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Bill Belichick claims North Carolina's problems vs. TCU were self-inflicted

Barkley-Truaxby: Barkley Truax09/03/25BarkleyTruax
TCU HC Sonny Dykes, North Carolina HC Bill Belichick
Bob Donnan | Imagn Images

North Carolina turned the ball over three times during its 48-14 loss to TCU on Monday night. The Tar Heels put two balls on the ground, and quarterback Gio Lopez threw a pick-six in the second quarter.

UNC head coach Bill Belichick pointed toward these turnovers, as well as the inability to move the football as reasons why the Horned Frogs dominated the Tar Heels on their own turf. Belichick called these issues “self-inflicted.”

“The turnovers, we have two turnovers from touchdowns, defensively couldn’t convert on a couple of third longs. Gave a couple long runs that were just not well defended. So our special teams weren’t particularly good either. Short punt and drop snap and so forth, block field goal or blocked extra point. We’re lucky on that one,” Belichick said on Wednesday.

Two of the Tar Heels’ turnovers were returned for touchdowns by TCU. The pick-six was caused by the Horned Frogs’ standout defensive back Bud Clark who took it 25 yards to the house. This pushed TCU to a two-score lead, and they game was never close after that.

The other was a fumble returned for a touchdown by Devean Deal after a big hit on Gio Lopez by the TCU defense. This was the final touchdown scored during the Tar Heels’ 41-0 run, and also saw Lopez get banged up on the play. He did not return.

“So just kind of in every area, (these are) things that we need to we need to tighten up,” Belichick said. “And as I said, TCU was a really good football team. I think that some of our deficiencies got exposed, and we’ll address them and hopefully get them to a level that is a competitive level they need to be at.”

Veteran quarterback Max Johnson would enter the game for Lopez in the third quarter, where he went on to lead the Tar Heels to a touchdown during his first drive in the game. It remains to be seen if Lopez will be healthy enough to suit up for the Tar Heels, or if Johnson will receive the nod.

North Carolina will move forward during Week 2 with a road matchup against in-state foe Charlotte. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPN+. According to BetMGM, the Tar Heels are 13.5-point favorites over the 49ers. The over/under is set at 49.5 total points.