Instant Analysis: UNC Falls Short at Cal as Late Fumble Turns Crushing

BERKELEY, Calif. — On a different coast and in a game whose outcome certainly wasn’t quickly decided, it still became another agonizing result for North Carolina.

The Tar Heels fell to California 21-18 on Friday night in ACC football at Memorial Stadium, and suffered their third straight loss. Nathan Leacock’s lost fumble at the goal line with 3:48 remaining in the game, when the receiver was poised to score inches shy of the end zone and vault UNC ahead, proved crushing.

This defeat occurred more than 2,800 miles away from home and ended past 2 a.m. on the East Coast, after UNC traversed two weeks engulfed by turmoil since getting blasted and embarrassed by Clemson in its previous outing.

Early in the fourth quarter, UNC used Davion Gause’s 4-yard touchdown run on third down and Gio Lopez’s ensuing two-point conversion toss to Benjamin Hall to pull within 21-18. That capped an 84-yard drive, and after being buried in their three previous matchups against opponents from power conferences, the Tar Heels had put themselves in a competitive late-game situation here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Gio Lopez played from start to finish at quarterback, after missing Carolina’s lopsided loss to Clemson two weeks ago due to the leg injury he suffered Sept. 20 at UCF. The lefty Lopez finished 19-of-35 passing for 174 yards. Kobe Paysour, suddenly a playmaker again for the Tar Heels (2-4 overall, 0-2 ACC), supplied season highs with six catches for 101 yards.

Cal led 14-10 at halftime. Then, Kendrick Raphael’s 2-yard touchdown run put the Golden Bears (5-2, 2-1) ahead 21-10 early in the second half. Cal true freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele threw for 209 yards and a touchdown. Jacob De Jesus (13 catches, 105 yards) was his favorite target.

Carolina Close at the Half For Once

Defensive end Tyler Thompson’s first sack of the season brought the first half to a close. And with Cal leading 14-10, UNC headed into the halftime locker in a competitive situation for once. Across the Tar Heels’ previous games against power-conference opponents this season, they had trailed by a combined margin of 75-13 at the end of the first half — after falling behind 20-7 against TCU, 20-3 at UCF and 35-3 against Clemson.

Rece Verhoff’s 41-yard field goal trimmed the Bears’ lead to 14-10 with 6:14 left in the first half. Later, Carolina had promising starting field position at its own 43-yard line and two timeouts remaining, but went nowhere on a three-and-out. The Tar Heels reached halftime just 1-for-8 on third-down conversions.

Earlier, Sagapolutele flipped a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jacob De Jesus to cap the 12-play, 75-yard drive that put Cal ahead 14-7. The Bears converted on a third-and-5, third-and-10 and fourth-and-1 to keep that march moving.

Frightful First Play Costs Tar Heels Again

Call it déjà vu all over again. Coming off another bye week, UNC’s first play from scrimmage on Friday night quickly became another opening disaster. Gio Lopez’s swing pass to true freshman Shanard Clower picked up 7 yards, but Cal’s Cam Sidney yanked out a fumble and the Bears pounced on the recovery.

All of which served up a nightmarish reminder of the trick play Clemson unloaded on the Tar Heels for a 75-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game two weeks ago. That jumped Clemson ahead 7-0 in a matter of 11 seconds of game time.

On Friday night here, Cal cashed in four plays after Clower’s fumble, as Sagapolutele scored on a 3-yard touchdown keeper for a 7-0 lead less than 2½ minutes into the game.

Next on the Schedule

Carolina faces a familiar longtime foe, and perhaps its only Top 25-ranked opponent this season, when Virginia visits Kenan Stadium next Saturday. The Cavaliers have assembled one of the best offenses in college football here in coach Tony Elliott’s fourth season at the helm, behind a pair of transfer pickups from smaller schools — quarterback Chandler Morris (North Texas) and running back J’Mari Taylor (NC Central).

Virginia enters this weekend’s matchup against Washington State ranked No. 8 nationally in scoring offense (43 points per game) and No. 11 nationally in total offense (489.2 yards per game). And the Cavaliers (5-1 overall, 3-0 ACC) are among the unbeaten teams in ACC league play, as their Sept. 6 loss at NC State was scheduled as a non-conference game.

UNC leads the all-time series 67-58-4 against Virginia, in what’s known as the South’s Oldest Rivalry. Only Minnesota and Wisconsin have played each other more often among FBS teams. Virginia won four straight against the Tar Heels from 2017-20, and Carolina has taken three of the last four meetings since then. The Cavaliers delivered a shocker the last time these teams squared off in Chapel Hill, winning 31-27 in an upset when UNC was heavily favored and riding high on the strength of its 6-0 start to the 2023 season.