Welter: UNC's struggles under Mack Brown are ironic, don't you think

By Pat Welter

It was like a lyric from the Alanis Morissette song "Ironic." UNC quarterback Drake Maye had just fumbled on the Tar Heels' first play from scrimmage to start the third quarter. Notre Dame recovered and had 4th and goal from the three. Irish quarterback Drew Pyne went over the middle to a receiver blanketed by Tar Heels linebacker Cedric Gray. The ball fell incomplete and as Gray got up to celebrate, out came the flag and Gray's shoulders immediately slumped in defeat. The maligned and lampooned UNC defense had come through in a pivotal moment in the game and the refs took it away. Mack Brown responded by earning the first unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of his career.

"We really want to win and we want to have a fair chance to win," Brown said after the game. "If I feel like something has been taken away from the kids on a play it's my responsibility to stand up for them."

Brown didn't just stand up, he threw his hat. He berated the refs for over a minute and for good reason. It was a terrible call and everyone in the stadium knew it. The penalty only cost them a yard and Notre Dame inevitably went on to score to take a 38-14 lead and won the game 45-32.

"Give them credit that's one of the best teams we've played since we've been here," Brown said.

The penalty was Brown standing up for his team, but it felt like something bigger. Like frustration boiling over after his defense struggled yet again.

"Anybody that walks out of this and couldn't see that they were better than we were doesn't understand football," Brown said. "Twenty-six straight wins over ACC teams in the regular season, this isn't the first night somebody stood in here and talked about how good Notre Dame ran the ball."

287 yards rushing to be specific. Notre Dame was good and has been good. No debate there. Sure they don't compete with the top tier in the playoff, but after Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia, and Oklahoma, no one in the College Football Playoff era has been more consistent.  But and this is a big but, it's hard to overlook the fact that Notre Dame has a first year head coach in Marcus Freeman, they are playing their backup quarterback, have already lost to Marshall and just struggled to beat Cal. Entering the season no one expected UNC to beat Notre Dame when they were the preseason No. 5 team in the country, but this week UNC was a -2.5 favorite.

"That's where we want to go, that's where we want to get," Brown said. "We knew they were going to run it and they still lined up and ran it. And we are not there, we can't do that yet and we should be and that's where we've got to get to."

Earlier in the week Brown said this game would show him who his team was. The irony is we already knew. They are the same team they've been and that's what's so frustrating.

"It's similar to last year," UNC receiver Josh Downs said after the game. "A lot of the guys playing this year didn't experience last year, I did. So it's not like this is a new feeling to me. It's a little frustrating because of that, but it is what it is, we are going to bounce back."

In the off season, Brown made changes to the staff and changes to the way he practiced. He's preached competitiveness and accountability. He hired Gene Chizik whose defense was supposed to simplify things and allow the Tar Heel athletes to read and react. What's that Alanis lyric? 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife.

"Our defense has been inconsistent since we've been here," Brown said. "What I would say [to fans] is support these kids, pick them up and be so positive and try to encourage them because they are trying really, really hard and there's some very talented players out there that are going to keep getting better."

Brown fired defensive coordinator Jay Bateman after a listless defensive performance in the Duke's Mayo Bowl where the Tar Heels looked unprepared and like they didn't care. I didn't see that last night. I saw a defense angry and disappointed that they were failing after talking all spring and summer about why they were different.

I heard Cedric Gray on the sidelines emotionally plead to his teammates "We've got to pick it up!" I saw linebacker Power Echols take Tony Grimes aside after Grimes took an unnecessary roughness penalty in the 4th quarter in the redzone which led to Notre Dame's sixth and final touchdown. Pass rusher Noah Taylor, who played for Virginia last season, got into Grimes face on the sidelines after the play in what looked like a heated exchange.

"We've asked them to be a player led team, we've asked them to push each other, we've asked them to call on each other," Brown said. "I've seen coaches get in fights on the sideline. This is really important and if it's not working well you want to fight your guts out to make sure that everybody understands you're doing the best that you can do."

The real irony of Morisette's song is she's technically misusing the word. Irony is defined as "the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect." Or "a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result."

Irony is the opposite of what you expect to happen. With Mack Brown's UNC program we shouldn't be surprised at what we are seeing at this point, we should plan for it. Like Morisette's rain on her wedding day or a free ride when you've already paid, that's not irony, it's just a bummer.