The UNC football defense was non-existent on Saturday in the 70-50 loss where the Tar Heels entered the matchup against JMU as favorites.
UNC 53 points in the first half alone, a new record for the Tar Heels program. North Carolina didn’t have an answer for Dukes quarterback Alonza Barnett III, who passed for 388 yards and five touchdowns on 22 completions. The dual-threat QB also beat the ‘Heels with his legs, adding 99 yards and two touchdowns as a runner.
The 70-50 loss marked the second time an ACC program has given up 70 points since 2017, when ironically UNC, lost 70-41 at ECU. The Tar Heels defense has allowed 40 points or more 14 times since Mack Brown has been the team’s head coach.
It was an extreme low for Brown’s tenure leading the Tar Heels, and one blogger pointed out a concerning stat from the game.
Only previous five opponents across Carolina’s long 136-year college football history had cracked the 60-point threshold, and JMU joined the club as the sixth on Saturday. The Dukes, an FBS newcomer in just their third season competing on this level, reached the 70-41 annihilation the Tar Heels suffered at East Carolina in September 2014. That dubious loss had represented the most points North Carolina ever had allowed — until now.
UNC Football HC Mack Brown Said He Would Step Down After JMU Loss
According to a report from 247 Sports, Brown told his team following Saturday’s 70-50 loss to JMU that he would “walk away and step down if he was the problem.”
The players reportedly vocally supported Brown and took the blame themselves after Brown made his address.
“He will be in the office tomorrow and getting back to work,” one source told Inside Carolina on Saturday night. “Going in and having a normal Sunday.”
UNC football has turned into a regular contender in the ACC since Brown took the program over in 2018.
With Sam Howell and Drake Maye as quarterbacks for the Tar Heels over the last four years, Carolina has accomplished impressive feats, including reaching a bowl games every season since Brown has been the head coach, with the two NFL QBs posting impressive numbers along the way.
In a lot of ways, Saturday’s game was a microcosm of the Brown era. The defense has been a consistent problem. The Tar Heels are on their third defensive coordinator since 2019 — including their second in the last three years — and Geoff Collins might not be long for Chapel Hill based on this result.
And now UNC doesn’t have an elite QB to bail them out.
This remaining schedule is manageable, however. The Heels don’t have to play a single team currently ranked inside the AP Top 25, and road trips against Duke, Virginia and Boston College aren’t the most daunting environments.
QB Jacoby Criswell made his second start of the season and threw for 475 yards and three touchdowns, but threw two costly interceptions and took two sacks during the loss.
It’s clear Mack Brown believes it may be time for him to step away from leading the North Carolina football team — and while the Tar Heels have a fairly easy schedule to close out the season —it’s safe to assume there could be a move made after the 2024 campaign if there isn’t a drastic turnaround.
