In 1988, Mack Brown’s first year as Carolina’s football coach, he took a 1-9 team to Duke in the last game of the season and lost 35-29. Brown had been ridiculed all season for not being able to beat anybody but last-place Georgia Tech.

Duke, coached by the great Steve Spurrier (at least in his mind), was okay. The Blue Devils finished 7-3-1 and 3-3-1 in the ACC. They were better than the Tar Heels and barely beat them. Kennard Martin ran all over Duke, but Carolina couldn’t stop the Blue Devils either.

Brown finished the first of two 1-10 seasons to start his rebuilding job, losing four of those games by a total of 12 points. They were a little better than their record and played so hard.

I hand-wrote Brown a letter after the Duke game. I can’t remember most of it, but I did say, as a UNC alumnus, I was never prouder of my school’s football team and coach. And some other praise.

After Saturday’s loss to Clemson, I felt like writing Mack another letter. I don’t have to because now we have the internet, and I can say it here. And since then, he’s won more games than any other active coach and doesn’t need a letter from me or anyone.

But we weren’t a 29-point underdog going into that 1988 game. And Duke wasn’t the defending ACC or national champion, far from it. And, yes, Brown has inherited better players in his second turn at Carolina than 31 years ago.

Like most ACC teams except Clemson and the old Florida State, the Tar Heels have good players, just not enough of them. And this isn’t exactly the UNC team that opened the season and beat South Carolina in Charlotte. Heck, our second-string quarterback was on crutches watching the game from the sideline. Two key defensive backs are gone; our offensive line has mostly sophomores and freshmen.

But the difference between a one-point loss and shocking the college football world was our starting quarterback being well defended on the two-point conversion attempt. So I knew what Brown would say to his kids after the game.

“Obviously, I made the decision to go for the two-point play because it was their best chance to win,” Brown told Jones Angell. “Those kids fought their guts out, and they left everything on the field. In the first game they made critical plays to win, in the second game we made critical plays to win. Third game we didn’t on both sides of the ball, same thing last week. Tonight, we made those critical plays . . .”

Except for one, of course. Carolina took a time out after Javonte Williams muscled his way into the end zone to make the score 21-20. Brown had his kicker on the field warming up to make it look like he might go for the tie. But his defense was clearly gassed and the odds were better to beat Clemson with one play than outlasting the Tigers in overtime.

The offense went back on the field and Carolina ran the same speed option to the right that worked against South Carolina. This time, Clemson’s quick, athletic defense forced the play to the sideline and Sam Howell couldn’t decide whether to keep it and go inside or pitch it to Dazz Newsome, who eventually came up with the ball and was finally forced out of bounds at the one-yard line.

“I die inside when we have a football team that doesn’t hustle every play give us everything they’ve got and they’re not passionate,” Brown said. “It was a loss but a different kind of loss because they gave it everything they had, and you walk away with your head up because you did everything that was possible to help your team win, and that’s all we can ask.”

The Tar Heels have now played three games at home, all sell-outs with the students in the endzone keeping the capacity crowd revved up the entire way. The game was on national TV, and the highlights were on all Saturday night and will be again on Sunday. Carolina came closer to beating Clemson than anyone in the last two years and was a four-touchdown underdog.

“That was a great football game, give Clemson credit; they know how to win, “Brown said. “Our defense played lights out. Our offense couldn’t get much going but our last drive was good enough to put us in a position to win the game.”

Linebacker Chazz Surratt, the converted quarterback who took some snaps at practice last week because there was no scholarship back-up, led the team in sacks and tackles and quarterback hurries against Clemson All-American Trevor Lawrence.

“We told them all week that this is the best team in the country, and we’re going to see how you measure up. There is a standard set by these guys, so let’s see who you are. If you beat these guys, then you’re talking about a different ball game. They practiced every day this week so well, didn’t talk about injuries and put themselves in a position to win. That’s what we asked them to do.”

Dozens of recruits were at the game, prospects Brown hopes will fill the holes and the depth chart in years to come.

“The future’s very, very bright. We told the recruits who were here that Clemson’s the best team in the country, and we’re going to fight out guts out tonight. But we’re going to be Clemson in two years, if you guys come. So at least we put on a good show for the recruits,” he said.

“Thanks to our fans, we’ve had three unbelievable atmospheres in Kenan Stadium, and next time we come back here for Duke on Homecoming, we need to have the same thing.”

Thank you, coach. Win or lose, you’ve made football fun again in Chapel Hill. And that’s all we can ask.