CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – For two weeks, they pumped up their fan base. They inflated hopes. They made people believe that a season in which not a whole lot was expected could morph into a bowl game well north of Shreveport.
Then Georgia Tech took that balloon and shot it with bazooka. Twice.
What team beats Virginia Tech and Miami in consecutive weeks and then loses at home to Duke?
What team follows that up by traveling to North Carolina to face one of the worst teams in the conference – a program reeling from an academic fraud scandal and NCAA probation and on a four-game losing streak – and face plants again?
“Going from such a high to such a low,” defensive lineman Adam Gotsis said. “Nobody likes losing. It sucks coming in here two weeks in a row like this.”
The Jackets lost to North Carolina 48-43. They managed to lose a game in which they scored six touchdowns and had 611 yards in offense. So at least they accomplished that rarity.
This is how a team goes from potential ACC Coastal champion to probable afterthought. It’s looking like 7-5 all over again.
You thought losing to Duke created potential tiebreaker problems in the division down the road? Don’t worry about that. When a team loses to North Carolina, tiebreakers seldom come into play.
Nobody could have imagined that the Jackets’ undoing this season would be going 0-for-North Carolina. They lost to the 0-1 Blue Devils. They lost to the 0-2 Tar Heels.
Warning: The 0-4 Wolfpack of North Carolina State awaits them in three weeks.
I’m not sure that was football Saturday night. But if you love video games or Arena Football, this was for you. The teams combined for 13 touchdowns and 1,190 yards.
North Carolina had such low regard for Tech’s defense – and why is coordinator Ted Roof suddenly looking as beleaguered as his predecessors? – that it went for it on fourth-and-six from the Jackets’ 36 early in the fourth quarter, leading only 35-31. Result: Marquise Williams threw a touchdown pass to Mack Hollins.
Johnson was asked if he was surprised North Carolina went for it.
“No. I’m surprised either team punted,” he said. (He wasn’t happy.)
Quarterback Justin Thomas and the Jackets’ offense deserve credit for bringing the team back from late second-half deficits of 35-24 and 42-31. They drove to consecutive touchdown drives to take the lead. Zach Laskey scored on a 14-yard run with eight minutes left. DeAndre Smelter blasted off for a 75-yard touchdown run on a reverse to give Tech a 43-42 lead with 3:07 left. (The Jackets missed two-point conversion attempts on both scores.)
Tech’s output wasn’t a huge surprise. Johnson is an offensive coach. North Carolina is a defensive wreck. The Tar Heels entered the game ranked 124 out of 125 in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 43.3 points per game. During their four-game losing streak, they gave up 70 points to East Carolina, 50 to Clemson, 34 to Virginia Tech — that was the “good” game — and 50 to Notre Dame.
But Tech’s defense had one collapse left in it.
The Jackets couldn’t get pressure or stop the run. The Heels methodically drove 75 yards in 12 plays, scoring with 11 seconds left on a two-yard run by T.J. Young. Checkmate.
It appeared Tech’s defense had been making progress. The Jackets stuffed Miami 28-17 two weeks ago. But with the advantage of hindsight, that result might have been more the result of the Hurricanes’ offense than Tech’s defense.
When asked if he believed his defense was progressing two weeks ago, Johnson appeared stumped. Either that or he was biting his tongue.
“I thought we had,” he said. “You know, yeah, we had done a good job but we hadn’t played a lot.”
Pause.
“Uh … “
Pause.
“I don’t know how to answer that.”
They raised hopes with two wins. They stomped on them with two losses. Welcome to Team Sybil. Saturday was no different. First offensive play: Thomas completed a 47-yard pass to Deon Hill. Second offensive play: Thomas misconnected on a pitch and the play resulted in a fumble.
North Carolina had beaten two opponents before Saturday: Liberty and San Diego State. Do they count?
“We can still have a good season,” Johnson said. “Like I told the guys after the game, we can win the rest of our games or we can lose the rest of our games.”
Nobody would argue with that.
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