Instant Analysis: UNC Struggles in Final Non-Conference Game, Falls Hard at UCF

ORLANDO, Fla. — From the press box here, a power station fueled by coal and gas named Stanton Energy Center is visible from some 12 miles away, with steam rising off the cooling towers.

That place might as well have been a nuclear reactor on Saturday, given the meltdowns that plagued North Carolina’s 34-9 loss to Central Florida at the Acrisure Bounce House.

The Tar Heels stumbled into a 27-3 deficit in their final non-conference game of the regular season, before losing starting quarterback Gio Lopez to an apparent right leg or right foot injury in the second half.

Lopez spent a chunk of time in the injury tent on the UNC sideline, before hopping out and being carted away, a towel draped over his head. Lopez, leaning forward with his head in his hands, never looked up on the ride off the field.

Meanwhile, UCF backup quarterback Tayven Jackson finished 25-of-32 passing for 223 yards and a touchdown. He added 66 rushing yards and a score on the ground. Jackson filled in again for starter Cam Fancher, who was knocked out of the Knights’ season opener due to a back injury.

Carolina (2-2) was aiming to pick up a third straight victory to carry into ACC league play, but instead fell behind as UCF dominated during the first half. The Knights, forecast in the preseason to finish next to last among the 16 teams in the Big 12 Conference, improved to 3-0 under coach Scott Frost, who’s back for his second stint in charge of the program.

The Tar Heels trailed 20-3 by halftime, a juncture by which they had been outscored 68-17 on the season by their two opponents from power conferences (TCU and UCF).

Max Johnson entered for the injured Lopez and hit Kobe Paysour on an 8-yard touchdown pass, pulling UNC within 27-9 late in the third quarter.

End of First Half Unravels for Tar Heels

It could’ve been a relatively insignificant moment when Demon June went down out of bounds, rather than staying inbounds and keeping the clock running, on a catch on third-and-14 late in the first half. Carolina’s Rece Verhoff kicked a field goal there with 1:23 remaining until halftime, but the Tar Heels could’ve taken 40 more seconds off the clock because UCF was out of timeouts by that juncture.

Instead, the Knights capitalized when they took over with 1:17 left. And 83 yards later, they led 20-3 when a miscommunication between Gavin Gibson and Thad Dixon left Kylan Fox skipping wide open into the end zone for an easy 17-yard touchdown catch with 13 seconds to go in the half.

The Tar Heels actually had the Knights backed up in a second-and-15 situation at their own 12-yard line with 58 seconds left, before the wheels fell off defensively. A holding penalty against Dixon in the secondary and roughing the passer penalty against Melkart Abou-Jaoude hurt UNC, while Tayven Jackson, the UCF quarterback, continued to connect at an unbothered clip. He finished the first half 16-of-20 passing for 148 yards.

Knights Pick Off Gio Lopez Twice Early

UNC quarterback Gio Lopez was intercepted twice during the first half on Saturday, the first of those turnovers occurring on the Tar Heels’ fifth play of the game. UCF 6-foot-6, 350-pound defensive lineman Horace Lockett was bearing down on the 6-foot Lopez there, and Lockett swatted a pass that defensive end Nyjalik Kelly plucked out of the air for a pickoff.

Later, trailing 13-0, UNC’s best drive of the first half blew up at the Knights’ 12-yard line, when Lopez tried to fit in a throw to running back Caleb Hood, who was split out wide and tightly covered. UCF’s Braeden Marshall reeled in that wobbling deflated pass, another takeaway for the Knights that had the Bounce House rocking here.

That made for a particularly deflating moment. Lopez looked near side to his left upon receiving the snap, before wheeling around and throwing back to the far side, where UCF cornerback Jayden Bellamy was blanketing Hood.

Next on the Schedule

Carolina has closed the month of September and reaches a period of downtime now, with its pair of open dates on the schedule sandwiched around Clemson’s visit on Oct. 4 to open ACC league play. From here until their Oct. 17 road assignment on the West Coast at California, the Tar Heels have one game across the next 26 days, due to the bye weeks in close succession.

UNC trails Clemson 40-19-1 in the all-time series between the programs and has lost nine of the previous 10 meetings, including six in a row since 2011. The Tar Heels were under coach Butch Davis in 2010 the last time they defeated the Tigers.

Clemson clobbered Carolina in the 2022 ACC championship game, as quarterback Cade Klubnik, then a true freshman, threw for 279 yards and accounted for two touchdowns to earn Most Valuable Player honors that night. Entering this season, Klubnik and the Tigers were picked as the ACC league favorites by a considerable margin. But those expectations have taken a tremendous hit after early losses to LSU and Georgia Tech, and now Saturday afternoon’s upset loss at home to Syracuse. Clemson has dropped to just 1-3 on the season, marking the worst start of Dabo Swinney’s 18 seasons in charge.