Carolina was the best of a bad weekend for the Big Four.
Duke, N.C. State and Wake Forest were outscored 135-29 Saturday by Syracuse, Louisville, and Clemson. At least, the Tar Heels’ loss Thursday night at Pitt was a respectable 34-27.
The problem is that it left the local Triangle teams all with 4-6 records, meaning all three have to win their remaining two games to gain bowl eligibility. It may be a shallow contention, but Carolina is the best of the three and has the easiest path to six wins.
Duke, which opened the season 4-1, has lost its last four games and must play at Wake Forest and at home against surging Miami to finish the regular season. I know the Blue Devils are coached by the revered David Cutcliffe, but sorry they looked like no one was coaching them in the 49-6 loss to Syracuse, which was coming off its own four-game losing streak.
State, which has also dropped four straight, must win at Georgia Tech and at home against Carolina to secure its fifth straight bowl bid under suddenly beleaguered coach Dave Doeren. The Wolfpack has had quarterback woes all season since four-year starter Ryan Finley graduated to the winless Cincinnati Bengals.
Wake Forest has already qualified for another bowl bid, the fourth in a row under Dave Clawson, and the 7-3 Deacons’ games against Duke at home and at Syracuse will determine just how good of a post-season bid they get.
If Carolina does have the best Triangle path to a first bowl in three years, it is only because Saturday’s Senior Day game is against Football College Subdivision foe Mercer and the regular-season finale is in Raleigh against a struggling State team that has both injury and personnel problems.
Mack Brown’s Tar Heels, as you well know, have a season full of close games and all six losses by seven points or less. In fact, their only win by more than that margin was at Georgia Tech in week six when they were 3-3. Carolina hasn’t been above .500 since winning its first two games against South Carolina and Miami. Doesn’t that seem like a long time ago?
Brown is a master motivator, and he can approach his players with the idea of having a mini-playoff opportunity in front of them. Beat Mercer and move on to State for a bowl bid and a chance to end the season by hoisting a championship trophy, whether it be in Shreveport, Louisiana, or some other outpost at the bottom of a bowl pecking order. But much better than sitting home.
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