By Doc Kennedy
It’s always interesting to see how a team that has been eliminated from postseason contention plays its final game, especially against a rival. Does it play inspired, or does it just show up to play out the string?
It was the latter that showed up for the annual renewal of the UNC-N.C. State clash on Saturday night in Raleigh, as the Tar Heels put up a mostly uninspired effort in a generally demoralizing 42–19 loss.
The Wolfpack imposed their will in the first half, scoring on all four possessions, each 11 plays or more, on the way to building a 28–10 halftime lead. State converted two fourth downs to keep drives alive and generally blew Carolina away along both the offensive and defensive lines to end the suspense early.
UNC was finally able to slow down the State attack in the third quarter and at least make the game interesting before two Pack scores early in the fourth quarter salted the game away.
There’s really not much to say about the game beyond the fact that State took Carolina to the woodshed early. The game was never really competitive as, beyond a couple of exceptions, the team did not seem too terribly invested.
An injury to Gio Lopez in the third quarter finally gave Max Johnson a shot, and Johnson quickly led the team down the field before settling for a field goal. But his energy was quickly sapped by losing a fumble on a sack that led to the Wolfpack’s final touchdown on a short field.
With the loss, UNC limps 4–8, 2–6 in the ACC in Bill Belichick’s first season. Meanwhile, State ties a series-best with its fifth straight win in the rivalry. With this in mind, here is the NC State edition of the Good, Bad, and Ugly Report:
Good
Jordan Shipp
Shipp carried the Tar Heel offense with 90 yards on eight catches and a touchdown. He became Carolina’s top receiver down the stretch and, unfortunately, has probably put together some great tape for whatever SEC team poaches him in the transfer portal. He did say after the game, though, that he would be back.
Gio Lopez
To Lopez’s credit, he developed into a serviceable quarterback over the final month of the season. Against State, he was 11 of 16 for 118 yards and a touchdown before going down in the third quarter with an injury. But we’ve likely seen Lopez for the last time in Chapel Hill, as UNC will surely shop for a portal QB, especially given how much Lopez was making this season in NIL.
Bad
Offensive line
Though this group has battled injuries and turnover all season, the O-line play was particularly not great against the Pack. It surrendered four sacks, partly due to their inability to open holes for the running backs. The rushing attack faded over the final three games, partly because Carolina was often playing from behind, but through the first two-thirds of the season, UNC was strong on the ground. Against State, Max Johnson was the leading rusher on scrambles before Benjamin Hall finally got to 29 yards on the final drive against the Wolfpack reserves.
Special-teams play
For the second straight week, UNC’s opponent executed a fake kick, this time a punt that kept a drive alive and led to a touchdown. There appears to be just a complete lack of preparation.
Third-/fourth-down defense
Once again, UNC just couldn’t get off the field. State went 6 of 12 on third down, and a mind-blowing 4 of 4 on fourth down, including the aforementioned fake punt. That’s an effective rate of 10 of 12 in drive-ending opportunities. That’s not great.
Ugly
Penalties
Once again, UNC just couldn’t get off the field. State went 6 of 12 on third down, and a mind-blowing 4 of 4 on fourth down, including the aforementioned fake punt. That’s an effective rate of 10 of 12 in drive-ending opportunities. That’s not great.
Vibes
The three-game losing streak against in-state opponents to end the season has zapped a lot of the goodwill that had built in the four games following the second open date. The team did not look good for 10 of the 12 quarters against Wake Forest, Duke and State. There are far more questions than answers heading into the offseason, and fans have checked out.
For the first time since 2018, UNC will not participate in a bowl game, and the post-mortems will begin about all that went wrong in Belichick’s inaugural season. There’s no denying this was a poorly constructed team that improved in the middle of the year but was ultimately disappointing.
There is likely to be another complete retool of a roster that saw 70 new players this spring. Maybe the staff has learned how better to recruit the portal and allocate NIL resources. But a less strenuous schedule was squandered, as next season’s schedule is significantly more difficult.
All but one of Carolina’s opponents in 2026 had a winning record in 2025, and the Heels trade Charlotte, Wake, Stanford and Cal for Notre Dame, Miami, Louisville and Pitt.
Meanwhile, there will continue to be speculation about Belichick and NFL opportunities, as likely the circus around Belichick, from his family and friends to his girlfriend, will continue to swirl.
If nothing else, it will be an interesting offseason in Chapel Hill. Whether or not this improves the product on the football field will remain to be seen.
Doc Kennedy is an alum, longtime UNC fan, and former high school and college basketball coach who wrote this report for years on Tar Heel Blog.
Photo by Smith Hardy
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