[Cactus Jack]

I'm not shocked that TCU won, but I was a bit shocked by what a blowout it was and how quickly things went downhill given the energy at kickoff.

Thought Desmond Howard had an interesting take on ESPN Radio today. He talked about how the first plays in games are typically scripted, and how well North Carolina looked on their first drive. But once both teams settled in and North Carolina was obviously to the point that they were off-script, they were well behind TCU. To me, that wasn't indicative of a team that the coach was incapable of preparing, just one that he didn't have the time or resources (players) for yet.

Selfishly, I'd like to see North Carolina's football become more relevant, especially if it helps bring them to the SEC. If it weren't for Belichick, I doubt I'd have had very high expectations for the UNC-TCU game if it weren't the only game on, so I don't know that you could say that he's a disaster or that they could be doing better, but they certainly have a long way to go.

TCU was in the national championship three years ago, went 8-4 against a pretty bad schedule last season, and should be bowl-eligible this season.

Think that we're probably getting too far ahead of ourselves if we say that this game alone is going to be indicative of how UNC's season goes. Clemson is the only tough game on their schedule, and they have a pretty nice runway into that home match-up. Otherwise, I don't see any game where they're going to be over-matched or a win would be considered some huge upset. TCU would probably be much more of a factor in the ACC race than they'll end up being in the Big XII race.

Seeing Belichick take UNC to the CFP or holding down a spot in the Top 15 in the next two seasons isn't very realistic, but I don't know if that was ever a reasonable expectation either. If Belichick's goal was to win an NCAA Championship, I'm sure that there were opportunities that would have been a much quicker fix and means to that end. Coming in to Chapel Hill, I was given the impression that taking them to a couple of bowl games, building a culture, and leaving it better than you found it for the next coach would be considered a success. I don't think that's changed.

If anything, an unavoidable humbling loss now is better than late and carrying that energy and momentum into the offseason.