During the week leading up to Carolina’s visit to Boston College, head coach Mack Brown and the Tar Heels preached the value of toughness. The Eagles, led by former NFL head coach Bill O’Brien, play a hard-nosed style of football, and UNC would need to match it in order to win.
Needless to say, Carolina didn’t come close on Saturday. In a city known for its baffling roadways, BC’s Alumni Stadium displayed one-way traffic for three-and-a-half hours.
UNC’s offensive production withered in the New England cold, with Omarion Hampton failing to reach the 100-yard plateau for the first time since early September. Jacolby Criswell threw three interceptions, including a pick-six in the fourth quarter which effectively ended the game.
“This was a day where not much worked on offense, which was really obvious,” Brown said.
“You can give [Boston College] a lot of credit. They came out and they out-toughed us,” said Criswell. “They played better football than we did. And overall, we just have to do better.”
On the defensive side, Carolina allowed more points to Boston College than it had to its last two opponents combined. The Eagles controlled the clock and slowly but surely bled the Tar Heels to death. For a UNC defense which had asserted its will during the three-game winning streak, the lack of playmaking served as an uncomfortable reality check: this is, in fact, the same team which gave up 70 points to James Madison.
Defensive end Kaimon Rucker said Boston College’s sense of urgency – one which UNC had shown in recent weeks – made a difference.
“They wanted it more than we did today,” Rucker said. “We were the team they had to beat to go to a bowl game. So they came in with a very large chip on their shoulder, and it showed.”
Now, Carolina will be tasked with not repeating mistakes of seasons past, and letting one loss snowball into another losing streak. And speaking of losing streaks, NC State visits Kenan Stadium this weekend. The Wolfpack have won three straight meetings with the Tar Heels, and like Boston College will need a win to clinch bowl eligibility. It’s no secret the Pack have had their own struggles this year, but head coach Dave Doeren and company would love nothing more than to get one more over on Brown and Carolina.
For his part, though, Rucker said this year’s team has a different mindset than those of recent years, and said he’s confident the Tar Heels will take on the Wolfpack with the edge that was missing against the Eagles.
“Obviously, everybody’s gonna look at it like, ‘Dang, we got our butts whooped,'” said Rucker. “But from the inside, we have a better mentality than we used to in the past of handling adversity. Just because there’s one crack in the glass, that doesn’t mean the whole mirror’s gonna shatter. For us, where it has been like that in the past, in this game that wasn’t the case.”
Considering the level to which Carolina was bludgeoned in Boston, it may be hard for some to see the 41-21 loss as simply a blip, as Rucker seems to. But this week, of all weeks, is not the time to wallow in misery. Because if the Tar Heels drop a fourth straight game against their noisy neighbors, the mirror Rucker mentioned will not simply be shattered: it will be blown to smithereens.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
