UNC Football Moments After – UNC vs. TCU 48-14 Loss
UNC Tar Heels Football Team Begins the Bill Belichick Era in an Ugly Fashion With a Blowout Debut
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina football team opened the 2025 season against TCU on Monday night to kick off the Bill Belichick era. With 70 new players added in the offseason, there were a lot of unknowns going into the opening game, but much anticipation and excitement due to the hiring of Coach Bill Belichick and his track record as a football coach. The Tar Heels couldn’t have asked for a better start to the game than a 7-play 83-yard touchdown drive and a quick defensive stop at the very beginning of this game. UNC quarterback Gio Lopez showed off his arm with two outstanding throws to wide receiver Jordan Shipp, and running back Caleb Hood capped off with an 8-yard rushing touchdown. However, after the success the offense had on the opening drive, the Heels’ offense only had 20 yards on their next 17 offensive plays in the first half. Carolina spent most of the first half attempting to establish the run, but failed mightily, and it took away the rhythm of the offense, resulting in three straight three-and-outs. North Carolina’s offensive line struggled against TCU’s defensive line to run block effectively and was dominated in the trenches. Meanwhile, UNC’s defense did keep the Tar Heels in the game until quarterback Gio Lopez threw a pick-six, which put UNC down 10 points.
In the second half, the Tar Heels lost all momentum after surrendering a 75-yard run to TCU’s running back Kevorian Barnes on the first play coming out of halftime. On the very next offensive possession, Carolina went three and out and punted for the fifth straight offensive drive. The North Carolina offense was completely out of sorts due to the lack of creativity and balance in the plays being called. The Tar Heels players even looked like they had lost faith or hope in the game plan as they were in the midst of a major collapse after a fumble that was returned for a TCU touchdown. TCU had scored 31 unanswered points, and the Heels’ defense was getting completely dominated in the running and passing game, surrendering over 540 yards of total offense. UNC had no answers on either side of the ball after getting dominated in the trenches. It was just all-around bad performance from the Tar Heels and a game full of mistakes, errors, and blunders, including several missed tackles, no pass rush from the defensive line, poor blocking from the offensive line, 3 turnovers, 1-10 on third downs, and questionable playcalling from both the offensive and defensive coordinators. This performance resulted in the largest home loss since 2016 and a very disappointing start to the season.
UNC Game Stats
UNC Total Offense- 222 yards
Rushing 50 Passing 172
UNC Passing: Gio Lopez 4/10 60 yards 1INT, Max Johnosn 9/11 103 yards 1TD
UNC Rushing: Caleb Hood 10-31 yards 1TD
UNC Receiving: Jordan Shipp 4-84 yards, Javarius Green 3-57 yards, Jake Johnson 1-2 yards 1TD
TCU Total Offense- 542 yards
TCU Passing: Josh Hoover 27/36 284 yards 2TDs 1INT
TCU Rushing: Kevorian Barnes 11-113 yards 1TD, Nate Palmer 7-61 yards
TCU Receiving: Jordan Dwyer 9-136 yards 1TD, DJ Rodgers 5-43 yards 1TD
UNC Bright Spots
Max Johnson completed 9 of his 11 passes for 103 yards and one touchdown.
Kaleb Cost had one interception
Jordan Shipp had 4 catches for 84 yards.
Needs Work
The offensive game plan and playcalling must be better. You cannot completely abandon the pass and expect success. There must be more balance between the passing and rushing attack to put the quarterback in a better position to have a more effective offensive product on the field
The defense has to be a lot better than it showed today. There were entirely too many missed tackles and players out of position, unable to make impact plays. The defensive line must be better at rushing the passer and making plays in the backfield to eliminate the number of chunk plays in the pass game and explosive plays on the ground.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels start the Bill Belichick era on a sour note after getting completely routed by TCU. The Heels came into this game with a lot of unknowns. They added new players and a whole new coaching staff. We knew it would be some growing pains for this team because they needed to build chemistry and mesh as a team, but we didn’t anticipate the team looking unprepared to play and the number of mistakes the team committed tonight. The plan for the offense after the first drive was not good. Establishing the run is one thing, but completely abandoning the pass is a mind-boggling decision by the offensive staff. There must be more balance between the passing and rushing attack to put a more efficient and successful offensive product on the field. Defensively, they cannot afford to not have any pass rush and play in soft coverage as much as they did in today’s game and have success against good teams.
They also have to be better with their tackling and just being in the right position to make a play on the ball or even blow up the play. It was too easy for the TCU offense to move the ball up and down the field, and that shouldn’t happen with a Bill Belichick-coached team. It’s still early in the season, but this team must find an identity on both sides of the ball and find out who their best players and playmakers are. This will be critical to their success going forward. Bill Belichick has a lot of pride, and we know he’s going to do everything in his power to get his players to play better, but the team is less talented than we initially thought, so it will be an uphill battle. The good thing is they have some games against lower-level teams that should help build the players’ confidence and allow them to establish the identity and the type of team they want to be for this season. Next up is UNC Charlotte on Saturday, September 6th.