UNC Football Moments After – UNC vs. Charlotte 20-3 Win 

UNC Tar Heels Football Team Holds Off the Charlotte 49ers for the First Win of the Bill Belichick Era

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

After a disappointing loss in their season opener, the Tar Heels football team looked to bounce back against Charlotte on Saturday night. For the second straight week, the UNC offense went right down the field and scored on their opening drive. Gio Lopez threw a beautiful 51-yard touchdown pass to Chris Culliver to put the Tar Heels on the board first. However, after scoring on their first two drives, the offense stalled on their next three offensive drives not taking advantage of the opportunities provided by the defense. The lack of creativity in the play calling and some self-inflicted errors really prevented Carolina from putting more points on the board in the first half. Defensively, UNC was outstanding holding the 49ers to just 3 points, 120 yards of total offense, and just 22 rushing yards. Carolina’s defense line really had their way against Charlotte’s offensive line and were very disruptive in the backfield. Right before halftime, the Heels executed a nice 2-minute drive to go up 17-3 going into the second half.  

In the second half, the North Carolina defense continued to play well holding the 49ers scoreless in the third and fourth quarters. The Heels stout defense caused major problems for Charlotte’s offense all night long and even when the 49ers did drive the ball down the field in their redzone either got a stop or forced a turnover. Meanwhile, North Carolina’s offense after halftime was pretty pedestrian. The Tar Heels had 4 three and outs, struggled to convert on third down, and had one scoring drive that resulted in a field goal, but it didn’t matter because the defense was playing so well and completely shut down Charlotte’s offense. The lone bright spot for the Tar Heels offense late in the game was the emergence of freshman running back Demon June who had 9 carries for 52 yards while averaging 5.8 yards per carry. North Carolina controlled this game from start to finish and played well enough to get their first victory in the Bill Belichick era. 

UNC Game Stats 

UNC Total Offense- 303 yards 

Rushing 148  Passing 155  

UNC Passing: Gio Lopez 17/25 155 yards 1TD 

UNC Rushing: Demon June 9-52 yards, Gio Lopez 9-44 yards, Davion Gause 5-30 1 touchdown 

UNC Receiving: Chris Culliver 3-74 yards 1TD, Javarius Green 3-31 yards 

Charlotte Total Offense- 271 yards 

Charlotte Passing: Connor Harrell 17/29 140 yards, Grayson Loftis 6/12 110 yards 2 INTS 

Charlotte Rushing: Rod Gainey JR. 6-15 yards 

Charlotte Receiving: Javen Nicholas 11-122 yards, Gus McGee 3-41 yars 

UNC Bright Spots 

Gio Lopez threw for 140 yards and rushed for 44 yards. 

Chris Culliver had 3 catches for 74 yards and one touchdown 

Demon June had 9 carries for 52 yards in his first game as a Tar Heel 

Davion Gause had 5 carries for 30 yards and one touchdown. 

Greg Smith had one interception 

Malcom Ziglar had one interception. 

Needs Work 

The offensive playcalling and gamplan must be better. Besides the opening drive script, the play calls are just too conservative or predictable. There is just not enough balance between the pass and rushing calls and its hurting the offense’s ability to move the ball up and down the field consistently. The Heels were 5-15 on third downs against an inferior Charlott defense. The offense just seems to lack the creativity it needs to be most effective and the offensive talent isn’t being used properly by the coaching staff. 

The offensive line also needs to be better for the offense to improve. The run blocking hasn’t been great and has been exposed in short-yardage situations, which has ended drives on multiple occasions. They are not blowing their opponents off the ball enough or creating holes or lanes for their running backs 

Defensively, they need to be better getting off the field on third and long. This season they have allowed too many conversions on those plays, which is unacceptable. The defensive backs are playing too far off the receivers and allowing too many easy completions instead of being in position to make a play on the ball. The defensive coaching staff also needs to do a better job of putting their players in a better position to stop those easy completions as well by either changing up the scheme or getting players on the field that can better execute their scheme. 

Final Observations 

The Tar Heels improve to 1-1 on the season and get their first win under Bill Belichick. It wasn’t the most impressive win, but the Heels played complimentary football leading them to this win. North Carolina is still looking to find themselves as a team so they will be growing pains. But along the way you just want to see them improve each game and see the players be put in the best position to be successful on the field. The defense took a good step in that direction today.

Last week against TCU they surrendered over 250 rushing yards, but this week only allowed 148 yards. The defensive line and linebackers were much more disruptive in the backfield and had better gap disciple to stop Charlotte’s rushing attack. One thing Carolina’s defense will have to address is the number of easy completions they are surrendering out there on the field. The opposing teams’ receivers are just having too easy access on the field and UNC will have to tighten up their coverage and change up their scheme if they want to become a good defense. Otherwise, they will struggle against better competition. Offensively, the play calling must be better.  Through the first two games of the season, the Tar Heels have scored only 34 points, including 20 points against a very bad Charlotte team.

The offense is anemic right now and that must change. Offensive Coordinator Freddie Kitchens has to find a way to make this offense more explosive and dangerous. They may not have the most talent on the offensive side of the ball like in the past, but the offense is nowhere as good as it could be. If the team wants to compete against the best competition in the country, you must take the handcuffs or training wheels off this offense and take some chances. They need to explore what all they can do offensively and not limit themselves in order to establish their identity. Over the next couple of weeks, they will have the opportunity to continue to build more chemistry and continuity on the field before they play their next big test in Clemson. It will be very intriguing to see how they continue to grow and gel as a team to discover what the true ceiling ultimately is. Next up is Richmond ON Saturday September 13 at 3:30 P.M. on the ACC Network.