By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina continues to lose in heartbreaking fashion, this time missing a potential game-winning two-point conversion in overtime by inches.
After matching Virginia’s touchdown in the first overtime, the Tar Heels went for two and quarterback Gio Lopez passed to Benjamin Hall, whose knee went down just before he got the ball over the goal line.
Another agonizing loss, this time 17–16 in overtime to No. 16 Virginia, came in a game that showed improvement from the Tar Heels in many areas but produced a fourth consecutive defeat. It was the Cavaliers’ third overtime win of the season
UNC (2–5, 0–3 ACC), which was inches away from winning at California the weekend before, could have kicked an extra point and gone to a second overtime after Lopez connected with Davion Gause on a nine-yard touchdown pass. But, the coaching staff decided to go for the win.
As Coach Bill Belichick put it, “Just trying to win the game.”
Virginia (7–1, 4–0) went first and scored when running back J’Mari Taylor took a direct snap and scored on a one-yard touchdown run.
Belichick noted the effort was there but not enough.
“Good effort by a lot of areas, but in the end, just not quite enough,” he said, emphasizing the incremental progress he wants to see. “Just keep getting better, little incremental stuff. Everybody is doing four or five percent better at times. That makes a difference.”
Lopez had one of his better games, connecting on 23 of 36 passes for 207 yards and one touchdown, but threw two interceptions and had a 110.5 passer rating.
Wide receiver Jordan Shipp caught seven passes for a career-high 67 yards, while Kobe Paysour caught three passes for 53 yards, and Madrid Tucker caught eight passes for 41. Hall led the rushing attack with 50 yards on 11 carries.
Belichick summed up the offensive struggles.
“We’ve had decent run success,” he said. “Neither team was an offensive juggernaut out there today, but we tried to keep them off balance. Maybe in a lot of yards, just couldn’t score.”
The defense continued to make strides, led by seven tackles from linebacker Khmori House and six from linebacker Mikai Gbayor. Linebacker Andrew Simpson had four tackles and an interception.
Belichick echoed that theme of improvement:
“We played better run defense in the last many weeks. Probably getting better every day, every week,” he said
The last play wasn’t Carolina’s only bad luck near the goal line.
In the first half, Paysour fumbled just before the ball hit the pylon, resulting in a touchback instead of a touchdown after he caught a 13-yard pass from Lopez. An otherwise impressive 75-yard drive netted no points.
After the teams traded 34-yard field goals — Virginia’s from Will Bettridge with 4:33 left in the first quarter and UNC’s from Rece Verhoff with 11:30 left in the first half — the Cavaliers scored a touchdown on a 30-yard pass from quarterback Chandler Morris to Trell Harris with 6:36 remaining in the first half to cap a six-play, 60-yard drive.
The Tar Heels tied it when Lopez connected with Paysour for a 26-yard pass to the 1, then ran it up the middle from there with 1:24 left in the first half to tie it at 10. Lopez had his best half of the season, connecting on 17 of 25 passes for 173 yards and a 126.1 passer rating. Six of those passes for 61 yards went to Shipp.
Verhoff missed a 50-yard field-goal attempt as the first half expired after making an attempt that a Virginia timeout nullified. That came after UNC had driven 43 yards over six plays in 46 seconds.
The Cavaliers drove all the way to the UNC 1, thanks to a questionable pass-interference penalty, only for Chandler to throw an incompletion on fourth-and-goal.
NOTES — Carolina gets a short week to prepare for Friday’s 7:30 p.m. Halloween game against Syracuse (ESPN). The Orange (3–5, 1–4 ACC) lost 41–16 at No. 7 Georgia Tech on Saturday. … Virginia had given up only five sacks before giving up six against UNC. … Carolina is tied with Boston College for the most red-zone turnovers in the country with five entering the Eagles’ game at No. 19 Louisville on Saturday night. … Carolina leads the “South’s Oldest Rivalry” 66–60–4, including 33–16–3 in Kenan Stadium, and has won three of the last five meetings. … UNC lost its fifth consecutive ACC game, last winning against Wake Forest 31–24 on Nov. 16, 2024.
No. 16 Virginia 17, UNC 16
| Team | ACC | All |
|---|---|---|
| No. 16 Virginia | 7–1 | 10–2 |
| No. 12 Miami | 6–2 | 10–2 |
| No. 25 SMU | 6–2 | 8–4 |
| No. 24 Georgia Tech | 6–2 | 9–3 |
| Pittsburgh | 6–2 | 8–4 |
| Duke | 6–2 | 7–5 |
| Louisville | 4–4 | 8–4 |
| Wake Forest | 4–4 | 8–4 |
| California | 4–4 | 7–5 |
| Clemson | 4–4 | 7–5 |
| N.C. State | 4–4 | 7–5 |
| Stanford | 3–5 | 4–8 |
| Florida State | 2–6 | 5–7 |
| North Carolina | 2–6 | 4–8 |
| Virginia Tech | 2–6 | 3–9 |
| Syracuse | 1–7 | 3–9 |
| Boston College | 1–7 | 2–10 |
Friday’s result
No. 4 Georgia 16, No. 24 Georgia Tech 9
Saturday’s results
N.C. State 42, North Carolina 19
No. 12 Miami 38, Pittsburgh 7
Louisville 41, Kentucky 0
Clemson 28, South Carolina 14
Boston College 34, Syracuse 12
Duke 49, Wake Forest 32
Florida 40, Florida State 21
No. 16 Virginia 27, Virginia Tech 7
California 38, No. 25 SMU 35
No. 9 Notre Dame 49, Stanford 20
Saturday’s ACC championship game
No. 16 Virginia vs. Duke in Charlotte, 8 p.m., ABC
UNC schedule
| Month/ date | Score/ time | Opponent |
|---|---|---|
| August | ||
| 29 | TBA | vs.TCU in Dublin, Ireland |
| September | ||
| 12 | TBA | vs. ETSU |
| 19 | TBA | at Clemson |
| October | ||
| 3 | TBA | vs. Notre Dame |
| 10 | TBA | at Pittsburgh |
| 17 | TBA | at Duke |
| 24 | TBA | vs. Syracuse |
| 31 | TBA | vs. Miami |
| November | ||
| 7 | TBA | at UConn |
| 14 | TBA | vs. Louisville |
| 21 | TBA | at Virginia |
| 28 | TBA | vs. N.C. State |
| December | ||
| 5 | noon, ABC | ACC championship game in Charlotte |
Photos by Joshua Lawton
tarheeltribune.com 