CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina gave fans hope, only to produce more heartbreak that didn’t stop when the game ended.

When things aren’t going well, when a team is struggling to find its footing, it’s the little things that make the difference between winning and losing. In a game that was mostly even on the stat sheet and relatively close on the scoreboard, UNC was unable to do the little things in a disappointing 34–24 homecoming loss to Pitt on Saturday.

CHAPEL HILL — Carolina continues to do enough on offense to give the Tar Heels a chance to win, only for the defense to eliminate that possibility. Unbeaten Pittsburgh feasted on that defense in a 34–24 victory Saturday. It handed the reeling Tar Heels, who failed twice on fourth down near the goalline, their third consecutive defeat.

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

DURHAM — For 2½ quarters, North Carolina’s defense made the case that the James Madison debacle was a fluke. That case unraveled in ugly fashion, though, as Duke erased a 20-point deficit in the largest comeback in the rivalry’s history, seized ownership of the Victory Bell and enjoyed a field storming.