UNC Football: The season we hoped for slipped away

Mack Brown and the UNC football program ended the regular season with an embarrassing performance against NC State on Saturday night.

With the way the second half of the season has gone, did we expect anything less from the UNC football program?

The best word to describe North Carolina is “lifeless,” as the Tar Heels fall to 8-4 after an embarrassing loss to in-state foe NC State. The win secures the third straight win for the Wolfpack against the Tar Heels and sixth in the last eight meetings for the boys in red.

North Carolina State scored on each of its first eight possessions. Yes, it was a question as to whether they actually had a punter until he first took the field with less than 3:40 remaining in the third quarter.

As they’ve done so well essentially all season, the Tar Heels defense once again made a backup quarterback look like an All-American. After being benched earlier in the season, Brennan Armstrong relived his days of torching North Carolina as a Virginia Cavalier, as he threw for 334 yards and three touchdowns.

The Tar Heels offense got off to a tremendously slow start, as Drake Maye didn’t complete a pass until the second quarter. If it wasn’t for Maye, who did most of the damage for North Carolina (254 passing yards and 106 rushing yards for three total scores), this unit likely wouldn’t have scored at all.

It truly feels as if the 6-0 start to the season was a very long time ago. Actually, at this point, it feels as if it never even happened.

The way the UNC football program has collapsed has been an embarrassment, as the loss to NC State is essentially the icing on the cake. What’s even more disappointing is the fight that hasn’t been shown from this group, as it seems to be that the Tar Heels not only have been getting out-coached but also tremendously out-played over the second half of the season.

The UNC football program will likely get a bowl game bid (which they should turn down just like Hubert Davis did with the NIT when the UNC basketball program didn’t make it to the NCAA Tournament).

It’s evident that this group has checked out. They were not ready to play whatsoever and it showed. The university is going to have to take a hard look at this program to see if the crew they have in place is the right one to lead this team to better days.

Based on the last few weeks, it will be a long offseason ahead for the UNC football program as they attempt to figure out how to fix this mess they’ve made.