UNC Football: Loss to FSU shows Tar Heels are trending opposite way

What was one of the more exciting offseasons with high expectations for the UNC Football program has quickly turned into one of the most disappointing seasons in Chapel Hill.

But Saturday’s 35-25 loss to a bad Florida State team has made everyone realize that this team is trending the complete opposite way and was no where near the preseason No. 10 ranking that they had. And the weaknesses of this team were exposed again.

After UNC jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, the bad tendencies we have seen from this team reared their ugly head once again. The Tar Heels committed dumb penalties that set drives back, dropped a few key passes and the offensive line gave quarterback Sam Howell no time to throw.

On defense, UNC couldn’t stop Jordan Travis as the quarterback once again beat them on the ground, rushing for 121 yards on 14 carries in the game. Travis also completed 11 of his 13 attempts for 145 yards and 3 touchdowns. The dual threat quarterback did what he did last year against UNC in that upset and the Tar Heels just couldn’t find a way to stop him.

The lack of adjustments again on defense, playcalling on offense and making the same mistakes with penalties are what has hurt this team the past two seasons. And we saw that again on Saturday against Florida State.

So when does it end?

A team that was considered by many to be a legit threat in the Atlantic Coast Conference to Clemson faltered in Week 1. Okay, but even then with a favorable schedule looming until the Notre Dame game on October 30th, they have faltered two more times with losses to Georgia Tech and Florida State in games where they were two-score favorites.

If you’re a team that has intentions of being an elite program, you can’t lose to Georgia Tech and Florida State. Especially in down years for both of those programs. The Seminoles are in a historically bad stretch for their program and entered this game with just one win. It was that bad.

Maybe, just maybe this team wasn’t as good as everyone said. And whether we want to admit it or not, it’s the truth. Now, UNC feels like it’s back to square one with a 3-3 record and tough games against Miami, Notre Dame, Wake Forest and NC State looming. They have to win at least two of those plus the Wofford game to make a bowl.

This season went from exciting to possibly not playing in a bowl game this year, which is something none of us imagined after making it to the Orange Bowl a year ago. But now it’s back to square one and the Tar Heels are a lot closer to the start of the Mack Brown era than they are being a contender in the ACC.

And that’s something we have to live with.

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