Lessons Learned from UNC football program's regular season-finale loss to NC State

It was a loss North Carolina fans have seen many times in the Mack 2.0 era, and could see coming a mile away.
NC State v North Carolina
NC State v North Carolina / Grant Halverson/GettyImages
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Mack Brown's final game was a sad final note to a song that started with so much promise but had ultimately run its course. NC State, needing a win to become bowl eligible, did what they did best: wrap up a frustrating season by beating their in-state rival.

The UNC football program was slow to start on offense, and the defense, which started off well enough, could not cope with the loss of Kaimon Rucker in the first quarter. Uncharacteristic misses from kicker Noah Burnette seemed like a harbinger of more bad things to come.

As unpleasant as it is to look back at this game, let's dive in to some lessons learned from a tough loss to NC State.