By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — For one fleeting moment, North Carolina’s defense looked like it had found the answer. Late in the first half, with TCU threatening to stretch its lead, Kaleb Cost delivered the kind of play defenders dream about.
A short pass ricocheted high off the right fingertips of Horned Frogs receiver Jordyn Bailey, and Cost reacted instantly. Lunging backward, he snatched the ball with his right hand before securing it with both as he hit the ground. When he sprang to his feet and raced away in celebration as the sold-out Kenan Stadium crowd erupted.
But that flash of brilliance and his third career interception didn’t change the momentum. TCU regrouped and dominated the second half, turning what could have been a momentum shift into a lopsided loss for the Tar Heels.
Cost spoke with honesty and resolve after the game.
“We’ve just got to be tougher as a team as a whole, just taking it day by day, practice by practice, drill by drill,” said Cost, who tied for the second most solo tackles with five. “When it comes to game time, we’ve just got to be tougher all around and compete better as a team.”
Even when the game began to spiral, Cost insisted that the Tar Heels kept fighting.
“I wouldn’t say we felt helpless at all,” he said. “We still kept grinding, we still kept pushing to try to get some production out of that game. But all in all, we lost the game at the end of the day, and it didn’t go our way, but we just we still kept going for it.”
The home crowd, although it thinned out as the game got out of hand, didn’t go unnoticed. Cost wanted Tar Heel fans to know their support matters.
“We absolutely appreciate Tar Heel nation, and we will need that every single week, absolutely,” he said. “We’re sorry [everybody is] down, and it won’t happen again. Promise you that.”
Cost said that the team’s confidence was high during the week, which made the loss sting even more.
“It’s definitely disappointing, but it’s just back to the drawing board again,” Cost said. “We’re gonna go hard. I’m gonna go hard every single day this week, going into Charlotte and make sure that never happens again.”
Despite the missed tackles, missed assignments and other mistakes on defense, he stressed that the unit remains connected. He said that they understand what happened and that the team is “going to fix it. We’re going to solve it.”
Personally, Cost tries to keep a positive outlook even after a night like that.
“I just try to keep positive energy, just all around,” he said. “Obviously, it’s a little negative energy. But as we come together, the team will come together as a band of brothers and realize what happened today.”
When asked about the preparation, Cost pushed back on the idea that the team wasn’t ready, just that it didn’t go the Tar Heels’ way.
Cost said that emotions were running high in the locker room after a frustrating game, but there was a consistent message of moving forward.
“We’re angry as a team,” he said. “We’re going to use that to take the practice and take it to the next opponent.”
For Cost, the interception was a rare bright spot in an otherwise dark night. Now, the focus shifts to regrouping and proving that one bad game won’t define this team’s season.
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
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