UNC-Virginia: Bill Belichick Postgame Q&A

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Missed opportunities ultimately sank North Carolina’s upset bid, as it fell to No. 16 Virginia 17-16 in overtime on Saturday at Kenan Stadium.

Benjamin Hall came up inches short on Carolina’s two-point attempt in overtime, as the Tar Heels (2-5, 0-3 ACC) dropped their fourth straight game. A missed field goal and three turnovers for UNC, including another fumble through the end zone for a touchback, proved to be too much to overcome. UVa (7-1, 4-0 ACC) continues its unbeaten conference run with the win.

Gio Lopez completed 23-of-36 passes for a season-high 208 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Jordan Shipp hauled in seven catches for 67 yards, while Kobe Paysour added three catches for 53 yards.

The Tar Heels head into the final week of October still in search of their first win over a power-conference opponent. Here are the key quotes from coach Bill Belichick following the loss and the full video …

Jordan Shipp told us that after the game some of the guys were saying they want to get out there and play Syracuse tomorrow. That level of intensity and emotional passion, do you feel like it’s increased throughout the season?

“Yeah, I don’t know how you really measure that. These guys come to practice every day. They work hard, get better, and just want to keep doing.”

Obviously you’re not in the business for moral victories, but how important do you think it has been for this team to start seeing the good days in practice translate to the field?

“Again, we’ve been getting better every day, every week. So, I don’t know, I can’t put a percentage on it.”

Can you take us through the decision to go for two?

“Yeah, trying to win the game.”

Staying on the two-point play, who was the number one option on that? It looked like Gio Lopez was forced out of the pocket and had to throw the check down to Benjamin.

“Yeah, whoever is open.”

Your team had multiple turnovers in the red zone. How can you work on something like that?

“We got to eliminate those. No doubt about it. Number one problem, got to eliminate those.”

The first drive consisted of all passing plays. Was there a concerted effort to establish the passing game early?

“I wouldn’t say a concerted effort, but we tried to be balanced. I think in the end, we probably ran the ball a little bit more and through it, we had, a decent amount of success at both. But not really enough. We only scored 10 points. So they only scored 10 points. So neither team was an offensive juggernaut out there today, but we try to keep it off balance, and we gained a lot of yards, which is good. Missed field goal, fumbles, interceptions in the red area and turned the ball over three times inside the five yard line. So not good.”

You’ve talked throughout the year about how many new players you’ve brought in. Do you feel like at this point in the year you’re starting to identify which guys can really help your team? 

“Yeah, of course, spent more time with these guys. But everybody’s improving. Some guys are improving to get more play time or be used in different roles, as we see ways for them to help the team be productive. So it’s evolving, and some of us, the players, are improving. Some of it’s identifying things that guys can do to help us. So it’s a combination of both.”