The difference is we were never in position to win that game. We were down 52-38 with 2 minutes left in the game. We scored a TD to get the Moral Victory you talk about but were never in position to have a chance to win. Saban didn't even try to score on their last possession because he knew all he had to do was punt and we would need to go 90 yards in 16 seconds. We took a sack as the clock ran out. Losers love to pretend "we almost won that one".
UNC on the other hand had the choice to go for 2 for the win or kick the extra point for OT. Brown elected to go for 2 knowing he had about a 40% chance of making it. It didn't work out for him that day, but hopefully you can see the difference.