North Carolina suffered a painful, embarrassing, and painfully embarrassing loss to James Madison on Saturday.
Aided by five Tar Heels turnovers plus a blocked punt return for a touchdown, the Dukes put up 25 points in the first quarter and 28 more in the second en route to a 70-50 victory in Chapel Hill. JMU quarterback Alonza Barnett III (no relation, sadly) hit 22-of-34 passes for 388 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions while also rushing 13 times for 99 yards and more scores, outshining UNC's Jacolby Criswell, who threw for 475 yards and three touchdowns in a losing effort.
In the process, North Carolina became the first FBS team to score 50 and lose by 20 since 2016.
“Embarrassing day, shocking day,” Brown said after the game. “You shouldn’t be at North Carolina and lose to a Group of Five team – period. There are no excuses.”
North Carolina has been collectively out-scored by Sun Belt teams over its past three seasons, though Saturday was the Heels' first loss. In 2022, UNC survived 63-61 in a road trip to App State, then won 35-28 the following week at Georgia State. Last season UNC needed two overtimes to defeat App State at home, 40-34.
After the game, Brown made himself the only Tar Heel player or coach available to speak to the media.
“It can only come back to one person and that’s me,” said Brown. “I’ve hired everybody on this staff, I hired everybody that works in this building, and I’ve signed every player on this team. So, I mean, the people that want to blame me? They should because I am at fault – 100%. I missed it.”
Inside Carolina reported Brown told the team in the post-game locker room that he would resign his position if he felt it would help the team, though North Carolina officials stressed Brown will continue as the Heels' head coach moving forward. From thousands of miles away, it seems like Brown's offer seemed more hypothetical in nature -- offering to step away at some undetermined date in the future if North Carolina's play doesn't improve rather than offering to resign right then and there. Inside Carolina reported UNC players insisted Brown remain with the team and placed the blame on themselves.
On Monday, Brown, still the Head Heel, continued to place the blame on himself while seemingly confirming the report.
UNC's Mack Brown: "Disappointed in me."
— Brian Murphy (@murphsturph) September 23, 2024
"Excited about the future and love my job. Love these kids, and I love this place, and that's why I hate losing so much."
"I'll keep my mouth shut after losses from now on."
What we know for sure is that Brown, who at 73 is the only active FBS head coach in his 70s, is passionate about North Carolina football and takes losses hard, knowing he only has so much time left to lead the program. (Don't we all?)
Brown is 41-28 in his second stint at North Carolina, including a 24-18 mark in ACC play. Through five full seasons thus far, the Tar Heels have never won fewer than six games but also never won more than nine, with one AP Top 25 finish. Geoff Collins was hired to run the defense ahead of this season, making the former Georgia Tech head coach his third defensive coordinator in six seasons.
North Carolina is 83rd nationally in yards per play allowed and 108th in turnover margin, playing with backup quarterback Criswell after Max Johnson was lost for the year in the opener to a broken leg.
The good news for the Heels is that their ACC schedule, which begins Saturday at Duke (4 p.m. ET, ESPN2) avoids all three AP-ranked conferences foes, missing No. 7 Miami, No. 15 Louisville and No. 17 Clemson.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.