FIrst things first: This article is not going to mention opt-outs, particularly not in the context of blaming them for the loss, calling players who didn’t play names, or complaining about people quitting on their unpaid overtime for which they didn’t even get the normal amount of bowl game perks, compensation, or opportunity to get into game shape. Any such comments will be ruthlessly moderated.
I think that game was probably about what we could have expected from this matchup, if not better. Texas A&M is the 11th-most talented team in the country, according to 247Sports’ talent calculator, and UNC is 22nd — and most of that manifests in the trenches, where UNC’s upperclassmen are easily the lower end of its talent and the same is not the case for TAMU (or most good programs, but that issue with a previous regime’s recruiting has been over-litigated at this point).