Instant Analysis: UNC Dispatches Charlotte, Delivers Bill Belichick’s First Win

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It was North Carolina’s turn to play party crasher on Saturday night. The Tar Heels defeated Charlotte 20-3 at Richardson Stadium, putting a damper on the 49ers’ big bash here that included fireworks displays blasting off throughout the game, and the largest on-campus crowd in the school’s brief football history.

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Gio Lopez passed for 155 yards and a touchdown and added 44 rushing yards, as UNC bounced back from its season-opening disaster suffered five nights ago against TCU to secure Bill Belichick’s first victory on the college level. UNC true freshman Demon June chipped in 52 rushing yards.

Belichick piled up a career record of 333-178 across 29 seasons as a head coach in the NFL. He’s 1-1 now at Carolina, after the Tar Heels waited out a weather delay for storms that pushed back the scheduled 7 p.m. kickoff by 30 minutes, and then proceeded to take care of the host 49ers (0-2).

Rece Verhoff’s 33-yard field goal in the early stages of the fourth quarter put UNC ahead 20-3. The Tar Heels pitched a shutout in the second half. And they kept starting quarterback Conner Harrell, backup Grayson Loftis and the Charlotte offense out of the end zone for the duration of the night.

Carolina defensive back Greg Smith intercepted Loftis, the Duke transfer, at the goal line with 2:02 remaining in the game. Ultimately, UNC allowed its fewest points to an FBS opponent in 24 seasons, since blasting Clemson 38-3 in October 2001.

In the final six minutes of Saturday night’s game, Loftis relieved Harrell, the UNC transfer who spent the last three seasons with the Tar Heels. Harrell finished 17-of-29 passing for 140 yards.

A record crowd of 19,233 fans packed this place. Carolina became the fourth FBS team in the state to play a road game here at Charlotte, joining App State, Duke and East Carolina. And the Tar Heels avoided falling to 0-2 for what would’ve marked the first time since the start of the 2018 season.

First-Half Sequence Swings Tar Heels’ Way

Davion Gause’s 12-yard touchdown run pushed UNC ahead 17-3 during the final seconds of the first half, and capped a sequence that worked out in the Tar Heels’ favor.

On Charlotte’s preceding possession, the 49ers could’ve cut UNC’s lead to 10-6 had kicker Liam Boyd converted a chip-shot field goal attempt from 26 yards. But he missed off the left upright — leaving Charlotte coming up empty there on a 71-yard drive — and Carolina took over with 2:51 left in the first half.

Lopez’s 16-yard pass got the Tar Heels on the move. And the shifty quarterback scampered off on scrambles of 11, 9 and 8 yards to keep the drive moving, before his dive on third-and-2 converted another first down. He ran for 30 yards on the drive altogether. Then, Gause’s first touchdown of the season punctuated the 80-yard march, which was aided by Jordan Shipp’s first catch of the night and a personal foul penalty against the 49ers.

Carolina Blue Streak at the Start

For the second time this week, Carolina got off to a supersonic start out of the gate. Lopez hit running backs Benjamin Hall and Caleb Hood for passes of 11 and 13 yards, respectively, before loading up and launching to Chris Culliver over the top.

Culliver hauled in the 51-yard bomb for a touchdown there on the third play from scrimmage of the night. He zoomed past Charlotte cornerback Thai Baldwin on a vertical route, and Baldwin simply got burned down the sideline. Culliver had several steps on Baldwin when he reeled in the deep dart from Lopez.

So the Tar Heels zipped 75 yards in the game’s opening 59 seconds while jumping ahead 7-0. Charlotte safety Ja’Qurious Conley, the transfer from UNC, only could console Baldwin in the end zone with a pat on the helmet, as Culliver celebrated his first catch of the season with Shipp. Later, Culliver exited late in the first half due to a shoulder injury and didn’t return to the game.

Next on the Schedule

After playing two games separated by five nights, Carolina will turn the corner into a standard week of preparation ahead of a Saturday matchup for the first time this season, with Richmond visiting Kenan Stadium next weekend (3:30 p.m., ACC Network).

Richmond competes on the FCS level, and is in its ninth season under coach Russ Huesman. The Spiders won at Wofford on Saturday night to improve to 1-1 on the young 2025 season. Richmond has compiled three straight seasons with nine victories or more while claiming back-to-back conference titles in the CAA in 2023 and 2024, before becoming new members of the Patriot League for football. The Spiders departed the CAA with a combined league record of 21-3 across the last three seasons.

UNC leads the all-time series 12-2 against Richmond. These football programs haven’t met since November 1978, when the Spiders won 27-18. The first eight matchups in the series all were won by the Tar Heels and played prior to 1915, with the first three meetings held in the 1890s.