By R.L. Bynum
DUBLIN — After a preseason with plenty of negative talk outside of the program, North Carolina may be the early talk of college football after an impressive opener.
This looked like a totally different team than last season.
The Tar Heels capitalized on TCU mistakes. With the defense looking stronger in the second half, they earned a 15–10 victory Saturday at the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Aviva Stadium.
A huge third-quarter defensive stand near the goal line after a UNC fumble seized the momentum that could have very easily slipped away. With TCU driving for a potential go-ahead touchdown with 4:05 left, UNC forced an incomplete fourth-and-two pass in the end zone.
“TCU is a good football team, and they certainly did some things that were difficult for us,” UNC coach Bill Belichick said. “But I thought our players responded well and tried to step up to the challenge. Got a lot of big plays on fourth down. Something that we didn’t do too much of last year.”
That led the Tar Heels to avenge last season’s blowout loss and sent expectations shooting up.
UNC struggled to run the ball, but got just enough yards on its final drive to wipe out most of the clock. The game was over when, on a fourth-and-one with 30 seconds left, the Tar Heels drew TCU offside.
“It’s a good feeling to win the game,” Belichick said. “This goes all the way back to preseason workouts, spring practice, summer workouts, training camp. It’s all pointed to getting ready for the season, not necessarily just one game, but getting ready for the season. We didn’t play competitively enough last year, but this year these guys came out with a whole different attitude, and they were going to fight for 60 minutes, and they did.”
Six Tar Heels had at least five tackles, led by 11 from linebacker Derek McDonald, with Melkart Abou-Jaoude making big plays and Xavier Lewis recording two sacks. That backed an offense led by graduate quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., with big receiving games from Jordan Shipp (5 catches, 71 yards) and tight end Jelani Thurman (4 catches, 94 yards).
“It’s a good team defense,” Belichick said. “It’s not one guy that does it. If you play good team defense and force the runner to go, somebody’s there to tackle them. Everybody just has to take care of their responsibility. Payne’s a good back, and it’s team defense. Somebody’s got to make the tackle, so whoever it is, it is. It’s just a result of good team defense that keeps those plays from being explosive.”
Edwards (16 of 28 for 232 yards with a 126.7 passer rating) was off-target at times, missing Shipp in the end zone early in the fourth quarter. He made big passes, though, including one for 25 yards to Thurman late when the Tar Heels were trying to run time off the clock.
“I thought Billy did a solid job managing the game,” Belichick said. “Didn’t turn the ball over on his side of things. We got to do a better job of taking care of the ball.”
Both teams settled for field goals on their first drives, a 20-yarder by UNC’s Aeron Burrell and a 31-yarder from TCU’s Kyle Lemmermann.
Thurman caught two passes for 55 yards on the opening drive, but dropped a poor Edwards pass in the back of the end zone on third-and-goal at the 2. Against pressure from Jaiden Patterson, TCU quarterback Jaden Craig’s third-and-six pass at the 13 fell to the ground.
“Jelani gave some explosive plays, especially early in the game,” Belichick said. “It kind of got us started there, and then the pass on the naked on the flat, it was a big first down there, and at the end of the last drive.”
Right guard Aidan Banfield got beat on Ansel Din-Mbuh’s sack that ended UNC’s second drive at its 23 with a nine-yard loss. After a 35-yard punt return, TCU needed four plays to go 25 yards for a Jon Denman 2-yard touchdown run with four minutes left in the first quarter.
Edwards connected on a huge 18-yard pass to Shipp on fourth-and-seven, and Jaylen McGill scored a nine-yard touchdown run on the next play to tie it at 10 with 1:04 left in the first quarter. The defense then stopped TCU on a wayward fourth-and-10 pass.
A high snap on a TCU punt attempt skied into the end zone with 1:49 left in the first half for a safety to give UNC a 12–10 halftime lead.
Jaylen Harvey recovered a fumble after a crushing hit from behind by Abou-Jaoude on Craig to set up UNC for a 28-yard Burrell field goal with 10:04 left in the third quarter and a 15–10 UNC lead.
Benjamin Hall’s fumble gave TCU the ball at the UNC 24, but the Tar Heels stopped a fourth-and-one at the 5 when multiple defenders, including Isaiah Johnson and Xavier Lewis, threw Jeremy Payne for a one-yard loss.
TCU finally found some offensive momentum with a nearly eight-minute fourth-quarter drive, but it ended with Craig unable to connect with Jeremy Scott in the end zone on a fourth-and-two at the UNC 10.
Discipline proved to be a difference-maker as well. UNC avoided the kind of costly penalties that plagued TCU throughout the afternoon.
“We can’t control what they do. We can control what we do, and what we need to do is not commit penalties ourselves,” Belichick said. “We try to really emphasize keeping our poise, not getting any pre-snap penalties, and not getting any post-whistle penalties. Guys play disciplined football, and that’s what we can do.”
Reflecting on the trip overall, Belichick credited the atmosphere at Aviva Stadium and the support from Tar Heels fans who made the trip across the Atlantic for the program’s first game of the season.
“It almost felt like a home game,” Belichick said. “It was fantastic to see our fans come and support us. It’s a long way to go for a football game, and that speaks to the pride in Carolina from our fans and especially our alumni.”
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Notes
— Carolina gets two weeks off before facing East Tennessee State at noon on Sept. 12 in its home opener. It will be the Buccaneers’ third game: they hosted Campbell on Saturday and host Tusculum on Sept. 5.
— TCU played without wide receiver Jordan Dwyer because of a foot injury. He caught 54 passes for 730 yards and seven touchdowns last season. Horned Frogs defensive lineman Zach Chapman, who has 4½ career sacks, was also out with an injury.
— Abou-Jaoude suffered a hand injury on TCU’s first touchdown drive but returned for the next drive.
— Burrell handled placekicking and punting for UNC.
— UNC’s last safety was against Cincinnati in a bowl game in Charlotte on Dec. 28, 2013.
— It was UNC’s first victory over a Big 12 school and first against TCU since 1997, winning its opener for the fourth time in five seasons. The Tar Heels lead the all-time series 4–1.
— It was Bill Belichick’s fourth win outside the United States after winning twice in London and once in Mexico City while coaching the New England Patriots.
UNC 15, TCU 10
UNC schedule
| Month/ date | Score/ time | Opponent (current ranking) | Record/TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| August | |||
| 29 | W, 15–10 | vs.TCU in Dublin | 1–0 |
| September | |||
| 12 | Noon | vs. ETSU | ACCN |
| 19 | Noon | at Clemson | ESPN |
| October | |||
| 3 | TBA | vs. No. 4 Notre Dame | TBA |
| 10 | TBA | at Pittsburgh | TBA |
| 17 | TBA | at Duke | TBA |
| 24 | TBA | vs. Syracuse | TBA |
| 31 | TBA | vs. No. 7 Miami | TBA |
| November | |||
| 7 | TBA | at UConn | TBA |
| 14 | TBA | vs. No. 24 Louisville | TBA |
| 21 | TBA | at Virginia | TBA |
| 28 | TBA | vs. N.C. State | TBA |
| December | |||
| 5 | noon, ABC | ACC championship game in Charlotte | ESPN |
Photo via @UNCFootball
