University of North Carolina Athletics
Brownlow: Repeated Gut Punches
November 22, 2008 | Football
Nov. 22, 2008
By Lauren Brownlow
There's nothing in any other sport that can quite compare with an opponent facing third down in football. The tension - and excitement - in the stadium is palpable, fans are screaming for as many as 30 seconds as the shot clock winds down, and it almost feels as if the entire game rests on that moment, even it doesn't. Nothing feels better than when the defense holds on third down and nothing can feel worse than that letdown when the opponent converts and the air seems to leave the stadium.
NC State converted eight of 17 third downs. But one of the "holds" set the tone for the day. A sure interception hit Mark Paschal in the hands, bounced out and into the hands of an NC State wide receiver who gained eight yards on third and 12, setting up NC State's first points on a field goal.
It all happened so fast that there almost seemed to be no explanation. Losing a game like this to a rival never comes down to just third-down conversions or to any one aspect. Losing a game 41-10 to a rival is a team effort. But just like allowing an opponent to convert on 3rd and long, this game was filled with one gut-punch after another that sucked the life, and eventually the fans, out of Kenan Stadium.
With 6:44 to go in the third, Carolina still had a chance. It had surrendered just three points off of three turnovers. Carolina gained 27 yards on three carries on its way to a touchdown to cut it to 17-10, and the Carolina offensive line looked like it was the more physical unit, if only briefly.
Then NC State converts a 3rd and 11 and a 4th and one. Deunta Williams had a certain pick-six in his hands and it bounced out. NC State scored two plays later. On the kickoff, Carolina lost a fumble. In 14 seconds, NC State turned a seven-point lead into a 21-point lead.
"I really don't have an explanation for it," junior defensive end E.J. Wilson said. "I thought against our rivals, we would come a lot more enthused and play a lot harder than we did. We weren't very fundamentally found today. We played kind of flat. From the looks of it, it seemed like they wanted it a lot more than we did today."
NC State outplayed the Tar Heels in all phases. Rivalry games are won and lost in the trenches - this game was won when Carolina forced a T.A. McClendon fumble on the goal line in 2004 and it was lost this season when Carolina got whipped up front on both sides of the ball. As Wilson said, it was certainly a team loss. There were NC State wide receivers running down the field wide open but there were also times that Russell Wilson could have eaten a picnic lunch in the pocket without being bothered.
"I feel like the busted coverages wouldn't have been a problem if we could have gotten to the quarterback," Wilson said. "So busted coverages also fall back on the defensive line as well as the linebackers as well as the secondary because it's a team effort. No one position group on one side of the ball lost this game for us. It was a collective loss. So the blame can't go on one single unit or one single person."
This team has always approached every game with an even keel. Butch Davis never wants the highs to be too high or the lows to be too low. Even approaching a game with a heated rival, Davis wanted the attitude or approach of the team to be no different than it has been before any other game. The 24-hour rule has always been in place, win or lose. That will certainly be tested this week.
NC State wanted it more and it showed. But no one has worked harder to make himself better on this team than senior linebacker Mark Paschal. Walking off of the field after his final game at Kenan Stadium, obviously emotional, he paused right as he saw the Tar Pit. He sighed, tried to force a smile and blew a kiss to the students.
Sometimes, after a loss like this there are tendencies to look for some easy answer to how something like this could have happened. Six lost turnovers to none gained is a good answer. But it's not the whole story. The players were asked if there was a bad week of practice, if there was bad preparation or if they were caught off-guard by the NC State intensity. None of them had any answers.
Shaun Draughn, who looked absolutely devastated after losing two fumbles on consecutive touches in the first quarter, even gave his own version of the famous Dennis Green rant after his Arizona Cardinals lost to the Chicago Bears a few years ago: "They are who we thought they were."
"It was everything we thought they are," he said. "Everything we thought they were going to do, they did it."
Players Mentioned
