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What was your most disappointing loss/hardest-to-take loss as a Canes fan?

Easily Indiana. Most of you all had the privilege of experiencing a competitive team and this was my first go-round so this is seared into my mind.

4th and 17 sucked too
 
At Pitt in 2017 and the Clemson *** whooping following that in the ACCCG were pretty brutal.

Finally felt like we'd turned a corner as a program again under Richt. Before the game it was the best I had felt about the program in over a decade.

We were ranked #2 in the final game of regular season. Media all talking about how the U is back. We whooped ND and VT in prime time matchups. It somehow felt like we had a real shot at #6 and could take down anyone while wearing those Rosier flavored kool aid glasses.

We were reminded in those games that our program was still a tier below the blue bloods. We found out that we could have a fun, scrappy team, and make a run every now and then, but the big boys will still knock us on our asses because we lacked the jimmys and joes.

It was so clear what the difference was in that Clemson game. They'd run up the middle for 4-6 yards and fall forward. Wed run up the middle for 1-2 and fall backwards. Was sickening.

Can't really fathom how we got to where we are now. That offseason was one to remember.
 
Recently it’s gotta be UNC 2020. I was never a Manny fan and didn’t see that things would work out, but man, that game was just demoralizing. Came in with a shot at the ACC Championship and left with 1,000 yards dropped on our heads.

Bama in 2021 officially put the nail in Manny’s coffin, but the cake was baked long beforehand.
 
DB4 said:
'03 Fiesta Bowl, '23 Georgia Tech, the loss to FIU
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23 Georgia Tech has to be up there too. Utter disbelief. Had a thousand yard stare for hours - no anger or sadness, just processing wtf happened. My fiancee was genuinely concerned for a night lmao
 
The most hopeless I’ve probably ever felt was 48-0 against UVA and then the loss at home to USF.

Middle Tennessee is obviously awful but that was year 1 and I was trying to make myself understand that this was a tear it down to the studs rebuild.
 
n0rcalcane said:
23 Georgia Tech has to be up there too. Utter disbelief. Had a thousand yard stare for hours - no anger or sadness, just processing wtf happened. My fiancee was genuinely concerned for a night lmao
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I remember I sat in my apartment at my desk in silence for a solid 45 minutes before I did anything. There was such a mix of thoughts (fumble should have never been called, but why didn't they take a knee, and then how does the safety let them get so wide open?). That was legitimately gut-wrenching.
 
DB4 said:
n0rcalcane said:
23 Georgia Tech has to be up there too. Utter disbelief. Had a thousand yard stare for hours - no anger or sadness, just processing wtf happened. My fiancee was genuinely concerned for a night lmao
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I remember I sat in my apartment at my desk in silence for a solid 45 minutes before I did anything. There was such a mix of thoughts (fumble should have never been called, but why didn't they take a knee, and then how does the safety let them get so wide open?). That was legitimately gut-wrenching.
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The only words I spoke for an hour afterwards were “I can’t believe that happened.”
 
Always going to be the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. I was 10 years old and it was the first time I had ever saw Miami lose a game. I was devastated. But more recently was the Georgia Tech loss in 2023. Being there watching that game in person was actually insane. The stadium was nearly empty because everyone thought the game was over. I was sitting in the section with a few others and when GT won I couldn’t believe it and just started running out of the stadium because I was about to have a break down lol.
 
2014 vs FSU … I was there at that game and was full of confidence when we were up 23-10 at the half 😭 they ended up coming back and beating us 😭 I wanted to fight every fsu fan when I was walking outta the stadium 😂😂
 
Those of you who aren't old enough don't realize how brutal the loss of the '87 Fiesta Bowl was to Pedo State. Only in retrospect, after the scandal ripped the wound off one more time, did that loss seem much more magnified than the '02 loss.

That's probably because the '86 Defense was probably the best in Canes History, and I say that with all due respect to the '02 Crowd.

Vinny got in an accident with a scooter a couple of weeks before the game, if memory serves, and never quite recovered. I've never bought into the "Mob Had Him Throw The Game", although some of his teammates have accused him of that. Jimmy had a chance to win and called a pass play when he had the horses on the ground to win the game.

'02 was brutal, '87 was worse, imho. '26 wasn't so bad because you could see that this Mario Canes team is the Beginning of Some Greatness.
 
The Pitt game during the 2017 season was really frustrating. It was predictable of course but that one really ****ed that fun season up.

The GT non kneel wouldn’t make the podium but I didn’t speak for 20 mins after the game walking to the car lmao our group of 8 nobody said a word just stared forward walking to the car.
 
saturdaysarebetter said:
What was your most disappointing loss/hardest-to-take loss as a Canes fan?
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Focusing on in person:

Fiesta bowl- ohio state - duh
Notre Dame in South Bend- Twice
Closing the Orange Bowl With A loss to Virginia
Getting assaulted by clemson.... until they fired his ***
Losing To Indiana- but the hope from the run makes it not the top
 
Most embarrassing:
- 97 FSU
- 98 Syracuse
- 2019 FIU
- 2020 UNC
- 2022 Midd Tenn ST

Angriest:
- 2012 K-State
- 2013 Louisville
- 2014 Nebraska
- 2015 UNC
- 2018 UVA
- 2023 GTech

Toughest/Heartbreaking:
- 03 Oh ST
- 25 Indiana 🤮
 
2023 Georgia Tech was disgusting. The most shocked and angry I've ever been as a fan. I still have a pit in my stomach watching that game. I mean, we had that game won! We were 4-0 entering that game, and Tyler van Dyke looked great up to that point! And we gave it to them. In so many ways. Anyone would have been right to be ****ed as **** at Mario.

That Mario somehow recovered from such a humiliating loss to where we're at now. It's impressive. Most coaches would have never recovered from being a national embarrassment, as the coach who didn't kneel the ball. And yet, we're here - ready to kick the rest of the college football world's asses.
 
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I get so crushed every loss it’s hard to rank. I’m not sure that being a canes fan isn’t a mental disorder at this point. It’s definitely taken at least ten years off my life. Hopefully I can get some added back with another ring. That being said saying goodbye to the Old Lady was beyond tough.
 
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