UNC Football Moments After – UNC vs. California 21-18 Loss 

UNC Tar Heels Football Team Fumbles the Game Away Against the California Bears

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

The North Carolina football team faced off against California on Friday night, looking to snap its two-game losing streak. After being injured in the UCF game a couple of weeks ago with a lower-body injury, Gio Lopez returned to the lineup as the starting quarterback. The Heels have been one of the worst offenses in the Power 4 conference this season, ranking at the bottom in several offensive categories, and after the bye, they wanted to turn things around. However, UNC got off to another bad start after fumbling on the first play of the game, which gave California great field position and a path to an easy touchdown. Carolina’s first three offensive drives were horribly bad, resulting in a fumble and two three-and-outs with just 16 yards of total offense.

UNC was too predictable and vanilla with their play calls offensively, making it very easy for California’s defense to stop whatever they did. On their fourth offensive play of the game, the Tar Heels ran a trick play that went for 37 yards after a Kobe Paysour catch that sparked the offense and led them to their first touchdown drive of the game, tying the game at 7. UNC running back Benjamin Hall gave their offense a boost with hard-nose running and had 52 rushing yards and a touchdown in the first half.  North Carolina’s defense played fairly well in the first half, limiting what California did on early downs and forcing them to third and longs. The Heels’ defense had California freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele a little out of sorts, causing him to throw errant passes. The one issue Carolina had, though, was their pass defense, giving up too many easy catches because they were playing off coverage all game long. There were too many plays where California receivers were running wide open all over the field, especially on third downs, where the Golden Bears converted 4 of their 10 third-down plays. Fortunately for the Tar Heels, the California receivers also had several drops throughout the first half and the game, helping UNC get off the field and hold California to just 14 points going into halftime. This was the first time UNC held a Power 4 opponent under 20 points in the first half and scored double-digit points against a Power 4 opponent in the first half as the Tar Heels were down 14-10 going into intermission.  

In the second half, the Tar Heels allowed an 11-play 79 touchdown drive to start the half and went down 21-10 as the pass defense continued to ail the Heels. California just got whatever in the passing game on that drive and took control of the game. Going into the fourth quarter, the Tar Heels were still struggling offensively due to the lack of production in the passing game and California being able to load the box against the run. However, on this particular drive to start the fourth, UNC finally opened up the passing game, actually attempting passes over 5 to 7 yards. Carolina quarterback Gio Lopez had a 20-yard pass completed to Kobe Paysour and a 31-yard pass completed to Shanard Clower. Because UNC started to be aggressive, throwing the ball downfield, they actually benefited from pass interference and holding calls down the field against the California secondary. The Tar Heels offense looked much better and drove down the field for a touchdown to cut the lead to 21-18. Carolina’s defense started to really have their way against California’s offense after that early touchdown drive and held them scoreless for the final 25 minutes of the game. The Heels started to get pressure on the quarterback, stifle the run game, and make plays on the ball in the pass game, leading to three straight punts. It would be up to North Carolina’s offense to capitalize on the opportunities their defense gave them. UNC would indeed drive the ball down the field and put itself in position to take the lead. But on the biggest play of the game that would’ve given Carolina the touchdown and the lead, Gio Lopez threw a pass to wide receiver Nathan Leacock, and Leacock fumbled right on the goal line. California got the ball back and ran the clock out, resulting in UNC’s third straight loss.  

UNC Game Stats  

UNC Total Offense- 287 yards  

Rushing 120 Passing 167           

UNC Passing: Gio Lopez 19/35 167 yards 

UNC Rushing: Benjamin Hall 14-68 yards 1TD, Davion Gause 6-31 yards 

UNC Receiving: Kobe Paysour 6-101 yards 

  

California Total Offense- 294 yards 

California Passing: Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele 21/39 209 yards 1TD 

California Rushing: Kendrick Raphael 22-81 1TD 

California Receiving: Jacob De Jesus 13-105 yards 1TD, Jordan King 3-54 yards   

UNC Bright Spots  

Running Back Benjamin Hall had 14 carries for 68 yards and one touchdown. 

Wide Receiver Kobe Paysour had 6 catches for 101 yards. 

Linebacker Tyler Thompson had two sacks. 

Needs Work  

The offensive system, game plan, playcalling, and whole operation need to completely change. The offense is basic, elementary, generic, and just plain too easy to defend. This team is on its way to becoming one of the worst offenses in UNC’s football history. They did show some progress after calling some pass plays downfield, but they must be consistent in calling those deep and intermediate pass plays to give the offense some type of balance. They have no identity, and there is no rhythm and flow to the offensive play calls. The offensive coaching staff just hasn’t put the offense in a position to succeed. They must find a way to put together a game plan for this offense to help them be productive on the field consistently 

On defense, they must be better with their pass defense. The scheme that the Heels have to defend the pass right now does not work. They are allowing receivers to run wide open all over the field for easy catches and are not even getting off the field on third and long because the defensive backs are dropping too far back on those plays. This team does not know how to play off coverage and can’t be successful in those deep drops. The coaching staff must change the way they play in the secondary and put them in a better position to make plays on the ball and disrupt opposing passing attacks.  

 Final Observations  

The Tar Heels fall to 2-4 on the season. Despite some improvement in some areas on both sides of the ball, the Heels still have some work to do to put themselves in a better position to win some games. There are just too many mental errors and self-inflicted mistakes being made on the field.  You combine that with a bad passing defensive scheme and a non-explosive offense, and you get a recipe for an unsuccessful product on the field. They are just not talented enough to overcome all those issues. However, the coaches have their work cut off for them. They must implement schemes and play calls that work well with the strength of the players. This will help them put the most successful product on the field. Next up is Virginia on Saturday, October 25, at 12:00 P.M. on the ACC network.