CHAPEL HILL - Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors was written nearly 430 years ago, long before the idea of college football was birthed. Yet, on Saturday inside Kenan Stadium, his work lived on in North Carolina’s stunning, 70-50, loss to James Madison.
Add in Murphy’s law alongside the famous play’s farcical nature and you get Saturday’s end result.
The Tar Heels produced their worst performance in 10 years, as the Dukes tied the record for the most points by any UNC opponent in program history.
In every facet of the game, the Tar Heels committed a plethora of mistakes, including on defense, where the Geoff Collins’ led unit surrendered 35 points on just 18 plays in 11:52 of game time in the first half. This included three touchdown drives that were less than a minute in length.
“We just didn’t communicate, I don’t know why. I have no idea what happened. I sat there and
watched it and listened to it,” said UNC Coach Mack Brown. “We had guys in the wrong place. The first drive was frustrating, we tried to do too much.”
If the first drive was frustrating, then the remaining JMU possessions could be seen as maddening, infuriating, and vexing.
*JMU’s 70 points were the most its scored as an FBS program and against an FBS program
*The 20-point margin of victory was the biggest against an ACC foe in school history
*Its 53 first half points marked a program record and were the most ever inside Kenan Stadium
*The Dukes ended the half on a 28-0 run, averaging 38 yards per drive and scoring on five consecutive possessions
*UNC allowed five scores in JMU’s five red zone trips
*The Dukes accrued seven plays of 15+ passing yards and seven plays of 10+ rushing yards
*JMU averaged 6.6 yards per carry and 17.6 yards per reception
*UNC allowed 12.6 yards per play on third down
*Quarterback Alonza Barnett III was responsible for 7 total TDs (5 passing, 2 rushing), tying the record for most TDs responsible for by any UNC opponent (Wake Forest - Sam Hartman 2021) and setting the JMU record
*Barnett’s 487 yards of total offense rank sixth all-time by a UNC opponent
After starting the contest 2-of-8 passing Barnett III, rattled off 12 straight completions en route to a career day, helping receivers Omarion Dollison (129 yards, 1 TD) and Yamir Knight (81 yards, 1 TD) to career-highs.
While the Dukes’ 70 points surpassed three of its basketball program’s four all-time performances against the Tar Heels on the hardwood, the UNC defense was not all to blame.
Despite outpacting JMU with 616 yards of total offense, the Tar Heel offense committed its own comedy of errors in the defeat.
*Quarterback Jacolby Criswell threw two interceptions, including a pick six in the first half
*In its final six drives of the first half, the Tar Heels accrued just 46 yards along with two interceptions and a fumble
*Over that span, Criswell was just for 2-for-9 through the air for 35 yards
*The Tar Heels began the contest 0-for-6 on third down and finished just 2-for-9 for the game
*In total, North Carolina committed five turnovers (Three fumbles, two interceptions), the most since 9/27/2018 against Miami.
“The kids have a standard, the coaches have a standard, and the university has a standard and none of us lived up to it today,” said Brown. “We’re just very disappointed.”
Special teams issues also reared its head in the loss, piling onto an avalanche of atrocities.
UNC not only allowed a blocked punt for a touchdown in the loss, but were unable to recover an onside kick attempt from the Dukes. To add insult to injury, the Tar Heels failed to stop a two-point conversion attempt on the game’s first touchdown, igniting the adage of Murphy’s law early on.
The special teams play of JMU directly resulted in 16 first half points, helping reach a record-setting half.
Perhaps indicative of the performance is the all-around effort of the Dukes, who tallied an offensive, defensive, and special teams touchdown in the win.
Whether it’s the historically putrid defensive performance, the abundance of ofoffensive miscues, or the glaring special teams gaffes, UNC Coach Mack Brown takes responsibility for the loss.
“It can only come back to one person and that’s me. I’ve hired everybody that works on this staff,” said Brown. “I’ve hired everybody that works in this building and I’ve signed every player on this team. So, the people that want to blame me, they should. Because I am at fault, 100%.”
If there is a silver lining for Brown and the Tar Heels, it's that The Comedy of Errors ended much better and happier than it began.
