NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- For North Carolina, the crazy finish to the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl was just another twist in a trying season that ended on a high note.

Tennessee had a much different viewpoint, and an all-too-familiar feeling.

Casey Barth kicked a 23-yard field goal in the second overtime to send North Carolina past Tennessee 30-27 in a game that will be remembered much more for the crazy finish of regulation than how it ended Thursday night.

The Volunteers thought they had capped coach Derek Dooley's first season in Knoxville with a dramatic victory when the officials told them to return to the sideline and gave the Tar Heels one last chance to tie it in the fourth quarter.

"I've been involved in coaching for 37 years," North Carolina coach Butch Davis said. "And when you stand on the sidelines, you get an opportunity to see an awful lot of bizarre things happen in a coaching career. This is going to have to be one of those games that I think ESPN Classic will probably be showing this 100 years from now."

Barth kicked a 39-yard field goal after officials reviewed what had been the final play of the game and decided to penalize the Tar Heels (8-5) for having "more than 11 men" on the field. The Big Ten officiating crew also announced T.J. Yates had spiked the ball with 1 second left.

That allowed Barth to run out and kick the field goal that tied it at 20.

Barth's winning kick in the second overtime completed a season marred by an NCAA investigation into agent-related benefits and academic misconduct that eventually forced 14 Tar Heels to miss at least one game. Seven missed the entire season.

"It takes all of the NCAA violations away," North Carolina cornerback Kendric Burney said. "All of the trouble went away."

Tar Heels tight end Ryan Taylor said it's never over with this team.

"It was perfect for us to end this crazy season in a double-overtime game," Taylor said.

Tennessee (6-7) was stunned at the sudden switch in the final seconds. Tyler Bray threw a 25-yard TD in the first overtime, but Quan Sturdivant picked him off to end the Vols' last chance in the second OT.

It was the second time this season that a flag for too many men on the field played a role in a Tennessee loss. The Vols lost to LSU on Oct. 2 when they got caught having too many defenders, giving the Tigers another chance to pull out a 16-14 win. Dooley said it was "chaos again."