Off the cuff: My thoughts on the UNC-State football game: The Heels don't seem to care about the rivalry as much as NC State does. I attribute that, in part, to State's coach being a college-based coach and UNC's coach being a pro-obsessed coach.

Even in a pre-game interview, talking about one of his players, Butch Davis said, "Tar Heel fans are going to enjoy watching him play on Sundays in the National Football League." Most Tar Heel fans have their favorite NFL team as well. So, for instance, unless he plays well for the Redskins or poorly for the Cowboys, I'm not going to enjoy watching him.

Other thoughts on the game itself, briefly: Too many turnovers and not all being forced. Sky kickoffs stink. QB T.J. Yates did not play well but, unlike what other commentators have said, he was not the reason the Heels lost. The move had to be made because Cam Sexton was so bad last week. Sexton didn't do anything when he came in during this game either. Nonetheless, Yates obviously is not 100 percent. The secondary continues to give up too many third-and-long plays. They are also dropping interceptions they would have had earlier in the season.

When the Heels were 7-2, I thought Butch Davis was the coach of the year. Don't think he has a chance for that now with two straight losses. As good as the season has been at times, they are only a loss to Duke away from having a record that I said at the first of the year was a worst-case scenario - 7-5. The Heels really need to put a whipping on Duke and win a bowl game to get the good feeling they had earlier in the season.