'Demoralized' Heels' Focus Is Regrouping And Moving On
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CHARLOTTE – The bad thing about North Carolina’s football season is that the Tar Heels have lost their last three games, each revealing elements of the team, and perhaps program, that need serious fixing.
The good thing is, to quote the Faber College motto in the legendary film Animal House, “Knowledge is Good.” Also, the Heels have another game to play to rid themselves of the taste that has now set into their mouths for nearly a month.
“Pick it up. Go back to work,” UNC Coach Mack Brown said after his team lost to Clemson, 39-10, in the ACC championship game last Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium. “This is really difficult… But that's part of life.
“When things happen bad you've got to pick it up and go back, and I didn't think we did very well there. I thought we need to mature.”
How Carolina played through the first 13 games matters, because it offers the blueprint in what needs fixing, which is a lot. But this is still a nine-win team with a chance at significantly changing the narrative about this season and around the program if the Heels can defeat No. 15 Oregon in the Holiday Bowl on December 28 in San Diego.
First, however, they need to allow time to process losing their last three games, and slowly build steam for their trip to California.
“Definitely kind of look back and reflect on the things you did good and the things you did bad,” junior linebacker Cedric Gray said Saturday night, when asked what’s next for this team. “Just come back to work next week, it’s a new week. You’ve gotta move forward.
“Even though it hurts, but the team has a week off. We will get back to it, we will definitely get past it and get ready for the bowl game.”
This might not be as easy as Gray’s words suggest.
The vibe around the team as Saturday turned into Sunday in Charlotte was of disappointment because UNC didn’t capture its first ACC title since 1980, but more a collective of the previous three games, one the Heels lost to teams playing reserve quarterbacks. The offense also faltered, barely resembling itself from the first ten contests.
The disappointment around the team hits quite a few prongs. North Carolina is 9-4, so its win total is the second most in the program since Brown left for Texas in 1997, yet it doesn’t feel that way around the team, among the media, and certainly not according to the fans on social media.
“We still got a lot to be proud of, it was a hell of a season,” quarterback Drake Maye said. “And to the fans, sorry we let y’all down.”
Apathy left several years ago with Brown injecting optimism into the culture that is Carolina football. And the team has won enough to foster even greater expectations. A loss in 2018 didn’t really hurt, but each of the losses the last three weeks engendered considerable pain and anger.
In a way, anger is good. It reflects a deep level of care among the fans, and that this team’s play earlier set up high expectations for everyone, including themselves.
“You know, every loss is demoralizing because you want to win so bad,” Brown said. “You want expectations. Say people get mad when you lose, now that's good, because they didn't care when we got here. There wasn't anybody in the stands and nobody cared and we won five games and lost 18 in two years. I'm really glad people are mad. That's a positive.
“Secondly, I told the guys we've got to get better. You've got to learn from it. You've got hard things that happen in life and you've got to take negatives and turn them into positives.”
The team took a step back this week, but it begins Oregon prep next Monday. Maybe a full week off for the first time since July 29 will do them some good. Perhaps they rekindle some of that magic that led to a 9-1 start, No. 13 national ranking, and Heisman talk about Maye.
The bad thing in Chapel Hill right now is the team needs this break. The good thing is it still has a chance to end on a positive note.