The Tar Heels walked into Durham on Saturday afternoon with what felt like the 2024 season in the balance. The team responded well in the first half, racing out to a 17-0 halftime lead, which they would extend to 20 on the first drive of the second half despite having a punt blocked earlier in the drive. From that point forward, though, Duke took control of the game, storming back with 21 second half points for one of their biggest comeback wins in program history. Here are our takeaways from a devastating 21-20 loss for the Tar Heels.
The Culture of This Program is a Major Problem
We knew this based on what we saw last week, but it became even more evident today. Like we have seen too many times under Mack Brown in his second stint, this team panicked at the first sign of adversity. It really started with the blocked punt, but the first scoring drive from the Blue Devils zapped the confidence of a defense that had dominated to that point. From that point on, the defense simply had no answer for the Duke running game and was bullied up front on the offensive side of the ball, collapsing in a manner very similar to what we saw in the 2022 loss at home to Georgia Tech. Things have to change if this team is going to find a way to turn this around and right now I don’t see it being possible.
Run Defense is Back to Being a Liability
After a strong start to the season in run defense, the group has been taken advantage of in the last two weeks. The defense allowed 223 yards and two touchdowns against James Madison and was torched again in the second half once Duke started primarily running the football. The Blue Devils ran for 148 yards and two touchdowns in the final two quarters, headlined by a big performance from Star Thomas. The defensive line for the Tar Heels, which was doing a great job of shedding blocks in the first half was worn down by Duke’s offensive line and allowed them to climb to the second level to get a hat on the linebackers. The safety tandem of Stick Lane and Jakeen Harris didn’t provide the help needed on the back end either, allowing too many explosives because of missed tackles. If this defense is going to find a way to help this team win games this year, they have to be able to defend the run better.
Offensive Line Still Has Work to Do
Much like the team as whole, this offensive line started the day strong, but couldn’t hold up in the second half. The group was fantastic in the run game in the first half, but was dominated when it mattered the most, only allowing Omarion Hampton to run for 32 yards. Those struggles to run the football put the Tar Heels in a lot of 2nd and 3rd-and-long situations which allowed the Duke defense to pin their ears back and get after the quarterback. The pass protection wasn’t good enough, either, allowing way too much pressure on Criswell for a second straight week. In order for this Tar Heel offense to find the consistency they sorely need right now, this offensive line has to be better than they have the last two weeks.
Jacolby Criswell Isn’t Sam or Drake
Criswell wasn’t one of the main reasons that the Tar Heels lost on Saturday, but he left plays on the field that could have allowed the Tar Heels to come away with the victory. There were too many throws that were short because he threw it off his back foot while under pressure, but the overthrows in the deep passing game were the bigger issue. The overthrow of Bryson Nesbit on the final drive was one that he simply needed to have in that moment with the team moving the ball as well as they were on the most important drive of the season. He has gotten this offense to move the ball better than the previous two quarterbacks that the team started this season, but he just isn’t a quarterback that can carry this team the way Sam and Drake could before him, especially in close games.
If Last Week Didn’t Break This Team, This Week Might’ve
It would’ve been easy for this team to quit after what happened last week, but, to their credit, they didn’t. Unfortunately, this game is probably the one that officially breaks this team. We saw what this type of loss did to that 2022 team and it’s hard to think something similar doesn’t happen this time around. The schedule only gets more difficult from here and it feels like this team put so much into today after everything that happened last week. I hope I’m wrong, but it feels like this team will struggle to find three more wins the rest of the season.
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