The ACC releases its basketball schedule for 2024-25 on Tuesday evening. It’s not a moment too soon, as football season came crashing down for two Triangle teams on Saturday.
NC State traveled to Clemson and was overwhelmed by the Tigers. The Wolfpack surrendered four first-quarter touchdowns, trailed 45-7 at the half and by as many as 45 points as Clemson rolled to a 59-35 win. It was the second blowout loss the Pack has suffered this year, coming two weeks after a 51-10 loss to Tennessee in Charlotte. State has also posted a pair of shaky home wins, with the Pack allowing overmatched foes Louisiana Tech and Western Carolina to hang around into the second half before pulling away.
Meanwhile, in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels were shocked by visiting James Madison, who shattered records for both schools as it rolled to a 70-50 win over UNC. It matched the most points UNC has ever surrendered in a game, and the beat-down broke records for most points allowed at Kenan Stadium and most given up in a half. It was also the most points JMU has ever scored against a FBS foe.
The 129 combined points given up were the most ever allowed by two Triangle teams on the same day. It topped Oct. 8, 2005, when Duke lost, 52-7, at Miami en route to a 1-10 season and Carolina lost 69-14 at Louisville, giving up a touchdown and two-point conversion more points. The previous worst Heels/Wolfpack daily double was Sept. 27, 2014, when State gave up 56 at Carter-Finley against Florida State and Carolina 50 at Clemson.
The Tar Heels were victimized by a blocked punt, onside kick, pick-six and several long completions, falling behind by 32 points in the first half. It was the first time UNC has trailed by 30 or more at home since 2016 and the first time the Heels fell behind by as much in the first half at Kenan since 1999.
Afterward, Mack Brown took responsibility for the humiliating loss, saying, “I hired everybody that works in this building, and I’ve signed every player on this team. So I mean, the people that want to blame me, they should, because I am at fault 100 percent. I missed it.”
Brown also reportedly offered to step down as head coach while addressing the team.
Doeren, meanwhile, seemed to imply that some members of his team quit as Clemson ran up the score.
“We’re gonna find out who wants to fight,” he said. “Who wants to get in there. … The guys kind of said no mas, and a bunch of guys stepped up and we started playing better. So this will be another truth serum when you get in the film room tomorrow. It’s gonna be a tough Sunday for them.”
When asked if the team captains stepped up as things went downhill, Doeren said, “I don’t know that I did, to be honest. I never saw a big play made by somebody in that role. … it wasn’t a game where there was a guy I can single out and say ‘He had a great game today.’ We didn’t have a guy like that today. We just didn’t.”
State returns home with a game against NIU—Doeren’s previous head coaching stop before taking the Wolfpack job—next week, while UNC travels to Duke for its annual rivalry game.
Both teams will have plenty of questions to answer before those games kick off.
