Mack Brown reacts to North Carolina upset at Virginia Tech

Following Virginia Tech’s upset victory over 10th-ranked North Carolina, North Carolina’s head coach Mack Brown commented on his concern on the Tar Heels’ ability to replace last year’s talent on offense.

“I was really concerned,” Brown said after the game. “No. 1 because it is an unknown and those guys were really, really good. They weren’t as good the first year as they were last year. We’re kind of back to the unknowns of the first year like we were two years ago because Dyami [Brown] and Daz [Newsome], Javonte [Williams] and Michael [Carter] [are gone]. These guys just have to come faster, so when you play a really good team in the opener, in that environment, you’re going to find out every concern you got. Those were exposed tonight and we got to go back and address it.”

Brown’s concern didn’t stop there.

“Most people had a scrimmage this weekend and we had a very difficult team on the road in a tough environment,” Brown said. “It showed us some concerns that we’ve got to go back in and fix. Now we should know more about who our backs are, we should know who the receivers are that can step up and play, that’s been a concern. We’ve got to figure out why we did not play well, the first half on defense as well.”

With the loss of Brown and Newsome at receiver, expectations were that second-year wideout Josh Downs and upperclassmen Antoine Green and Emery Simmons would fill the roles left behind.

Downs stepped up in big moments, finishing with nine catches for 192 yards and North Carolina’s only touchdown of the game.

Simmons and Green combined for 66 yards on five catches.

Tight end James Mitchell, who received All-ACC honors last season, didn’t record a catch.

North Carolina finished with 146 rushing yards, averaging 4.9 yards per carry.

Tennessee transfer Ty Chandler led the team in rushing with 66 rushing yards on ten carries. Second-year back D.J Jones rushed for 43 yards on six carries, with 29 of those yards coming on the final play of the first half.

Rushing disappointment

Brown also voiced his surprise and disappointment at the Tar Heels’ inability to run the ball in the first half and the number of sacks quarterback Sam Howell took.

In the upset, Virginia Tech sacked Howell six times and forced three interceptions out of Howell, the most Howell has thrown in a single game in his North Carolina career.

Until Friday night, Howell had never committed a turnover in the fourth quarter. The Hokies managed to get two interceptions out of Howell in the final 12 minutes of the game. Howell’s final interception came with 37 seconds left in the game from the Hokies’ 40-yard line ending North Carolina’s comeback bid.

The Mack Brown-led Tar Heels went into halftime down 14-0 and rallied late in the second half, scoring their first points with just under 20 minutes left in the game.

North Carolina entered the fourth quarter down 14-7. Virginia Tech’s ensuing drive ended in a field goal, widening their lead to ten points. North Carolina’s next two drives ended in a turnover on downs and an interception, respectively. After a Virginia Tech missed field goal, tacked on a field goal, closing the deficit to just seven points.

Then, with 37 seconds left in the game, Howell threw his third interception, sealing the upset victory for Virginia Tech

“The shine’s off,” Mack Brown said following the upset. “Obviously the rating doesn’t matter tonight. We were overrated with the way we played.”