Did Syracuse get North Carolina’s best game? UNC coach Mack Brown doesn’t think so

In the aftermath of a 40-7 dismantling of Syracuse that was impressive by any measure, North Carolina coach Mack Brown had a chilling thought Saturday to those still on the UNC schedule:

“I think our best game is still out there.”

To which Dino Babers, the Syracuse coach, might want to reply: “Say what?”

Babers might make the claim that the Orange were on the wrong end of the No. 14 Tar Heels at their best.. Very little went right and a lot wrong for Syracuse — much of it the Heels’ doing.

Drake Maye passed for 442 yards and three touchdowns, ran for another 55 yards and a score and earned the standard Brown postgame comment: “Drake is Drake, he’s just so good.”

With Tez Walker made eligible by the NCAA and finally in the lineup, Maye had another target at wide receiver. On one play, he had both Walker and Nate McCollum open deep and let it rip to McCollum.

Add in Kobe Paysour’s juggling, one-hand snag and 77-yard touchdown catch and it’s easy to understand why Maye said, “We had a blast out there.”

The running game had some juice, getting 202 yards as the Tar Heels finished with 644 against a Syracuse defense that has been tough enough much of the season. UNC had drives of 95 and 94 yards in the first half, eating up the minutes.

“We’ve got some good things going and we’ve got to keep it going,” Maye said.

UNC defense played, in the words of senior linebacker Cedric Gray, its most complete game of the season. They completely shut down the Orange in the first half in taking a 27-0 lead and shackled Syracuse quarterback Garrett Shrader, a dangerous dual threat, most of the game.

“We knew we have to make a change, we had to be better this year,” Gray said. “To see it kind of playing out and us executing it, I’m really proud of how the defense is playing and want to keep this going the rest of the year.”

Photos: North Carolina Tar Heels defeat Syracuse, reamin undefeated

In the first quarter, the Orange did block a UNC punt. That’s a good thing, yes? Except when the punter, UNC’s Ben Kiernan, grabs the ball on a bounce and runs 17 yards for first down.

Babers was convinced Kiernan came up just short of the first down marker. When the Heels were awarded the first down, he was hoping for a review and a reversal and called a timeout to allow time for it.

A reversal didn’t come. The ruling: first down, Tar Heels, who then finished off the 94-yard drive.

That was yet one more play the Tar Heels had fun with in a happy locker room after the game, Maye saying Kiernan was showing off a smashed face-mask from the big hit he took at the sideline.

“How ‘bout Ben Kiernan with the big run of the night,” Maye said, smiling.

It was just that kind of day for UNC, which will take a 5-0 record and 2-0 ACC mark into next week’s game against Miami at Kenan Stadium.

“That’s a really good football team and I’m not sure its getting the credit it deserves,” Babers said of UNC. “That was something to see today.”

After the game, Gray said defensive coordinator Gene Chizik asked his players to think about the last time they were 5-0. Gray, a Charlotte native, was stumped.

“For me, it had to be little league,” Gray said, grinning. “Ballantyne Gators. It was a long, long time ago.”

Brown, being a coach, said he wanted the players to enjoy the win while also being judgmental about their play and concerned about how they can improve on Saturday’s game.

“I was so proud tonight they didn’t overlook this game for Miami,” Brown said. “This was important for them to get better and that’s what they did.

“We can’t get comfortable. And when you’re winning you get more comfortable. I told the players, ‘You walk out of here and feel good that we won but you be really hard on yourself and critical of your self evaluation because we need to get better.’”