Lessons Learned from the UNC football program's heartbreaking loss at Duke

Pray for consistency

After having their pants pulled down followed by a belt, switch, and paddle combo, North Carolina's defense needed to step up in a big way. For a half of football, it looked like Geoff Collins and crew had figured some things out.

Duke was held scoreless, and their talented quarterback Maalik Murphy looked awfully ordinary. The vibes must have been good in the halftime locker room. Noah Burnette pushed the lead to 20 with 8:23 left in the third quarter. UNC should have felt safe.

Then the wheels fell off.

Duke's defense stiffened, holding Carolina to a three and out on their next drive. The Blue Devils scored touchdowns on their next two drives, all while forcing the Tar Heels to punt. After going up by one on a Peyton Jones touchdown, Duke grabbed their only interception of the day, sealing the game.

North Carolina absolutely had Duke where they wanted them and couldn't kill the game off. Offense and defense conspired together to capitulate here, but Mack Brown needs more consistency to be able to win his winnable games.

Last week, the defense couldn't get their heads straight while the offense looked its most productive all season. This week, the defense was stout, and the offense left points on the field, and couldn't get drives to end with points when the defense needed help.

If this discombobulation continues, the season will go from headache to nightmare.