Now the Tar Heels have to go back to Florida and win again.

Carolina’s dismal loss to Virginia Tech in a game that never should have been played in hurricane conditions leaves the team no other choice but to win at Miami Saturday the same way it did at Florida State two weekends ago. That’s the only chance the Tar Heels have of repeating as ACC Coastal Division champs.

They are now 2-1 in the ACC while Virginia Tech is 2-0 with a favorable conference schedule remaining – games at Syracuse, Pitt and Duke; and home to Miami,  Georgia Tech and Virginia. Carolina goes to Virginia after Miami, takes a week off and then finishes league play with Georgia Tech at home, at Duke and State at home.

The Heels would have to overtake the Hokies, who now have the tie-breaker, by one game thanks to the lopsided loss in sopping Kenan Stadium. I know football is supposed to be played in all kinds of weather as long as the safety of the players and fans are not at stake. The Tar Heels were bruised more in soul than body, but the fans who braved the strong rain and wind had to travel through flood zones to get to and from Chapel Hill. The game should have been delayed until Saturday night, when the rain tapered off, or Sunday when it was sunny but still windy.

Why that did not happen had much to do with the changing course of Hurricane Matthew. First thought to be moving out over the Atlantic by the weekend, it turned back inland and by Friday we knew it would dump heavy rainfall on the Triangle. UNC, Duke and State all decided early in the week that they would play, and the Blue Devils and Wolfpack pulled out wins over Notre Dame and Army.

Carolina wasn’t so lucky. Virginia Tech, which depends on the run game and a stout defense, is a tough match-up on a dry day, but an impossible one in wet conditions. The Tar Heels attack by air, averaging more than 40 passes a game. That doesn’t work in a monsoon, and everything else went wrong, as well. Now, they have to win at Miami, which also has one league loss and is beatable, but only by UNC playing as well as it did poorly against the Hokies.

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