By Doc Kennedy

You kind of had a feeling that was coming.

UNC really hasn’t been the same team since they started the season 6–0, rose to No. 10 in the polls, and then lost to a bad Virginia squad at home. Carolina limped through the second half of the season at 2–4, culminating in an ugly 39–20 loss to N.C. State in a game that wasn’t really as close as the score indicated.

The Tar Heels followed the egg laid versus Virginia with another head-scratching loss to Georgia Tech (whose performance against Georgia on Saturday can make UNC fans feel a little better) before rebounding with a win over Campbell and a gut-wrencher victory vs. Duke. Carolina had the chance to potentially bury Clemson early but gagged it away and was seemingly on a downward trajectory headed into Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday night. The Wolfpack, on the other hand, solved their quarterback drama with a rejuvenated Brennan Armstrong and was riding a four-game winning streak coming into the Carolina game. A team on the rise met a team slumping to the finish, and the result was exactly what you would expect, with a third straight win in the series.

If the 2021 game was fluky, with State scoring two late TDs after UNC seemingly had the game won, and the 2022 game was a toss-up, 2 OT thriller, there was no doubt in this one as State came out and punched UNC in the mouth early and often. The Pack scored on their first eight possessions while Carolina sleepwalked through the first half in falling behind 23–0, which certainly could have been worse. State eventually built the lead to 33–7 before Carolina tried to make a contest out of it, but two Drake Maye interceptions in State territory ended any chance of closing the gap.

For UNC fans, it was a disappointing showing from a team that seemed completely outmatched on the field and the sideline. State was the stronger, faster, and more well-coached team all night long. Carolina looked disinterested early and discombobulated most of the game. And, for the second straight season, the Tar Heels limped to the finish in November. There will be many, many questions for the team and the staff to answer in the offseason.

But until then, here is the “here we go again” edition of the Good, Bad, and Ugly Report:

Good

Drake Maye

This is more of a career achievement award, but I’m not sure what else you could ask Maye to do. He was a respectable 22 of 38 for 254 yards and two touchdowns, but also had two crushing interceptions off receivers hands. Maye also ran for 106 yards and a touchdown. He shook off a rotten start to make a game of it, but in the end he couldn’t get it done having to run for his life a good part of the night.

John Copenhaver

The tight end has been a big part of the UNC offense this year and Copenhaver has become a reliable pass catcher. On Saturday, he caught five passes for 68 yards and a touchdown, but the fact he was UNC’s leading receiver in yardage should tell you something about how the passing game was bottled up.

Cedric Gray

One bright spot for the defense was Gray, who had a game-high 17 tackles, one tackle for a loss, and half a sack.

Bad

Omarion Hampton

It was a no-good, rotten, very-bad night for the ACC’s leading rusher coming into the game. Hampton only carried the ball nine times for 28 yards and was a complete non-factor in the UNC offense. 

The Carter-Finley Stadium turf

The field at Carter-Finley was surprisingly slippery given that there has been so little rain in the last month. UNC players were slipping all over the field, and State players slipped a few times as well.

Ugly

UNC’s defense

Last week’s GBU talked about the defensive regression, and there was little improvement this week as the Carolina defense surrendered 500 yards and 39 points to a State team that had struggled on offense some this season. The 39 points matched the Pack’s season-high against an FBS opponent and State scored on its first eight possessions, four field goals and four touchdowns. Moreover, they allowed Pack QB Brennan Armstrong, who was benched for poor play earlier in the season, to go 22 of 31 passing for 334 yards and three touchdowns, and he was rarely pressured, nor were receivers covered tightly. The Tar Heel defense also gave up 12 plays of 15 yards or more. 

Complementary football

As previously mentioned, State scored on its first eight possessions, while the UNC offense was slow out of the gate. But with the Heels trailing 39–20, the UNC defense held State to one first down and three three-and-outs and yet could not score, putting up two punts and two interceptions. This has seemed to be a recurring theme over the second half of the season, which is when the offense is moving, the defense can’t stop anyone, and when the defense is serviceable, the offense can’t score.

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So, what looked like a potentially special season has once again stalled out at about the eight-win plateau, which is a fairly traditional high-water mark for the UNC football program. Now this team and this staff face a significant number of questions, both for the upcoming bowl game and the long-term outlook for the program. Will Maye and other players opt out of the bowl? What staff changes will be made? Will Mack be back for year six (even though he has said he will)? What is it going to take to change the belief that the program is soft? Sadly, losses like this often leave more questions than answers and there are loads of questions ahead for the Tar Heels.

Doc Kennedy is an alum and longtime UNC fan, and a former high school and college basketball coach who wrote this report for years on Tar Heel Blog.

Photo via @UNCFootball