UNC QB Move Could Hinge on Gio Lopez’s Health Rather Than Struggles

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Coach Bill Belichick on Tuesday didn’t rule out the possibility that North Carolina could turn over starting quarterback duties to backup Max Johnson this weekend, when the Tar Heels’ ACC league opener arrives against Clemson.

But Belichick indicated such a move likely could hinge on Gio Lopez’s health and availability status, rather than some of the struggles he has encountered through four games as UNC’s starter. Lopez has been on the mend, recovering from the injury that knocked him out of the Tar Heels’ last game, the lopsided loss 10 days ago at Central Florida.

“Look, Gio’s improved a lot,” Belichick said Tuesday at Kenan Football Center, before heading out to the team’s afternoon practice session. “Offensively, we just haven’t been consistent enough in any area. But we’re getting closer, and so we’ll continue to push ahead on that. And when Gio is able to practice, we’ll see how much improvement he has made and can make. If he’s not, then other players will be in there.”

Both UNC (2-2) and Clemson (1-3) are coming off open dates on their schedules. Multiple sources said Johnson worked with the Tar Heels’ first-team offense during last week’s bye. Meanwhile, Lopez didn’t participate in a practice session last week, which Belichick confirmed on Tuesday. At the end of last week, sources around the UNC program expressed doubt to Inside Carolina about the likelihood of Lopez being ready to play when Clemson visits. The transfer Lopez has started all of the Tar Heels’ games this season.

The sixth-year senior Johnson has made one starting assignment in his UNC career, the ill-fated 2024 season opener at Minnesota, during which he suffered a gruesome broken leg that doctors compared to the type of catastrophic injury that might occur in a car crash, instead of on a football field.

Lopez suffered a right-leg injury on Sept. 20, in the second half of UNC’s eventual 34-9 loss at UCF. Au’Tori Newkirk and Bryce Baker are true freshmen further down the Tar Heels’ depth chart at quarterback. Newkirk worked behind Johnson with the second-team offense during practices last week, sources said.

“We have two experienced quarterbacks and two freshmen,” Belichick said Tuesday. “So the two experienced quarterbacks are ahead of the freshmen at this point. But I’d say those freshmen are gaining ground, and they’re making improvement on a steady basis as well.

“Gio wasn’t able to practice last week. So we practiced with the guys that we have and we’ll see how that goes today, and figure it out for this coming game.”

Lopez sustained the injury at UCF while plowing ahead into a pile of bodies on a fourth-and-1 in the third quarter. After being tended to on the field at the Acrisure Bounce House, he spent time in the injury tent on the UNC sideline, before hopping out of the tent and being carted away.

A towel draped over his head and obscuring his face, Lopez leaned forward with his head in his hands and never looked up while being carted off the field. That exit made for a defeated and painful visual, to be sure. The Tar Heels trailed 27-3 when Lopez departed.

“We’ll see what Gio’s availability is as we go through the week,” Belichick said Tuesday. “We had kind of a situational practice on Thursday (of last week). We haven’t really practiced since (last) Wednesday. So from (last) Wednesday to (today), a lot of time has elapsed here, and we’ll see where Gio is.”

Last week, sources told On3 national college football reporter Pete Nakos that Lopez didn’t suffer a season-ending injury in the beatdown loss at UCF. Sources told Nakos a return in early October isn’t out of the question for Lopez.

Lopez was on crutches after the UCF game and able to travel with the UNC team on its return charter flight out of Orlando, Fla., sources told IC.

“He didn’t do much last week,” Belichick said of Lopez on Tuesday. “But he’s been in here every day, working hard, getting treatment, and we’ll see where he’s at.”

UNC has reached a quirky stretch on its season schedule now with only one game — Saturday’s visit by Clemson — across a span of 26 days that extends into mid-October. The Tar Heels were on their first bye last week, now play Clemson and then enter their second bye week, before traveling to the West Coast for an Oct. 17 road assignment at California.

The 6-foot lefty Lopez has struggled through four games as the starter Carolina picked up out of the transfer portal from South Alabama. He owns the second-worst total QBR (quarterback rating) nationally among eligible players thus far, per the data from Pro Football Focus (PFF). And he has thrown for the lowest output nationally (430 yards), among power-conference quarterbacks with at least 75 drop-backs this season.

More than 40 percent of Lopez’s 42 completed passes have come behind the line of scrimmage through four games. He checks in at No. 101 nationally out the 126 quarterbacks the NCAA ranks on the FBS level in passing efficiency, and No. 127 nationally out of the 130 quarterbacks the NCAA ranks on the FBS level in passing yards (107.5 yards per game).

There has been little threat of a field-stretching vertical passing attack from  the Tar Heels through four games. UNC’s 22 completions at UCF generated just 154 passing yards, with only three of those plays covering 15 yards or more. Lopez went 11-of-14 passing for 87 yards against the Knights. He was intercepted twice in the first half. Then, the backup Johnson finished 11-of-19 passing for 67 yards and a touchdown in relief of the injured Lopez.

Johnson also came on in relief of Lopez in UNC’s season-opening loss to TCU, when a back injury forced Lopez from that game in the third quarter. Lopez started five nights later, though, throwing for a season-high 155 yards and a touchdown and adding 44 rushing yards in the Tar Heels’ road victory at Charlotte.

Lopez supplied three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) in Carolina’s rout of Richmond. But he has coughed up four turnovers while accounting for zero touchdowns this season in the Tar Heels’ two games against power-conference opponents.

Lopez spent the last two seasons at South Alabama. He arrived on campus at UNC in May, after Belichick’s first session of spring practices had concluded. He entered the transfer portal on April 14, and committed to UNC three days later. He proved to be one of the better quarterbacks on the Group of Five level at South Alabama, producing 274.7 yards of total offense last season and ranking No. 22 nationally in the FBS in that category.