A pair of receiving touchdowns from Jordan Shipp and a 61-yard fumble return touchdown by linebacker Mikai Gbayor helped Carolina cruise past visiting Richmond 41-6 at Kenan Stadium Saturday. It’s UNC’s second straight win and first at home this season.
“It was a real good team effort today,” head coach Bill Belichick said afterward. “I thought we got good plays out of all three units.”
The sophomore Shipp was quarterback Gio Lopez’s favorite target on the day, reeling in four of Lopez’s 10 completions and accounting for 52 of UNC’s 119 total yards through the air.
“The biggest thing with us is trust,” Shipp said of his connection with Lopez. “I trust him, he trusts me. There’s times in practice where he throws me some balls that maybe he shouldn’t throw, but he trusts that I’m able to go make plays for him. That starts with our connection off the field. That’s one of my closest friends.”
On the ground, freshman Demon June continued a strong start to the season with 14 carries for 148 yards (the most by a UNC freshman since Michael Carter’s 157 in 2017) and a touchdown as Carolina’s starting running back. A 50-yard run by June in the first quarter was the longest by any Tar Heel freshman since Omarion Hampton in 2022. Lopez added 11 carries for 40 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
“He’s earned it,” Belichick said of June. “Nobody gave him anything. He started at the bottom of the depth chart and just worked his way up.”
“It’s fun watching him,” said Lopez. “I got to watch him throughout fall camp, watch him grow as a runner, as a player, get more confident. He runs hard.”
The Tar Heel defense collected multiple highlights in the second half. UNC stopped Richmond quarterback Kyle Wickersham on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line to preserve a 20-3 lead early in the third quarter, then forced a Wickersham fumble on Richmond’s next possession. Carolina turned the turnover into a touchdown, the second connection between Shipp and Lopez.
In the fourth quarter, lineman C.J. Mims ripped the ball away from Richmond running back Jamaal Brown with the Spiders in UNC territory, then Gbayor scooped it up and took it all the way back for a Carolina touchdown to extend the lead to 34-3. Gbayor, a transfer from Nebraska, ended the day with seven total tackles to tie for the team lead.
UNC’s 41 total points were more than the Tar Heels had scored in the first two games combined (34). Carolina’s 14 points in the fourth quarter were also its most in a single quarter this season.
Saturday’s game was the first meeting between UNC and Richmond in football since 1978, a 27-18 upset win for the Spiders. This year’s Tar Heel win extended Carolina’s overall lead in the series to 13-2. UNC is a perfect 9-0 against Richmond in Kenan Stadium.
The win improves UNC to 2-1 overall this season. The Tar Heels will be back in action when they visit UCF in Orlando next Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Featured image via Associated Press/Chris Seward
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