With So Many Goals Out of Reach, Disappointed Heels March on
CLEMSON, SC – With North Carolina’s preseason checklist of goals dwindling down to just a few remaining on the table, the Tar Heels are facing a reality that reassessing to move forward is now part of their late-November process.
Given their tones and body language following a 31-20 loss at Clemson on Saturday, it’s an unpleasant fact they can no longer do anything about. So, accepting the facts as they are comes first.
Long gone has been any shot at a spot in the College Football Playoff, a stated goal, but always one lightly tinted with any probability. Gone is any chance at winning an ACC championship, including a return to the title game.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” UNC senior linebacker Cedric Gray replied, when asked about so many of the team’s goals now no longer possible. “One of the reasons I came back here was to get back to the ACC Championship, and obviously with Louisville winning and us losing today, that won’t be happening.
“But you know, it is what it is. I’m proud of how we played this season. At the end of the day, we still accomplished a lot of things. We’re just gonna keep moving forward.”
Five weeks ago, the Tar Heels appeared on a collision course with still-unbeaten Florida State for the ACC title, and chance at a New Year’s Six bowl at the very least. The bullseye within the Kenan Football Center, was more on claiming the program’s first ACC title since 1980.
UNC quarterback Drake Maye says missing that opportunity hurts.
“It’s definitely devastating,” he said. “That’s what we worked for. That’s what we were grinding in the offseason for, and to have that goal out of sight is a bummer.”
But the season isn’t over yet. The Tar Heels visit rival NC State on Saturday night, and the quest to match the offseason slogan and mantra of “nine isn’t enough” remains intact, but it’s in serious jeopardy.
The Tar Heels went 9-5 last season, and they adopted the mantra for more victories before spring practice even started. Hence, nine isn’t enough.
But sitting at 8-3 and hearing over to that hornet’s nest in Raleigh and closing in a bowl game likely versus a quality opponent, Carolina must win both to exceed last season’s win total. Many of the goals are indeed gone, but ten wins isn’t. That must quickly become part of their focus, with getting number nine first, of course.
“That’s definitely something we can corral,” Gray said. “The last two years we’ve lost to State. Obviously, that’s a big rivalry game, we want to get that ninth win, so it’s a big game for us.”
UNC Coach Mack Brown, who pushed the “nine isn’t enough” narrative with the media many times this past offseason, began getting his club’s focus geared in that direction moments after the discouraging loss to the Tigers.
"I told them, 'Got a rival game next week. Put this one behind you, try to learn from it. As coaches we'll figure out what we could have done better. You look at your part, be critical. Be careful on the way home, sleep tonight, and let's get ready to start over (this week),’" he said.
The Wolfpack is also 8-3 overall, but is 5-2 in ACC play, a full game up on the Tar Heels, who are 4-3.
Perhaps the lone goal that will consistently carom off the walls within the Kenan Football Center this week is the most important one at hand: Get that ninth win, because without it, there’s no shot at a tenth, and Brown will have to repeat the slogan for the next 12 month again.
