The evidence is overwhelming at this point: It's clear North Carolina still isn't ready for prime time.
Even Mack Brown admitted the Tar Heels weren't a top-five team after the Florida State loss; after Saturday night's 44-41 loss at Virginia, they have fallen entirely off the pace set by Clemson and Notre Dame.
There's a class divide in the ACC, and North Carolina is on the wrong side of it.
It's merely coincidental that the Tar Heels are unbeaten in the afternoon and have yet to win at night, but there's no excuse for losing to a bad Florida State team nor an average-at-best Virginia team, and both losses were rooted in the same deficiencies that surfaced even in North Carolina's wins.
The skill talent on the North Carolina offense is elite, from Sam Howell to Michael Carter and Javonte Williams to the receivers, Dyami Brown particularly. But the offensive line is too prone to breakdowns — Howell was sacked five times Saturday — and the defense is unreliable, to put it as nicely as possible.
It doesn't help that North Carolina continues to miss both its starting cornerbacks, but there's no excuse for the way quarterbacks have run on the Tar Heels. Florida State's Jordan Travis tore the Tar Heels up two weeks ago; Virginia's Brennan Armstrong had his moments Saturday night.
All of this was foreshadowed by the way Boston College came back in the second half to have a chance to win and the way Virginia Tech kept pace once Hendon Hooker took over at quarterback. The Tar Heels were able to tee off against N.C. State's backups with Devin Leary out, but that appears to be the exception to the rule, which is that the defense remains a level below the offense.
Not that the offense doesn't have its issues at times — and the vaunted running game never really did get in gear Saturday — but as they did at Florida State, the Tar Heels have the firepower to make things interesting even when they have to dig out of a hole of their own making.
Strange things were afoot under a full moon in Charlottesville, from the curious officiating that cost Howell a touchdown — on a fumble recovery ruled first an incomplete pass and then an inadvertent whistle — to the punt that Toe Groves muffed to give Virginia a chance to score before halftime and the bizarre play call on the goal line on the final play of the half to a dropped backward pass that cost the Tar Heels a chance to even kick a field goal to the fake punt North Carolina saw coming and still couldn't stop on the game's pivotal play in the final minute.
But as damaging as those oddities were, the seeds of North Carolina's defeat have been sown throughout the season, even in its wins. A funny thing happened on the way to the de facto semifinal against Notre Dame: The Tar Heels have now lost two games a team as good as they thought they were should have no business losing.
Losing at Virginia may not have been as unfathomable as losing at Florida State was, if only because it's happened 16 times in the Tar Heels' past 20 visits, but it was no less inexcusable.
If there's good news for North Carolina, it's that Duke is next: The Tar Heels will enter another rivalry game with something to prove. If there's better news, it'll be at noon.
