North Carolina junior running back Barrington Edwards and freshman receiver Kenton Thornton stood two feet apart from each other on their own sideline — dancing on the bleachers and pumping up the crowd as the game came to an end.

Freshman safety Bryan Dixon had tears in his eyes shortly before the clock hit zero while many other members hugged and celebrated.

Coach John Bunting, in his final game as coach, was doused with Gatorade seconds later. As the clock hit zero, Bunting walked to midfield and shook hands with coach Chuck Amato. Then his team members put him on their shoulders and started to carry him off the field.

Then came the students.

The scene resembled that of a program-changing win or a championship-caliber victory.

But, it happened to be North Carolina’s only Division-I win of the season — 23-9 against N.C. State on Saturday afternoon at Kenan Stadium.

Senior defensive tackle DeMarcus “Tank” Tyler said the scene was one he could not imagine — adding it was tough to watch. He said seeing Bunting getting carried off the field added to the aggravation.

“It’s very frustrating,” Tyler said. “But they are a good team. They won the game.”

The loss marked the Wolfpack’s third straight loss to the Tar Heels. In each game, State had a drive that could tie or win the game. On Saturday, with less than three minutes remaining, the Pack had a chance to go down the field and tie the game.

But on a fourth down, deep in its own territory and down 16-9, Amato decided to go for it. Amato said he wanted to “take a shot.”

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Daniel Evans, who finished the game 22-for-41 with 261 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions, went back to pass and then was sacked and he fumbled. The Tar Heels picked up the ball and scored a touchdown — putting the game away at 23-9.

For the seniors, they close out their career with another loss to North Carolina. Sophomore running back Toney Baker said the locker room had a very sour feeling after the game.

“It’s very somber, very disappointing,” Baker said. “Especially for our seniors — lost to these guys three years in a row. I just feel really bad for them to go out like that.”

Asked about the program being in a crisis, Baker didn’t have too much of an idea.

“I have no answers,” Baker said. “I have no idea.”

Aside from Baker, Amato also didn’t have too much of a reason for the losses. Asked how his team could put more players in the NFL the past few years, win more games and go to more bowls but still lose to North Carolina, Amato didn’t know if there was a reason.

“There may be,” Amato said. “This is a rivalry — all those other things you said are pretty positive. Our record the first six years was 3-3. I don’t care how many you’ve won in a row, or how many you didn’t win in a row.”

Once again, the Pack could not finish a game in the end. In its six-game losing streak, every game has been within one score — except against the Tar Heels.

Evans only knew one way to describe how the season has turned since its wins against Boston College and Florida State

“Bad,” Evans said. “I don’t know. We start off against Appalachian State and we have an all right game, then drop two straight and then have two huge wins in a row. We just haven’t been able to finish games out.”

Not only could State lose another close game — it continued to not play mistake-free football.

Amato said going into the game, his team wanted to focus on limiting mistakes.

“The biggest emphasis was protect the football and don’t have any foolish penalties,” Amato said.

He also said he still doesn’t have an answer for his team’s turnovers and penalties. The Pack finished with four turnovers — three interceptions and one fumble — and also had nine penalties for 82 yards.

“I don’t know why,” Amato said. “You know what? There is nobody that works of them harder than we do.”

However, Amato insists his players will come back and be ready to play in the future.

“We’ll get our kids back,” he said. “We got good kids — we’ll get our kids back. Because you know what, they want to come back — they want to come back. You think they like what’s going on? It crushes them.”

Baker, when asked if something was holding the team back, couldn’t figure out the reason for the consecutive losses.

“I really couldn’t tell you. I could not tell you,” Baker said. “I think we have a good group of guys, a together team and a great talent. We just got to put it together.”