By R.L. Bynum
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — For much of the first half, North Carolina’s offense put up numbers but looked stuck in neutral. Pressure collapsed the pocket, drives stalled in the red zone, and a costly fumble turned into a Syracuse touchdown.
But when the Tar Heels needed poise, quarterback Gio Lopez delivered his best game of the season — and perhaps the most important of his young career.
Lopez finished 15 of 19 for 216 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a 209.2 passer rating in UNC’s 27–10 win over Syracuse after trailing following an uneven first half.
“I think we just played as a team tonight,” Lopez said. “[Offensive coordinator Freddie] Kitchens did a great job calling plays and put us in good situations for us to execute. Offensively, defensively, guys had to show up, and they did their part.”
One of Lopez’s biggest throws came early: a 44-yard strike to Kobe Paysour, UNC’s first explosive play of the night. But the defining moment came on the first snap of the second half, when Lopez dumped a screen pass to Demon June that turned into a 72-yard touchdown.
“I think that screen really got us going,” Lopez said. “We were having field goals, and Demon did a great job busting runs after that. Overall, he was just being Demon and did a great job.”
Lopez’s performance was more than a stat line. It was a response to weeks of frustration. Entering Friday, UNC had lost four straight, including heartbreakers to California and Virginia. Lopez had shown flashes but struggled to finish drives, particularly in the red zone.
“We were like, ‘Guys, we’ve got to just get in the end zone,’” Lopez said of the halftime discussion. “We’re playing good football; we’re just not capitalizing. Not finishing plays. Not finishing in the red zone.”
The first half felt like déjà vu: two trips inside the 20 produced field goals, and a fumble turned into a defensive score.
“It was a level of patience, but I feel a little irritation,” Lopez admitted. “Everyone knows we weren’t doing a great job in the red zone. It felt like we were handing them stuff.”
Halftime brought urgency, not panic.
“I want to say mad,” Lopez said of the mood. “I think it was more like fiery in a sense. There was no argumentative conversations, more picking each other up and like, ‘Hey, let’s fix this.’ First play, we scored, and from there it was like, ‘Let’s play our game.’ ”
UNC coach Bill Belichick said Syracuse’s aggressive front made life difficult early.
“They pressured us a lot in the first half — probably on 75% of the plays,” he said. “That caused some negative plays and got us into third down, and we weren’t able to convert. Protections are always a combination of the quarterback and the offensive line. Everybody needs to be on the same page.”
Lopez agreed that there were first-half challenges.
“They did a great job disguising their pressures,” he said. “First half, [they] got us a couple times on some looks. Second half, we picked it up, started communicating better with the O-line, and [it was] me seeing things as well, getting us into the right protection.”
Belichick credited the adjustments.
“The offensive line did a good job moving their ends off the ball,” he said. “It’s a challenge on the road with crowd noise, but we handled it better in the second half.”
For Lopez, the win was about resilience — and validation.
“We’ve lost games by inches,” he said. “Tonight, we finally busted it open and got a win. It feels amazing. Good morale overall.”
After weeks of questions about UNC’s direction, Lopez’s steady hand helped the Tar Heels break through and gave the Belichick era its first ACC win.
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