By R.L. Bynum
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — It took some explosives to blast Carolina out of its offensive struggles, a couple delivered by freshman running back Demon June.
June reeled off two explosive plays, a rare sight for Carolina this season, to get the Tar Heels going as they showed resiliency in ending the frustrating four-game losing streak. He piled up 182 total yards as the Tar Heels rallied with 17 consecutive points to end a four-game skid with a 27–10 victory Friday night at the JMA Wireless Dome.
With the defense continuing to play well, it was UNC’s best game of the season by far.
“It was a good team win,” UNC coach Bill Belichick said. “Things didn’t go great at the beginning, but the guys kept battling. We had a really good second half defensively and offensively.”
It was a long time coming for UNC (3–5, 1–3 ACC), which finally earned its first league win and its first power conference win. The Tar Heels did it with the most points this season against an FBS team, thanks to June carving up the league’s worst defense in total yards given up to give Syracuse (3–6, 1–5) its fifth consecutive loss.
“It feels great to get our first ACC win,” Belichick said with a rare smile. “These guys emptied the tank tonight.”
June, whose 44-yard run led to a late first-half field goal, scored two third-quarter touchdowns, one on a 72-yard reception on a screen pass, and finished with 101 rushing and 72 receiving yards, outgaining Syracuse by himself.
Belichick said June’s big plays “got everybody fired up,” praising his stiff-arm on the touchdown reception and ability to finish runs.
“He did a real good job of getting his pads down and running through the goal line,” Belichick said.
Quarterback Gio Lopez wasn’t spectacular, but had his best game of the season, connecting on 15 of 19 passes for 216 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 209.2 passer rating. One of those completions was the first explosive play, a 44-yard pass to Kobe Paysour.
Belichick credited better execution after halftime.
“It wasn’t like we had a whole bunch of new plays,” he said. “We just executed better. Our backs ran hard, turned three yards into seven, and we skipped a lot of third downs.”
A Melkart Abou-Jaoude sack forced a Syracuse three-and-out and set UNC up at midfield in the first quarter. The long Paysour reception highlighted a drive that stalled at the Syracuse 1. After an Austin Blaske false start, Rece Verhoff kicked a 24-yard field goal for its first lead over a power conference team since the first drive against TCU in the opener.
After UNC forced a second three-out-out, Lopez was pressured and connected with wide receiver Shamar Easter, who looked surprised to get the ball. After Easter’s first reception of the season, Syracuse’s Devin Grant forced a fumble, and the Orange’s Syra Sparrow returned it 51 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown and a 7–3 Syracuse lead. That was the third touchdown by an opposing defense this season.
The Orange rushed for 46 yards on its next drive, including two plays of more than 10 yards, but had to settle for a 31-yard Tripp Woody field goal to make it 10–3 with 12:17 left in the first half.
June broke loose on his 44-yard run on a promising drive that stalled when Davion Gause lost a yard on a third-and-two. Verhoff made a 43-yard field goal with 36 seconds left to trim Syracuse’s halftime lead to 10–6.
UNC trailed at halftime despite outgaining the Orange 208–71 with its most productive yardage half since 253 against Charlotte.
Syracuse started true freshman walk-on quarterback Joseph Filardi, a top-level lacrosse recruit who wasn’t on the pregame depth chart. Belichick admitted that it caught UNC by surprise, but found out “from a source” before the game.
“You can’t change your whole offense in six days, so we stuck to our plan,” he said. “The big thing was stopping the run — if you don’t, the passing game gets easier.”
Filardi struggled and only completed one first-half pass, which was on a flea-flicker, and was briefly relieved by freshman Luke Carney in the third quarter.
June gave UNC the lead for good, 13–10, when he caught his big screen pass, stiff-arming safety Braheem Long and sped into the end zone on a 72-yard play 94 seconds into the second half. It was June’s first scoring reception.
It was the Tar Heels’ first second-half lead against a power conference team since late in their 35–30 loss to N.C. State in 2024.
Just when it looked like Carney was jump-starting Syracuse’s offense, defensive end Tyler Thompson got a big sack to stall the Orange’s drive. Carney finished 4 of 18 for 39 yards and a 40.4 passer rating.
UNC responded with a 12-play, 80-yard drive capped by June’s five-yard TD run two plays after his run converted a fourth-and-one. That gave the Tar Heels their first multiple-score lead over a power conference team.
Carolina put the game away after Abou-Jaoude forced Filardi to fumble and Smith Vilbert recovered at the Syracuse 34. Three plays later, Lopez threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Shipp to shove UNC’s lead to 27–10.
UNC could have scored again, but it knelt at the Syracuse 4 to run out the clock.
NOTES — Carolina returns home next weekend at 3:45 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, to face Stanford (The CW). The Cardinal (3–6, 2–4) lost Saturday at home to Pittsburgh 35–20. … Running back Benjamin Hall left with an ankle injury, and center Chad Lindberg left with an arm injury, both in the second quarter. Blaske moved to center. … Carolina is 3–9 on Fridays after snapping a five-game Friday losing streak. … UNC leads the series 5–3 and has won three consecutive meetings with Syracuse.
UNC 27, Syracuse 10
| 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
| Month/ date | Score/ time | Opponent | Record/ TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| September | |||
| 1 | L, 48–14 | vs. TCU | 0–1 |
| 6 | W, 20–3 | at Charlotte | 1–1 |
| 13 | W, 41–6 | vs. Richmond | 2–1 |
| 20 | L, 34–9 | at UCF | 2–2 |
| October | |||
| 4 | L, 38–10 | vs. Clemson | 2–3, 0–1 ACC |
| 17 (Fri.) | L, 21–18 | at California | 2–4, 0–2 |
| 25 | L, 17–16, OT | vs. No. 16 Virginia | 2–5, 0–3 |
| 31 (Fri.) | W, 27–10 | at Syracuse | 3–5, 1–3 |
| November | |||
| 8 | W, 20–15 | vs. Stanford | 4–5, 2–3 |
| 15 | L, 28–12 | at Wake Forest | 4–6, 2–4 |
| 22 | L, 32–25 | vs. Duke | 4–7, 2–5 |
| 29 | L, 42–19 | at N.C. State | 4–8, 2–6 |
Photo via @UNCFootball
tarheeltribune.com 