UNC Football Moments After – UNC vs. Syracuse 27-10 Win 

UNC Tar Heels Football Team Gets Over the Hump of Adversity and Wins Their First ACC Game

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

The North Carolina football team faced off against Syracuse on Friday night, looking to snap its four-game losing streak. Early in the game, penalties and a turnover really hurt the Tar Heels, issues that have ailed the Tar Heels all season long. On their second offensive drive of the game, UNC moved the ball right down the field and on the one-yard line, offensive lineman Austin Blaske committed a false start, forcing the Heels to settle for a field goal. On the ensuing offensive possession, North Carolina tight end Shamar Easter fumbled, and Syracuse returned it for a touchdown. These two plays are a representation of the errors that the Heels have been making the last few weeks offensively that have led to losses. After the early miscues on offense, Carolina started to be conservative offensively with a run-heavy approach, refusing to attempt a throw downfield. The Tar Heels managed to score just six points in the first half and either punted or failed to score on five of their seven offensive possessions. North Carolina’s defense was outstanding in the first half, holding Syracuse to just 3 points, with their touchdown coming off the 51-yard fumble return. Syracuse quarterback Joseph Filardi started the game with eight incompletions and only completed one pass in the first half, partly due to some inaccuracy but also because of the pressure the North Carolina front seven was putting on him and the secondary making plays on the ball. UNC outgained Syracuse 208-71 in the first half, but still found themselves down 10-6 going into halftime because of self-inflicted mistakes and the inability to make key plays offensively to keep drives alive. 

In the second half, Carolina’s defense continued to completely shut down Syracuse’s offensive attack. Syracuse’s passing attack was nonexistent with only 39 passing yards and only four pass completions from their quarterback. The Heels’ defense held the Orange to just 149 total yards and 3 of 12 on third downs. UNC stuffed the run, was disruptive with their pass rush, and made plays on the ball in the air. North Carolina just made everything difficult for Syracuse’s offense, so it would be up to the Tar Heels’ offense to hold up their end. Early in the third quarter, UNC was looking for some kind of spark offensively and got it from Running Back Demon June’s 72-yard touchdown that came off a screen pass. That touchdown play opened the game up for the Heels and gave the offense the confidence they needed for the rest of the game. For the remainder of the game, Carolina imposed their will on Syracuse with their rushing attack, and Gio Lopez made critical throws to Wide Receiver Jordan Shipp and plays with his legs when it mattered, leading to three straight touchdown drives. North Carolina finished the game with 209 rushing yards and 425 total yards, the most in a game this season for the Tar Heels. Demon June was the player of the game with 182 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns, helping the Heels take full control of the game. For the first time this season, UNC scored over 20 points against a Power 4 opponent and led by double figures against a Power 4 opponent. North Carolina held Syracuse without an offensive touchdown and scored 21 unanswered points to give the Heels their first Power 4 win of the season and the Bill-Belichick era.  

UNC Game Stats  

UNC Total Offense- 425 

Rushing 209   Passing 216           

UNC Passing: Gio Lopez 15/19 216 2TDs 

UNC Rushing: Demon June 13-101 yards 1TD, Davion Gause 15-57 yards 

UNC Receiving: Demon June 2-81 yards 1TD, Jordan Shipp 6-64 yards 1TD, Kobe Paysour 3-59 yards 

  

Syracuse Total Offense- 259 yards 

Syracuse Passing: Joseph Filardi 4/18 yards 

Syracuse Rushing: Yasin Willis 15-61 yard 

Syracuse Receiving: Darius Johnson 1-25 yards 

  UNC Bright Spots  

Running back Demon June had 13 carries for 101 yards and one touchdown. He also had 2 receptions for 81 yards including a 72-yard touchdown. 

Quarterback Gio Lopez threw for 216 yards and two touchdowns. 

Jordan Ship had 6 catches for 64 yards and one touchdown. 

Linebacker Melkart Abou Jaoude had two sacks. 

Linebacker Tyler Thompson had one sack 

Needs Work  

North Carolina needs to find the right balance between run plays and pass plays. There needs to be more intermediate passes and passes down the field, so they are not one-dimensional and predictable. Establishing the run is important, but you need to keep the defense guessing and not be easy to defend. Offensive Coordinator Freddie Kitchens must become more creative with his playcalling and be able to use his weapons in a variety of ways to get the most out of this offense. He cannot afford to be conservative with his playcalling because it hurts the offense overall, and when they become more aggressive, it will prevent inconsistency in production. 

The Tar Heels must do a better job of not making mistakes or errors on critical plays that keep points off the board, and must be better at protecting the football. Eliminate the turnovers and penalties, which will allow the team to get off to better starts. 

Final Observations 

The Tar Heels improve to 3-5 on the season and get their first Power 4 and ACC win of the year. After being completely outplayed and outmatched in their first three games against power 4 opponents, the Heels have shown they are a much better team than they played early in the season. UNC has shown improvement on both sides of the ball in each game. Defensively, they are more disciplined against the run in their gaps and assignments to make impact plays. The defensive line is winning its one-on-one matchups and getting more pressure on the quarterback, disrupting plays in the backfield. The secondary is breaking on balls more often and is in a better position to make plays on the ball, but would still like to see them play more man press and man coverage on third downs, so they are not giving up easy access catches that keep them from getting off the field.

Offensively, they are moving the ball better, but the play calls need to be more consistent with giving the ball to their playmakers in space to make more impact plays, which will help give them a better rhythm and flow throughout the game. The Tar Heels are moving in the right direction and really should be on a three-game winning streak if not for some costly turnovers in the California and Virginia games, which they lost by three and one, respectively. Bill Belichick and his staff have done a tremendous job keeping the players focused on the task at hand despite all the outside noise surrounding his status as coach and the microscope that comes with that. Coach Belichick and his staff must continue to stick to the process of developing their players and put together a game plan each week that will put this team in the best position to succeed. Next up is Stanford on Saturday, November 8, at 4:30 on the CW.