The bad week ended up worse.

When the Tar Heels walked off the field a one-point loser at Duke last Thursday, it was an embarrassing defeat but did not seem like the end of the world. Until two days later, when Virginia Tech got whipped decisively at home by Georgia Tech. Thus, wins at Duke and over N.C. State would have given Carolina a second straight Coastal Division title and ACC championship game appearance.

Now, the only chance is for the Hokies to lose at home again, this time to Virginia, and UNC still having to beat the Wolfpack. Sounds like a race between improbable and undeserving. So the sour taste from the bad performance in Durham is still there, and now Larry Fedora’s program has to be careful in its last two games.

Assuming the Heels can give The 10-0 Citadel its first loss of the season Saturday, they cannot lose focus and energy like they did two years ago when the Wolfpack came to Chapel Hill and won easily. That was followed by a half-hearted loss to Rutgers in the bowl game at Ford Field in Detroit, and the 6-7 season served as a wake-up call for the next year’s run to the division title.

Great college football programs aren’t up and down from one year to the next. They maintain a pattern of double digit wins and appearances in high-profile bowls. Carolina can still do that by winning out and beating whoever the opponent is in whatever bowl game. But, right now, a loss in either of the last two games would relegate the Tar Heels to a second-tier bowl and a mediocre season. A shocking end to an exciting fall indeed.

That would also be a trend of great season, so-so season, great season, so-so season. And that would be distressing to the fans who have bought season tickets and backed the 2016 team enthusiastically. Very good teams win the games they are supposed to win and spring the occasional upset. Programs that have not gotten over the hump backslide every other year or so. That’s what one half of lousy football against an arch rival can do, begin to dash dreams.

So with the week from hell behind us, maybe Carolina can find its rhythm again and finish with three straight Ws, including the bowl. That would be a 10-3 record and keep Fedora’s program moving in the right direction, without another blip on the journey.

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