Artacho’s Angle: Bill Belichick's First Game Fell Through the Ground

I think UNC played poorly; it was not cute, not even for one whole quarter, even. The Tar Heels played beautiful football for their first drive of the contest, but then all of that vanished after running back Caleb Hood's rushing touchdown to start the game off.

Drive after drive, it became three-and-out quickly for UNC, and Coach Belichick's adjustments were nonexistent — missed tackles on the defensive end were not helping either. Whatever strategy Offensive Coordinator Freddie Kitchens had did not string along well — there was a knot along the way, and it happened early, very early.

Quarterback Gio Lopez's two passes to wide receiver Jordan Shipp were special; it was right there with the best moments of the game (Max Johnson's return will be discussed below).

What happened to that magic?

And no pun intended, by the way, but Lopez and Shipp's connection made the stadium erupt in a big way, but it went away quickly — definitely too fast for Coach Belichick's liking — the Tar Heels scored only 14 points at home in one of the program's most anticipated games (maybe ever) after all.

The First Five Minutes Were as Pretty as a Rainbow

It looked nice, as pretty as a rainbow, the Tar Heels played like a brand new team. That was until an experienced Head Coach Sonny Dykes figured out how to stop Coach Belichick's attack, and bang — ballgame — game over — that's how 48-14 came to be, an outing that had UNC written all over it from a national media standpoint, with not much (or at all) conversation about the Horned Frogs.

And maybe that was the worst thing that could happen for UNC; its opponent being discussed by the media; that kind of stuff does not go unnoticed and adds major fuel to the fire.

UNC's collapse after the theatrics and the beginning of the season opener will be talked about for quite a while, it's hard not to for anyone,

Tar Heel fan or not — that was a bad football game for North Carolina. Period. The end. By the time the fourth quarter came around the student section was empty (with a small selection of those who decided to stick it out for whatever reason), and I bet the students who left much earlier than the game actually ended were hoping to see a game that lived up to the hype of the pregame festivities.

The Pit, Polk Place and Franklin Street were popping, tons of Tar Heel spirit, restaurants filled with customers. And just a tad bit of TCU fans sprinkled here and there every other five minutes that pass by leading up to kickoff (bet they were extremely happy once the clock struck zero).

As the media sped down to the press conference room, featuring Coach Belichick, Kaleb Cost and Johnson, the moment UNC's head coach stepped up to the podium all anyone in that room could see was a face of being upset; a face that wondered what exactly went wrong to lose by 34 points; a face that had a sense of shocked on it.

Max Johnson's Return Sparked Kenan Stadium

In reference to college basketball's March Madness tournament every single year, Johnson's first game action since last year's injury was the one shining moment for North Carolina. He was able to step in and provide the offense with a touchdown late in the game, and to make it the moment even better, it was to Jake Johnson, his younger brother.

There was a time before that Johnson thought he would lose his leg, but despite that, he managed to work through the hardship and find his way back on the gridiron — a story that sits right with UNC fans, and any college football fan, for that matter. Perhaps he may be the starter against Charlotte, who knows? If Coach Belichick opts to do so, then it will be Johnson against former Tar Heel quarterback Conner Harrell.

Overall, the first contest of the Bill Belichick era fell through the ground, and the hope of a change in the football program lasted for minutes, not an hour. The good thing for them is that there is still a lot of football left to be played.

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