By Doc Kennedy

I tried very hard to not get on the “everything is awful” train after UNC’s record-setting loss to James Madison last week. This is college football. Things happen. The game is weird sometimes. People (and coaches) get emotional. Let’s see what the Duke game brings before overreacting to the JMU debacle.

Guess what? Scan my ticket and slide over as I take my seat on that train.

The wheels came off in the game, possibly on UNC’s season, and likely on Mack Brown 2.0 as Carolina gagged up a 20–0 lead en route to being completely manhandled in the last 25-ish minutes and fell to Duke 21–20 in a defeat that is arguably worse than the loss to JMU.

It didn’t start out that way, of course. UNC came out looking sharp on defense, holding Duke scoreless in the first half and allowing fewer than 100 yards of total offense and a single third-down conversion. Meanwhile, Carolina was fairly crisp on offense, piling up a balanced 115 yards passing and 105 yards rushing and building a 17–0 lead. Then came the second half.

UNC received the ball first to start and collected a first down before being forced to punt. Duke blocked the punt and due to a fortuitous touching of the ball by the Blue Devils, Carolina recovered for a first down and drove the ball into the red zone, converting a fourth down inside the five that was called back on a specious holding call. Instead of 1st-and-goal, the Heels settled for a field goal and a 20-point lead with 8:23 remaining in the third quarter. From that point forward, it was all Duke.

The Blue Devils racked up 300 yards of offense in the final 26 minutes, including over 150 on the ground as the defense regressed to last week’s first half. Duke moved the ball at will and reeled off back-to-back touchdowns to cut the lead to 20–14. Carolina got a key stop on downs and had the ball at the 40-yard line, but 25 yards of penalties on one play snuffed out the best chance UNC had to stop the momentum, and Duke scored on the next possession to complete the comeback.

Given the circumstances, the collapse of surrendering the lead while barely putting up a fight during most of the fourth quarter — the flip in the game from UNC looking competent and solid to confused and bulled over — the argument can be made that this loss is worse than the fiasco vs. James Madison. The Tar Heels desperately needed to show that last week was an anomaly, that questions were being answered and that deficiencies were being addressed. And for the first 30 minutes, that appeared to be the case. But, in the end, all the ghosts reappeared, and Brown’s win streak against Duke ended at 13 games while the Victory Bell turned dark blue for the first time since 2018.

With that in mind, here is the Duke edition of the Good, Bad, and Ugly Report:

Good

Omarion Hampton

Hampton was able to crack the 100-yard mark on a season-high 29 rushing attempts and hauled in 4 passes for 50 more yards. Omarion continues to Omarion things.

Power Echols

The senior linebacker was one of the bright spots on defense, recording eight tackles but also two pass breakups while out in coverage.

First half Jacolby Criswell

Making his third career start at QB, Criswell wasn’t sharp but threw for 115 yards and two touchdowns in the first half and added 13 yards on the ground.

Bad

Offensive line

On the one hand, the O-line only surrendered two sacks, but allowed 11 quarterback hurries that had Criswell scrambling and throwing off his back foot frequently, especially in the second half. The Devils often got pressure rushing only four players. Duke, who led the country in tackles for losses coming into the game, notched six TFLs, many of which were due to blown blocking assignments. UNC’s tackles, Howard Sampson and Treyvon Smith, in particular, had a bad day, often getting beat and picking up three penalties between them. 

Punting

For the second straight game, UNC had a punt blocked, although this time fortunately the Heels recovered for a first down. In addition to the blocked punt, Tom Maginnes shanked two punts but also had a 65-yarder and a 48-yarder. That is the very definition of high risk, high reward.

Ugly

Defensive front

After being a strength in the first three games, for the second straight game, the defensive front seven were sliced and diced repeatedly in the second half. UNC allowed Duke’s backup running back, Star Thomas, to run for 166 yards and a touchdown, and his backup, Peyton Jones, chipped in 43 yards and a TD on only 6 rushes. The Blue Devils’ offensive line opened huge holes, making the running backs’ jobs easy. 

Penalties

Once again, UNC had double-digit penalties, with 10 for 84 yards. Many of them were huge, such as Nesbit’s hold that erased a first and goal, Alijah Huzzie’s unfortunate pass interference that kept a Duke drive alive, Kaleb Cost’s pass interference in the end zone on 3rd down, and the Treyvon Green holding/J.J. Jones unsportsmanlike double-decker that turned a first-and-10 at the UNC 40 into 1st and 35 at the UNC 15 in the fourth quarter with the Heels clinging to a six-point lead.

Big plays

Once again, the huge yardage plays were Carolina’s Achilles heel. After allowing only two plays in the first half of more than 10 yards, the Tar Heels gave up 11 such plays in the last 26 minutes, six of which were more than 20 yards, including Duke’s two of their three touchdowns for 29 and 20 yards. UNC also had Duke in distance to go situations of greater than 15 yards three times and the Devils converted every time.

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After the JMU loss, Carolina was looking for answers, and in an emotional outburst in the locker room, Brown said he would step aside if the team thought he was the problem. While you don’t like to put a lot of stock in post-loss emotion and overreaction, it’s hard not to think that we are witnessing the sun setting on Mack Brown 2.0. Brown revived UNC football from some of its deepest lows, and fans should be forever grateful, but it’s never quite jelled this time around, and all the flaws in the program are evident without an NFL-caliber QB for the first time in six years.

One of the knocks on Brown when he was hired was he was a CEO-type rather than a hands-on coach, which would be fine if his coordinators and position coaches were getting things done. But he has cycled through both coaches and coordinators for six years, and regardless of who holds the whistle, UNC has often looked poorly coached and ill-prepared. Also player development has been lacking as highly regarded players have had disappointing careers, particularly on defense. And now, recruiting is not at the Top-25 level it was during the first four years of Mack 2.0.

It is possible that UNC can right the ship with Pitt and Georgia Tech coming to Chapel Hill for the next two games before the open date, and it is very likely that they can find three more wins in the schedule and make it to a bowl game. It’s equally likely that fan apathy will begin to set in based on the last two games, and fans may start expressing their displeasure with their feet. Lots of questions will remain for this season and beyond, and there are no easy answers.

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

Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics