Priest's Leap Saves The Day

It doesn't have a catchy nickname like "The Catch" or "The Drive", but in the fourth quarter of the 1994 Sun Bowl, Texas running back Priest Holmes made a play in the fourth quarter that will live in the minds of Longhorn fans forever.

With 1:17 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Longhorns trailing Mack Brown's North Carolina Tar Heels by a score of 31-28, Holmes took a handoff from quarterback James Brown and vaulted himself from the four-yard line, over a defender and into the end zone for the game-winning score.

Some called it "The Leap" or the "Leap of Faith", but it was a play that remains frozen in the minds of many Texas fans.

At the time, few people had ever heard of the junior running back from San Antonio. Still, the relatively obscure Longhorn rushed for 161 yards and scored four touchdowns on 27 carries, while leading the Longhorns to a 35-31 win over the Tar Heels.

The win concluded an volcanic season that witnessed the Longhorns (8-4) go through some of the most trying moments in the history of the program, including a rare loss to Rice on national television. However, the insertion of James Brown into the starting line-up sparked the team over the final month of the season, as the team scored 146 points in their final three games to help save a season that appeared to be heading down the drain several times.

In the end, it was Holmes? heroics that saved the day.

"All I was looking for was a crease," Holmes said of his high-wire act that won the game. "I thought I'd better go over the top."

As for UNC, they simply didn?t know what hit them.

It all started in the first quarter, when Holmes scored the first of his four touchdowns on a one-yard score to ties the game at 7-7.

After an eight-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Norman Watkins gave the Longhorns the lead, Holmes added an eight-yard scoring run to give the Longhorns a 21-10 lead.

Just when it looked the Longhorns were going to run away with things, back came UNC.

A Mike Thomas touchdown pass to Marcus Wall cut the Texas lead to 21-17 at the half.

After a scoreless third quarter, UNC made two spectacular plays that appeared to win the game for them.

First, Wall took the first punt return of his career back 82 yards for a touchdown to give the Tar Heels a 24-21 lead. Ten, after a three-and-out by the Longhorns, UNC responded with a 50-yard touchdown pass from Thomas to Octavus Barnes to give them a 31-21 lead with 9:13 left in the game.

That when Holmes reemerged as the star of the day.

"When North Carolina went up on us two touchdowns, (UT linebacker) Tremaine Brown told me, 'You've got to let it loose.?'" Holmes said. "I let it sink into my head."

While Brown got hit in the pocket, Holmes kept ripping off chunks of yardage on the ground. Holmes scored two in the final 6:35 of the game to give the Longhorns the lead.

Still, the game wasn't over until Texas safety Chris Carter intercepted Thomas at the Texas 18-yard line with 40 seconds to go. Carter ran the ball back to the UNC 20, but lost his handle on the ball and ended up giving possession back to UNC at its own 13-yard line with precious few too few seconds remaining.

"I thought it was a great college football game, one of the best I've ever been involved in," UNC's Brown said after the game.

In the end, the big hero was Texas? unknown weapon in the backfield.

"Before today, I had never heard of Priest Holmes," Carolina safety Fuzzy Lee said.

After an afternoon of running wild through the UND defense, it's doubtful that Lee has ever forgotten the name since.

"This was the epitome of our season. This was our season in 60 minutes. We started out on top, went in a valley, and ended up on top. We're gonna ride this wave as long as we can." - Texas linebacker Robert Reed

"If Priest doesn't practice well, he doesn't play well in the game. When he is focused, he is the guy. When he's not, he's not the guy." Texas running back coach Bucky Godbolt on Holmes

"I thought we were going to win the game at the end." - UNC coach Mack Brown

"We had high expectations before the season. We wanted to get into the top 10, but only 10 of 107 teams are there. We have some work to do before we crack it." - Mack Brown