Injuries, inconsistent play leave Carolina riding a roller coaster

CHAPEL HILL — The roller coaster ride continues for North Carolina.

The Tar Heels are a long way from exiting the ride, but four games into the season, there have been ups and downs to go with twists and turns.

Starting with two surprise victories before two disappointing losses, Coach Mack Brown insisted Carolina hasn’t come off the tracks despite losing some momentum from the hot start.

“2-2 is probably ahead of what some people that were realistic thought we would be,” he said after Saturday’s loss to Appalachian State. “I love that we beat Miami and I love that we beat South Carolina. In fact, I thought we’d have a chance to beat these two and probably lose to those two. We ended up 2-2, which is about where I thought we’d be if we played well.”

The problem there for Brown in the Tar Heels is there have been few sustained stretches where the Tar Heels truly played well with Carolina’s success coming in fits and starts.

The lightning-fast start against Miami that set Kenan Stadium on fire. The near-perfect fourth quarter against South Carolina for both the offense and defense. Late rallies that came up short against App State and Wake Forest.

In those moments, the Tar Heels have looked like not only a bowl team, but one that could challenge Virginia and Miami for the Coastal Division title.

Then there have been the doldrums of the second and third quarters, where the offense has one touchdown in a combined eight quarters. The first-half defensive struggles that allowed the Mountaineers and Deacons to run out to big leads.

In those moments, the Tar Heels have looked like a team destined to miss the postseason for the third straight season.

Brown put the blame squarely on himself and the coaching staff.

“They’re really, really good kids that want to win and we’ve got to get them playing all the time instead of playing like (this),” he said, motioning his hand up and down. “That’s our job as coaches. They’re trying.”

The truth is the two wins over Miami and South Carolina might have inflated expectations for a team that faced little margin for error in finding six wins on its schedule.

The exact things that couldn’t happen for the Tar Heels have happened, with its only two upperclassmen on the offensive line going down with injuries. Center Nick Polino won’t be back for a while, while left tackle Charlie Heck missed Saturday’s game but could be in line to return against Clemson.

Against a gritty, veteran opponent on Saturday, Carolina had three sophomores and two freshmen — one true, one redshirt — up front.

“It’s a problem, but it’s an excuse,” Brown said. “I mean, they’re on scholarship, so we’ve got to play with what we’ve got and we’ve got to coach what we’ve got.

Eventually, Brown admitted it just isn’t the same, but again put the onus on himself and coaches to figure out how to make them successful.

“Because of the new players in there, we’re limited in our protections, so we really have to change up some things to get what we need to get,” he said.

Top cornerback Patrice Rene is out for the season, while Jason Strowbridge and Myles Wolfolk are battling injuries. Linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel left Saturday’s game in the second quarter after a targeting penalty.

Brown inherited a roster with some first-team talent, but the first few weeks of the season have exposed why Larry Fedora isn’t around anymore, as the Tar Heels don’t have the depth to stay consistent without starters — especially on both lines.

Sometimes, that lack of consistency is showing from one play to the next.

“I feel like we might have rode a little bit of a roller coaster on defense where we have sacks and then they convert on the next play and we have them backed up and they got us for a big game,” senior Aaron Crawford said. “You kind of have to keep your head steady, stay mellow and do what you’re supposed to do, do your job and that’s all it takes.”

Unprompted, linebacker Tomon Fox used the same term.

“Riding the roller coaster effect,” he said. “They hit us in the mouth and we sometimes tend to, our energy goes down a little bit and they capitalize on that. We’ve got to make sure to keep our energy up, stay focused through those times when they do hit us in the mouth and come back ready to play.”

Next up, No. 1 Clemson will bring its 19-game winning streak and a sea of orange to Carolina’s not-quite-amusement park and Brown doesn’t believe it’s the worst timing.

“We’re probably lucky that we’re playing the best team in the country, because that will pick our kids up and we’ll know the challenge,” he said.

After four games, the roller coaster ride has brought the Tar Heels right back to where they started, with a .500 record. Just as quickly as they’ve climbed, they’ve gone into free-fall to get here, needing a .500 finish to reach a bowl game.

“When you look at it, we’ve just got to continue to play,” he said. “We beat a team that’s really, really good in The Coastal and we’ve got a pretty good one coming in next week. Now, you kind of start over with everything and start looking at the Coastal and take what you’ve done and build off it.

“We’ve got to get better at what we do. It’s not about the teams we’ve played, any of the four, it’s about us. We probably got over-excited for the first two games and I’m not going to let us get too down for the next two games.”