ND @ UNC (11 October, 2008)

In deference to Signore Sullivan, ciao a tutti...

I literally got off a plane from London  yesterday to watch the game so there's possibly some jetlag effect to my observations but here goes...

1. The offense was absolutely not the problem. The turnovers will be what the media talks about but the D was responsible for this loss.

2. More about The D. We make more mediocre RBs look like stars... No one goes down on any of our player's first hit. Ever. And our inability to correct this will haunt us.

3.  UNC's 3rd and 16 conversion. I believe it was THE key play of the 2nd half. We stop them there and we likely put their D on their heels as we did all day). I've haven't been so pissed since a 3rd and 26 vs Miami in the 80's... which leads me to pt #...

4. Hakim Nicks. Did no one ever consider assigning an extra DB to him? We had no one who could cover him - which is not a crime, the guy's a stud - but why we were so passive about him was beyond me. They went to him whenever they needed a 1st down.

5. Mo Crum. I will shed no tears when he graduates. 'Nuff said.

6. Southern teams, even ACC ones, are much faster than we're used to seeing.

7. Those same teams are also much mouthier than we see in the Midwest. I just wanted to see us smack the shit out that one particular tailback...

8. Duval had a fairly redemptive 2nd half.

9. Bob Griese & Co. actually weren't that bad.

10. The (final) Floyd fumble looked to me like a conscious effort on his part to merely keep the play alive. He probably didn't realized there'd be a clock stoppage. Unfortunate.

11.  Walker makes a FG. As Larry Corrigan used to say, "even a blind squirrel finds an acorn occasionally..."

In sum, I haven't been this disappointed about a loss in a very, very long time. We were in control of this game and had chances to win this comfortably. I'm sure everyone will write that this is just a part of the team's further maturation blah blah blah... but yesterday should've been a 'W'. I'm very bummed and I lay it at the feet of our D, players and coaches.