Carolina is getting better and, literally, just missed beating the 16th-ranked team in the nation.
For the second time in eight days, the Tar Heels showed continued improvement but fumbled away a chance to claim their third win of the season and first ACC victory of the Bill Belichick era.
On their last sustained possession of the tough 21-18 loss at Cal, they were inches away from taking the lead when Nathan Leacock got stripped of the ball as he was about to cross the goal line.
Back home against Virginia on a magnificent Saturday afternoon in Kenan Stadium – where a purported sellout was far from full – their first of three turnovers came on the sixth play of a 74-yard drive early in the first quarter.
Kobe Paysour lost the ball when stretching for a touchdown that would have given his team the lead it never had for the rest of the game. Almost four hours later and a scoreless second half for both teams, Belichick chose to go for two and win in overtime. Ben Hall took a pass in the right flat and was stopped when his knee hit the turf just before he touched the pylon at the corner of the goal line.
Both plays required video reviews upstairs to uphold the calls on the field. UNC’s fourth straight loss was much closer than blowouts against TCU, Central Florida and Clemson and by far Carolina’s best effort against another foe favored by double-digits.
If the Heels can clean up the turnovers that stopped promising drives while dominating team statistics and time of possession against Virginia, they will win at struggling Syracuse on Halloween night Friday and happily trick or treat their way home from upstate New York with a 3-5 record and be three more wins from bowl eligibility. That would be an amazing accomplishment, considering.
UNC’s last four games are versus Stanford and Duke in Kenan and at Wake Forest and N.C. State, all winnable if improvement continues as it did against Virginia, which notched its third overtime win in the last four games and went home 7-1 overall and 4-0 in ACC games.
This recent stretch has shown the Tar Heels’ resilience and growth, even though the results were frustrating. They appear more cohesive on both sides of the ball, signaling that a breakthrough could be imminent. Fans who grumbled as they fled the TCU and Clemson losses early seemed at least satisfied with this effort.
“A lot of these guys have gotten better,” Belichick said afterwards. “There’s been a number of players who have gotten more playing time through the course of the last few weeks. You earn that playing time through practice and showing the coaches and your teammates that you’re ready to go.”
North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick looks towards the field during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Virginia in Chapel Hill, N.C., Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)
One example of that was freshman wide receiver Madrid Tucker, who was playing his first college game and caught a game-high eight passes from Lopez. Jordan Shipp, the sophomore leading receiver, had seven catches for a team-high 67 yards including several acrobatic grabs. Another newcomer getting his most snaps of the season was freshman Jaylen McGill, who had 37 total yards.
“Gio has been working his butt off,” Shipp said. “He’s a hard worker in everything he does, and I have nothing but respect and love for Gio. He knows that, and I just feel like he knows we’re all behind him. No matter what’s going on, we’re all behind him.”
Lopez continues to up his game, completing 23 of 36 passes for 208 yards. He sneaked in for the touchdown that tied the game 10-10 at halftime, followed by a defensive struggle that yielded no points and then overtime.
UNC QB Gio Lopez (#7) rushed and threw for a touchdown against Virginia Saturday. (Image via Chapel Hill Media Group/Chance Bragg)
Carolina missed a chance to go ahead before halftime when Rece Verhoff pulled a 50-yard field goal wide left. He had booted it through the uprights just after Virginia called timeout. Verhoff had put Carolina on the scoreboard for the first tie with a 34-yarder in the second quarter.
Another name to remember is 6-foot-5 junior defensive lineman Melkart Abou-Jaoude with a career high three sacks of the team’s six that harassed Cavaliers quarterback Chandler Morris, who came in with more publicity but was matched evenly by Lopez.
“It feels good to see the things I do in practice show up in the game,” said Abou-Jaoude. “You have to give credit to Steve [Belichick], the play calls and our secondary. The quarterback was back there pump faking because the coverage was so good, so it feels good for everything to come together.”
The Hoodie added:
“He’s one of our hardest working guys and he has continued to improve since the day got here. He works hard in the weight room, on the practice field, on his fundamentals and film study in preparation for the game. So it’s great to see him have that production.”
There was buzz over reports that Morris had wanted to transfer to UNC and play for Belichick but was rejected by general manager Mike Lombardi. Morris came in leading an offense averaging 40 points and 462 yards. He was held to a net 180 after being chased by Abou-Jaoude and other rushers on Steve Belichick’s defense. He had been sacked a total of five times in the Wahoos’ first seven games and suffered six by the Tar Heels.
UNC defensive lineman C.J. Mims celebrates a sack against Virginia, one of six for the Tar Heels on the day. (Image via Chapel Hill Media Group/Chance Bragg)
As a team, the ‘Hoos were held to a season low 259 total yards and 17 points and continues with a soft schedule (Cal, Wake Forest, Duke and Virginia Tech) and could vie for a spot in the ACC championship game in December.
Coach Tony Elliott is in his fourth year at Virginia and having his first winning season after serving as Clemson’s offensive coordinator for six years.
“It’s a game of inches and we’ve got to get our rhythm back,” Elliott said. “There are some plays we’ve made before, and right now we’re just an inch or two off.”
That inch or two was what Carolina needed to pull off the upset.
Of Belichick going for two and the win, Elliott said, “I would have kicked it and given the guys another opportunity in the second overtime. But, man, he’s won a lot of football games.”
The two-point attempt was at the same endzone where UNC attempted to beat top-ranked Clemson in 2019 but was also stopped just short of the goal line in that 21-20 loss.
Featured image via Chapel Hill Media Group/Chance Bragg
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
