The North Carolina Tar Heels suffered a dramatic and demoralizing defeat to the James Madison Dukes at home in Week 4 of the 2024 college football season.
Veteran head coach Mack Brown is taking the blame head-on for North Carolina’s disappointing showing, and the collapse hints at potential uncertainty looming.
North Carolina Head Coach Mack Brown Takes Responsibility for North Carolina Tar Heels’ Week 4 Loss
After the North Carolina Tar Heels won their season opener against a stingy Minnesota team and won their second and third games handily, expectations were high for the team’s Week 4 contest against Sun Belt outfit James Madison Dukes.
But rather than handle a Group of Five opponent with ease, the Tar Heels were instead handled themselves. They gave up a whopping 53 points to James Madison in a disastrous first half and ultimately lost 70-50 in a catastrophic organizational collapse.
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North Carolina allowed almost 500 total yards and seven total touchdowns to James Madison quarterback Alonza Barnett III. Meanwhile, the Tar Heels committed five turnovers, and as a result of their own failings, they were constantly playing catch-up.
North Carolina’s constant need to close the gap did bring about a few bright spots on offense. In his first start of the season, Jacolby Criswell threw for 475 yards and three touchdowns, and running back Omarion Hampton rumbled for 139 yards and three scores.
Ultimately, however, none of that offensive production was enough to offset the brutal mistakes that buried Brown’s squad early in the game.
After the game, Brown was the only representative of North Carolina who spoke, and he centered the blame on himself for the lackluster outing. He called the game “embarrassing” and lamented the reality of losing to a Group of Five team.
Mack Brown: “Embarrassed. It was awful. You can’t get beat by a Group of Five team, and you certainly can’t get beat like that. … You can’t draw it up any worse.”
— InsideCarolina (@InsideCarolina) September 21, 2024
Brown went farther on his own self-evaluation, reflecting on the six years he’s been at North Carolina since returning to Chapel Hill in 2019. Since his return, Brown is 41-28 with the Tar Heels, winning just 68.3% of his games in charge.
Mack Brown: “…I’m responsible for everything. And I’ve been here for six years and you shouldn’t lose a game like this.”
— Ross Martin (@RossMartinNC) September 21, 2024
You can see the full video of Brown’s response to the loss below, courtesy of Will Dalton on X, Formerly Twitter.
“Embarrassing day. Shocking day.”
Here’s Mack Brown after the 70-50 loss to JMU.#UNC #JMU #ACC pic.twitter.com/ydOqtAFKrv
— Will Dalton (@thewilldalton) September 21, 2024
The Tar Heels have had their moments in the Mack Brown 2.0 era. They haven’t missed a bowl game since Brown’s return, and in 2022, they earned their conference division title behind the arm of eventual first-round pick Drake Maye.
That said, crippling losses like the one experienced in Week 4 against James Madison appear too often for the Tar Heels. And this late in his coaching career, Brown is still looking for answers.
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