The last two weeks have been encouraging for the UNC football program, but there was still plenty of doubt whether this team could continue its success, especially against Power Five level competition.
In their second test against higher-level competition, the Tar Heels failed miserably.
Similar to the TCU beat down, not much went right for North Carolina in their blowout loss to UCF on Saturday afternoon in Orlando, Florida. Heading into the "bye week," the Tar Heels hold a 2-2 record as they await the arrival of Clemson to Chapel Hill two Saturdays from now.
North Carolina won the coin toss, one of few "wins" in this one. They elected to defer to the second half and essentially allowed UCF to march down the field effortlessly to take a 7-0 lead out of the gate.
Following UCF's drive, one that lasted 6 minutes and 37 seconds, North Carolina coughed up the football in just four plays. If it wasn't for an offsides penalty, it would have been sooner, but the result remained the same: a drive ended with a Gio Lopez interception.
The Knights would score on six of their 9 drives, dominating the time of possession by over seven minutes. In fact, UCF was able to put together a touchdown drive in the fourth quarter that lasted 10+ minutes, essentially playing keep away from the Tar Heels.
Lopez once again struggled to get anything going for North Carolina's offense and was forced to leave the game due to injury. Max Johnson replaced Lopez and finished off a drive for what would be North Carolina's only touchdown of the game, a 8-yard touchdown pass to Kobe Paysour.
Once again, we saw the same issues that have haunted the Tar Heels all season long. From inconsistency on the defensive side of the ball (along with essentially no pass rush) to below average offensive production (and questionable play calling), this group continues to be an absolute mess.
Based on how the UNC football program has performed against higher-level competition, wins will be tough to come by if things don't change quickly.
The good thing is: North Carolina only plays one game over the next 26 days. They have a "bye week" this upcoming weekend, will host Clemson the following and then will have another off week, hopefully time that will be spent finding some consistency within this unit as conference play opens up.