. “I felt that energy for sure.”

Mensah, meanwhile, finished the night completing 22 of 29 passes and throwing for 274 yards and three touchdowns. Toney had seven catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns.

Running back Mark Fletcher Jr. added 13 carries for 43 yards with three scores on the night, including a receiving touchdown.

He also wrote his name in the Miami record book.

With his three-touchdown performance, Fletcher became Miami’s all-time leader in career touchdowns scored with 38. He also tied Stephen McGuire atop Miami’s career rushing touchdowns list with 35.

“It’s a blessing. I always wanted to be a Hurricane as a little boy and it’s just a blessing, man, that’s all I can say,” Fletcher said of his historic night. “I’m blessed to be here. Blessed to be a part of this team and everybody just does such a great job looking out for me, all the support, how hard I had it with things and adversity I faced. These people just continue to have my back. Even Darian, who just got here, I’ve built a great relationship with him, and he just continues to push me and have my back. I just love this University and I’m just happy I could impact it in a positive way.”

The Hurricanes, who got the ball to open the game, did what they have so often this season – scored to take a quick lead.

Mensah, who came into Saturday’s game as the national leader in completion percentage, led the Hurricanes down the field on a 13-play, 74-yard drive that ended when he connected with Toney on a beauty of a 2-yard scoring pass the receiver caught over his shoulder for the touchdown.

On that drive, the Hurricanes converted on three third-down opportunities with Mensah scrambling twice to keep the Miami offense on the field.

But North Carolina, which had won two of its last three before facing the Hurricanes, didn’t seem to be intimidated by the fact they were lining up against the nation’s top-ranked team.

After the two teams traded possessions in the first quarter, the Tar Heels tied the game in the opening minutes of the second when Edwards found tight end Jelani Thurman on an 8-yard scoring pass that capped an 11-play, 84-yard scoring drive.

The Hurricanes answered on their next possession, regaining the lead when Fletcher Jr. lined up behind a trio of Miami tight ends, caught a pass from Mensah and sprinted up the field for a 31-yard touchdown.

Again, though, North Carolina responded, tying it when Edwards and Thurman connected on another 8-yard scoring play. This time, the drive went 75 yards on 12 plays.

By halftime, the Tar Heels had totaled 152 passing yards – their second highest total in a half this season.

Miami did get the ball back in the final minutes of the second quarter, but the Hurricanes weren’t able to find the end zone, instead settling for a 25-yard field goal from Jake Weinberg that sent Miami into the locker room with a 17-14 lead.

“We just had to stay poised, just go out there and make routine plays and catches, what we do every day out there on Greentree,” Toney said.

The second half brought more pressure from the Tar Heels, who not only kept pace with the Hurricanes, but took the lead in the opening minutes of the third quarter.

And again, it was a touchdown pass from Edwards that put points on the board.

This time, the graduate transfer from Wisconsin threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jordan Shipp that put the Tar Heels ahead 21-17 with 10:51 left in the third.

That lead wouldn’t last long, though.

The Hurricanes answered with an 8-play, 80-yard drive that culminated when Fletcher scored on a 2-yard run that was upheld after a brief review.

But Fletcher and the Hurricanes weren’t done.

After North Carolina took a 28-24 lead early in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run from Demon June, Fletcher scored again, capping a 9-play, 75-yard scoring drive with a 2-yard touchdown run that put Miami ahead 31-28 and tied McGuire’s record.

Now, with this game against North Carolina behind it, the Hurricanes will turn their focus to what will undoubtedly be one of the most-watched games of the college football season.

Miami is set to travel to South Bend, Indiana next week to face longtime rival and fifth-ranked Notre Dame, which is likely to rise in the polls after its 35-13 win over Navy on Saturday.

The two teams last met last season when the Hurricanes beat the Irish, 27-24, in the season opener for both teams.

It was a game that later made a world of difference for both teams when Miami advanced to the College Football Playoff as an at-large team, while the Irish did not.

“Certainly looking forward to the opportunity,” Cristobal said.