No. 17 North Carolina defeated Appalachian State on Saturday night, but survived is really the right word.
The game was tight throughout. App State held leads of 3-0, 10-7, 17-10, and 24-20. The Mountaineers booted a 33-yard field goal to tie the game with 1:22 to play, which forced overtime when Carolina kicker Ryan Coe missed a 39-yarder as time expired.
North Carolina ultimately pulled away for a 40-34 win in double overtime, a year after winning 63-61 in Boone after surrendering 40 -- count 'em, 40 -- fourth quarter points.
The Tar Heels won both games, but afterward Mack Brown said he's done.
"All the pressure's on our kids. There's no pressure on App State, because nobody thinks they're going to win the game. But the pressure's on us. And unless we win, we're awful. And it just kills you. So I've had enough.
I'll enjoy my house in Linville and congratulating all the App State players and coaches, but I'm glad we're through."
Pressed on if the App-UNC games were good for football in the state of North Carolina, Brown came back with a good line: "It's a great thing for the state of North Carolina, and I encourage NC State and East Carolina" to play them.
Brown is correct that playing App State is a lose-lose for North Carolina, but there's another dimension at play here as well. As the eternal underdog, App State can now claim a rhetorical victory in the Tar Heels refusing to play them moving forward.
For North Carolina, App State's very existence is now a lose-lose-lose.