By R.L. Bynum
RALEIGH — The undisciplined penalties, costly mistakes and lapses that have made Bill Belichick’s first season at North Carolina a flop all came together on one cold night.
Two seasons after UNC’s disastrous 19-point loss in Raleigh, N.C. State scored on every first-half drive and inflicted another beatdown, 42–19, on Saturday night at Carter-Finley Stadium.
“Disappointing game for us, but give N.C. State credit,” Belichick said. “They played well. They’re certainly a better team tonight. They did everything better than we did. Coach, play offense, defense, special teams. They’re the better team that deserved to win. So, we’ve got a lot work to do.”
UNC (4–8, 2–6 ACC) had more penalty yards (114) than rushing yards (70), and lost quarterback Gio Lopez to a left ankle injury early in the second half.
N.C. State (7–5, 4–3) beat its rivals for the fifth consecutive time, with CJ Bailey (21 of 30 for 201 yards and two touchdowns with 65 rushing yards) exploiting the UNC defense with the sort of dual threat that the Tar Heels had hoped to get from Lopez.
Belichick said the offseason evaluation process starts immediately.
“We’ll go back and take a look at it and find ways to improve and try to improve it,” he said. “No doubt that’s exactly what we’ll do.”
Wolfpack quarterback Will Wilson rushed for 54 yards and scored four touchdowns out of Wildcat looks.
Belichick admitted State’s execution left UNC scrambling.
“They did a good job. Executed well. They ran it, threw it, converted their downs, controlled the field,” said Belichick, who was short on his answers during a press conference that lasted less than 4½ minutes.
Carolina linebacker Khmori House said Wilson’s short-yardage dominance was tough to counter.
“He ran hard, great. Just good play calls,” House said. “They overload on one side, so it’s hard to get a lot of bodies on that side, fourth-and-one. Those are hard, hard plays to stop. Don’t let them get to those short-yardage situations, and we’ll be good.”
House said it was, as expected, a dejected locker room.
“What you think the emotion would be? We’re sad. We just lost,” House said. “After any loss, if you care, you hurt. So, yeah, that’s the emotions.”
N.C. State easily grinded out its first three drives for scores with three third-down conversions and two fourth-down conversions. Drives of 11, 12 and 11 plays for 75, 76 and 75 yards produced a 15-yard touchdown pass from CJ Bailey to Wesley Grimes and Wilson touchdown runs of seven and one yard.
After going three-and-out on its first possession, UNC found life. Lopez made a nice pass to find wide receiver Jordan Shipp in the back corner of the end zone on a 20-yard scoring strike to finish a nine-play, 80-yard drive.
“We didn’t expect a season to go like this,” said Shipp, who had eight catches for 90 yards. “Of course, nobody expects to go [4–8]. Definitely unexpected. But, hey, gotta move on. Season’s over with now, take care of your body. We’re right back at it.”
Shipp said he’ll be back next season but added that the team will have to be more focused.
“We just need to start playing with more discipline, more fundamental football [with] situational awareness, knowing what’s going on, not getting dumb penalties, stuff like that,” he said. “Just small stuff. Everything comes from hard work. The work that you put in, you’re going to get a good result.”
Carolina had to settle for a 49-yard Rece Verhoff field goal with 1:49 left in the first half after Kobe Paysour couldn’t snag a catchable pass in the end zone on third down.
State answered with a quick strike: Bailey hit Terrell Anderson for 29 yards to the UNC 1, then found Justin Joly for a touchdown with 18 seconds left for a 27–10 halftime lead.
After State had scored on its previous 10 drives against UNC going back to halftime of last season’s game, UNC forced back-to-back three-and-outs to start the second half.
Lopez’s night ended after State defensive end Travali Price flipped him over at the end of a play, 3½ minutes into the second half. Lopez finished 11 of 16 for 119 yards, one touchdown and a 151.3 passer rating. That injury came one possession after Lopez caught a backward pass and was alone when he fell to the ground for a 14-yard loss.
Max Johnson (6 of 15, 54 yards) got UNC’s offense going, but the Heels could only muster a 29-yard Verhoff field goal after driving 78 yards in 12 plays.
State then drove 75 yards for a 15-yard Wilson touchdown run. On that play, UNC was called for three penalties, all declined. Johnson fumbled to end UNC’s next drive.
The Pack padded the lead with Wilson’s third touchdown, a 1-yard run with 6:52 left.
UNC got a late touchdown when third-string quarterback Au’Tori Newkirk (3 of 5, 23 yards) connected with Jordan Owens a 4-yard touchdown pass with 1:31 left. The pass on the two-point conversion attempt failed.
Notes
— It was 37
— The Wolfpack also won five in a row against UNC from 1988 to 1992 and from 2007 to 2011.
— UNC still leads the series 68–41–6, including 30–18–4 at N.C. State, but the Wolfpack have won five straight and eight of 10.
— Carolina went 2–1 the previous two times, in 1933 and 1999, when it played the three in-state ACC schools on consecutive weeks. But this season, the Tar Heels lost all three after earlier losing at Wake Forest 28–12 on Nov. 12, and vs. Duke 32–25 on Saturday.
N.C. State 42, UNC 19
| 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 |
Photos by Smith Hardy
tarheeltribune.com 