JMU, which struggled offensively in a lackluster 13-6 win over Gardner-Webb two weeks ago, before a bye week, “had a lot that we had to clean up and fix,” first-year head coach Bob Chesney said.
Now it’s North Carolina, which keeps peaking on signing day, with all those Top 25 recruiting classes, and nothing to show for it, that has a lot to clean up and fix.
“It can only come back to one person, and that’s me. I’ve hired everybody that works on this staff, I’ve hired everybody that works in this building, and I’ve signed every player on this team. So, the people that want to blame me, they should. Because I am at fault, 100 percent,” UNC coach Mack Brown said, after his team’s 70-50 loss – yes, 70-50 – on Saturday.
JMU had 418 yards of total offense at halftime, including a blocked-punt TD and a picksix, and a successful onside kick that led to another score, in a 53-point first half.
North Carolina had five turnovers that led to 20 JMU points, and gave up 611 yards to the Dukes, who had 285 yards of total offense in that win over Gardner-Webb on Sept. 7.
“I think we never stopped believing in our players,” Chesney said. “They never stopped believing in themselves. We didn’t believe we could win, we knew we could win. Who we played, obviously, was a little icing on the cake, but ultimately, that’s it. It was the game.”
Over in the other locker room, man. Mack Brown returned to UNC in 2019, and his first three recruiting classes ranked 14th, 14th and 11th, respectively.
What he has to show for it: a 41-28 record, four losses in five bowl appearances, one losing season (6-7 in 2021), one Top 25 finish (back in 2020).
Watching the Tar Heels play on Saturday, it looked like the kids hadn’t practiced all week.
“We just didn’t communicate. I don’t know why. I have no idea what happened. I sat there and watched it and listened to it. We had guys in the wrong place,” Brown said.
Giving up 70 points to a team that you had to pay $500,000 to come to your stadium and play you might be the biggest boner here.
Seriously, this could be the beginning of the end of the second Mack Brown era at North Carolina.
The guy is 73 years old, he’s not winning, and it’s going to get harder to keep up the pace with recruiting when you’re getting pummeled in guarantee games.
In the here and now, there’s the fixing to do, that JMU was able to do after its ugly win over Gardner-Webb from a couple of weeks back.
“It’s easier to say it than show it. We talked about it, but we didn’t show it,” Brown said. “The kids have a standard, the coaches have a standard, and the university has a standard, and none of us lived up to it today. We’re just very disappointed.”
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Chris Graham
