DURHAM, N.C. – The numbers on the scoreboard never lie. You either accumulate more points than the other team and win. Or your opponent outscores you and you lose.

Simple as that. No gray area.

It doesn’t matter if you give up 70 points and get dominated by what is universally considered a lesser opponent or surrender a late touchdown to fall to a rival by the slimmest of margins. A loss is a loss regardless of the circumstances.

North Carolina’s Mack Brown said as much on Saturday.

Technically, he’s right.

When it comes to the Tar Heels’ won-loss record, which now stands at 3-2, there’s no distinction between last week’s embarrassment at the hands of James Madison that had Brown openly pondering his coaching future and the field-storming 21-20 loss to Duke that cost them possession of the Victory Bell.

But that’s the only thing the 2 defeats have in common.

Don’t let the less downcast tone of the postgame comments fool you. While the beatdown against the Dukes was bad, soul-crushingly bad, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and losing to Duke for the 1st time in 6 years was exponentially worse.

You could hear the hurt in quarterback Jacolby Criswell’s voice, even as he vowed to “keep moving forward and finding a way” to regroup.

“This is my 4th year here and never lost to them,” he said. “My mindset was to dominate. I’ve seen Sam (Howell) and Drake (Maye), and they’ve been in games like this. Obviously, it’s tough to be on the short end of the stick.”

Criswell had an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the 2 previous UNC quarterbacks he mentioned, both of whom are currently in the NFL. But instead of leading his team on a dramatic game-winning drive in the final minute the way Maye did in the Tar Heels’ previous trip up US Highway 15-150 to Wallace Wade Stadium 2 seasons ago, his final pass was intercepted by the Blue Devils’ Tre Freeman.

In Criswell’s defense, he was hit as he let go of the ball, altering its trajectory. Then again, the game should never have come down to that in the 1st place.

UNC was in complete control, leading 20-0 midway through the 3rd quarter and seemingly cruising toward an emphatic victory that would have gone a long way toward erasing the memory of the previous week’s disaster. And the drama that followed it.

Instead, the Tar Heels regressed to the mean.

The defense that held Duke to only 97 1st half yards and shut the Blue Devils out for the better part of 3 quarters suddenly began giving up big plays both through the air and on the ground.

Tackles missed.

Receivers left open.

All of which were exploited by running back Star Thomas, who amassed 122 of his 166 rushing yards and all 45 of his receiving yards in the 2nd half, and quarterback Maalik Murphy, who led the Blue Devils to their biggest comeback since rallying from a similar 20-point deficit to Florida in 1962.

When the 73-year-old Brown was still only 11.

UNC’s offense was just as complicit in the meltdown as the defense.

It had an opportunity to effectively put the game away when Omarion Hampton appeared to pick up a 1st down on a 4th-and-1 run inside the Duke 10. But tight end Bryson Nesbit was called for holding on the play, nullifying the run.

Instead of punching the ball into the end zone for the kill shot. The Tar Heels settled for a chip-shot field goal.

And they never recovered.

Four of their final 5 possessions ended in punts after gaining fewer than 35 yards before the interception sealed the deal in the final 30 seconds.

“It felt like we got stronger as the game went on,” said Duke coach Manny Diaz, whose team has won its 1st 5 games for its best start since 1994. “And it felt like they, from my vantage point, went the other direction.”

Whether Diaz meant to say that the Tar Heels quit or even stopped playing as hard when faced with adversity is a matter for interpretation. But it sure sounds like it.

It’s tough enough having to rebound from a public embarrassment. Now UNC is faced with the double whammy of having to bounce back from an even more painful fate.
Having its collective heart ripped out in a rivalry game. With only a few days to regroup and undergo a transplant.

So now what? Where does UNC go from here?

Pragmatically, it heads back to Chapel Hill to play Pittsburgh and its suddenly explosive offense next week, followed by another home date against long-time nemesis Georgia Tech before getting to the 1st of its 2 open dates.

By that time its season on the brink could be in full meltdown mode. And Brown will be doing more than just pondering his coaching future.