By Doc Kennedy

The thing about vibes is, they are often fleeting.

After opening the season with three straight wins, UNC then laid an egg against James Madison that started a four-game losing streak and a ton of negative vibes around the program and the future of Mack Brown, culminating in the heartbreaking loss against Georgia Tech and the tragic passing of Tylee Craft. Later, coming out of the first open date, Carolina won at Virginia, gave Brown his first win against Florida State, and clinched bowl eligibility against Wake Forest. The vibes had miraculously done a 180 in the past month.

Then the Tar Heels went to Boston College.

The Eagles marched down the field and scored on the first possession, established their dominance early, and smothered Carolina in a 41–21 win that wasn’t as close as the score indicates. Along the way, UNC looked inept, ill-prepared, poorly coached, and had their weaknesses exposed and exploited by a BC team playing only its second game with a new quarterback. The Heels were only able to generate a paltry 212 yards of total offense, 109 of which came on their last two possessions after the game was well in hand. Positive vibes gone.

Podcasters and talking heads had expressed concern recently about Omarion Hampton’s workload, as he had been clocking in the range of 30 carries per game during UNC’s 3-game win streak. With the weather forecast calling for rain and wind, the expectation was for another heavy usage day for the ACC’s leading rusher and All-American candidate, but Hampton only had 11 carries for just 53 yards, plus three short receptions and no scores. BC kept the Carolina offense off the field early with long, time-consuming drives, and kept the Heels behind the chains when they were on the field, limiting Hampton’s impact. On defense, UNC never truly figured out the Eagles, forcing only one punt and getting a single sack. There were frequent open receivers and quarterback Grayson James sliced and diced Carolina through the air for a crisp 18-27 line for 192 yards and a touchdown to go with 37 yards and a score on the ground.

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

Good

Chris Culliver’s kick return touchdown

The sophomore receiver (top photo), filling in for the injured Nate McCollum, returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to get the Tar Heels on the board and cut an initial 17–0 deficit to 17–7. Sadly, UNC would never get any closer the rest of the day.

Bad

Jacolby Criswell

Since being pressed into service after the season-ending injury to Max Johnson and Conner Harrell proving ineffective, Criswell has shown himself to be a serviceable, if not borderline good, quarterback. But he had a day to forget on Saturday, going 16 of 30 for only 176 yards and tossing three interceptions after having only three for the entire season coming into the game. While Criswell has never been particularly mobile, he looked stuck in the mud against the Eagles, unable to generate anything out of the pocket as he was sacked seven times. When he did get off passes, they were frequently inaccurate, and his interception that was returned for a score would lead you to ask what color the sky was in the world where that was a good decision. It begs the question of injury or something else going on, but he is not the quarterback he was even just a few weeks ago.

Defensive pressure

After racking up 17 sacks against Virginia and Florida State, Carolina has only had three sacks total against Wake and BC. The Heels only had a single sack and just four tackles for loss.

Ugly

Offensive line

The Carolina offensive line has had better days. Just a week after surrendering five sacks against Wake Forest, this unit gave up a season-high seven sacks against the Eagles, often with BC only rushing four defenders. That, coupled with an inability to open up holes for Hampton to break off big runs, rendered the offense mostly ineffective.

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So now UNC endures another sweating out a possible November collapse, which has been a hallmark of Mack Brown 2.0. After two November wins, this dud of a game takes a little of the shine off next week’s rivalry clash with NC State. The poor performance against Boston College will no doubt crank up the rumors of Brown’s status for next season while a hungry Wolfpack team will come to Kenan next weekend needing a win for bowl eligibility. The final reflection of vibes on the season will hinge on how UNC handles their cousins from West Raleigh. Win and the chance for an eight-win season with the Heels’ challenges this season will represent a strong finish. Lose and the bad vibes will take up long-term residence in Chapel Hill. As if we needed more drama around a State/Carolina game,

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