Gio Lopez injury update: Bill Belichick addresses North Carolina QB's status after leaving TCU game

The North Carolina Tar Heels flashed a little bit of success on their opening offensive drive. There, Gio Lopez led an excellent touchdown drive, flashing what could become of the Bill Belichick era. Then, things went sideways in a 48-14 loss to TCU.

Lopez would struggle following the opening drive. Things got worse when he was forced to leave the game with an injury. After the game, Belichick addressed what he knew then about Lopez’s status.

“Yeah, we’ll see how Gio is,” Bill Belichick said. “They took him off, took a look at him, you know, hopefully it’s not too bad, but we’ll see. Give Max [Johnson] a lot of credit. Came in there after, you know, being off for a long time, and hung in there, made some plays in a tough situation. So, give him a lot of credit for what he did tonight.”

Lopez completed just four of 10 passes on the game for 69 yards. Most of that production came during the first drive. He also had a costly pick-six. On the ground, despite being a dual-threat quarterback, he rushed for -10 yards. He appeared to suffer a back injury on a play where he fumbled, leading to a TCU touchdown. He would not re-enter the game.

When Max Johnson came into the game, the veteran signal caller found some success. He’d complete nine of 11 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown. However, by that time, the game was already out of reach.

“But we’ll take a look at it after we see where things are at here and go from there. I don’t know,” Belichick said. “It’s too early to tell now.”

Coming out of Fall Camp, Gio Lopez beat out Max Johnson for the starting job. He came to the program as a transfer from South Alabama. Previously, he’d been a three-star recruit in the Class of 2023. Max Johnson, meanwhile, is in his second season with North Carolina after missing the majority of last season with an injury. He’s been in college since 2020, with multiple SEC stops before getting to Chapel Hill.

Bill Belichick noncommittal to Gio Lopez as UNC’s starting quarterback for Week 2

There are now several question marks at quarterback for North Carolina. Not only is Gio Lopez battling injury, but Max Johnson outplayed him. Still, Bill Belichick was noncommittal about it following the game.

“I don’t know. It’s a short week. We’ll see,” Belichick said. “I don’t know where his availability is right now, so I don’t want to speculate on that.”

North Carolina will need to figure out the quarterback situation quickly. The Tar Heels have a short week before taking on Charlotte next.