Bill Belichick’s Tar Heels Debut Ends in Disastrous Whimper

Effective rushing by North Carolina allowed it to get near the red zone; the work of Head Coach Bill Belichick and Offensive Coordinator Freddie Kitchens worked out well at the end of the first drive.

On the other side of the ball, UNC forces a three-and-out against TCU, courtesy of effective defense in the backfield against the Horned Frogs' wide receiver, Eric McAlister. And by this point, both ends for the Tar Heels are clicking — fitting its motto of tough, smart and dependable.

It took the Horned Frogs six plays, 58 yards and two minutes and 31 seconds to score their first touchdown of the game. A deep pass on the left side of the field by quarterback Josh Hoover to wide receiver Jordan Dwyer placed Head Coach Sonny Dykes' team on the board — tying the contest, 7-7, with 4:08 on the game clock.

Coach Sonny Dykes and the Horned Frogs exited the first quarter with the ball, as the game stood at a standstill of 7-7 — marking the end of the first quarter for Bill Belichick.

Second Quarter

TCU did not reach the end zone after its 14 plays, 55 yards and six minutes and 24 seconds, but it found a way to take the lead with a 32-yard field goal by Kyle Lemmermann. The Horned Frogs were able to keep the football, and it paid big dividends at the end of the drive.

Whatever the Tar Heels did in the first drive was not found in their next three — punting the football at the end of each one. UNC and Coach Belichick had a hard time finding a stride toward positive yardage. Lopez could not connect with any of his targets — TCU's defense covered well.

At the brink of another long TCU drive, the Tar Heels were able to force a turnover on a batted ball in the air that landed in the hands of defensive back Kaleb Cost — his third interception of his career. Just like that, UNC gains momentum with 5:13 remaining in the first half. Not too long after, Lopez threw his first interception — an intended pass to Jordan Shipp — resulting in a 25-yard pick-six, extending the Horned Frogs' lead, 16-7 — safefy Bud Clark made it happen.

53 seconds left, six drives for UNC, but only one touchdown to show. The magic North Carolina started with during the first 15 minutes of play vanished — nowhere to be found, not even a slight bit of it.

To end the first half, TCU worked its fifth drive of the contest toward a field goal — pushing its lead to 13 points over the Tar Heels.

Notable Halftime Stats

• Gio Lopez completed two his six pass attempts

• Jordan Shipp has two catches for 58 yards total

• Caleb Hood had eight carries for 33 yards and UNC's one and only touchdown

• Andrew Simpson ends the first half with eight tackles

• The Tar Heels had four first downs to TCU's 16

• North Carolina went 0-5 on third down conversions

Third Quarter

Right out the gate, the Horned Frogs opened with a 75-yard rushing touchdown down the right sidelines, in front of UNC, to begin the third quarter, yet again upping their lead to 27-7. Running back Kevorian Barnes ran the ball and sped past Tar Heel defenders.

After a small pause, due to an injury to TCU, Coach Dykes rushed easily into the end zone with a 28-yard rush by Trent Battle.

Then, 8:30 was left in the third quarter.

On the following drive, Lopez was able to connect with wide receiver Chris Culliver, his first completed attempt in quite a while since that moment. The passing game he displayed at South Alabama did not show up, and did not look much like what his film shows — fumbling the ball while scrambling out of the pocket. TCU picked up the football and ran away for a 37-yard fumble return.

Coach Belichick elected to swap Lopez for quarterback Max Johnson for the ninth drive — his first game action since his leg injury last season against the Minnesota Gophers on the road. Johnson connects with wide receiver Jarvarius Green for a 39-yard completion, putting the Tar Heels up the field.

10 plays, 80 yards later and six minutes and 22 seconds, Johnson threw a two-yard pass to his brother, Jake Johnson, in the end zone, to raise UNC's score by just a tad. 29 seconds stood afterward as the third quarter wound down.

The quarterback switch by Coach Belichick gave life to the team and Kenan Stadium.

Fourth Quarter

To add on to the list of bad things that happened to UNC in its season opener, on the first drive of the last 15 minutes, running back Davion Gause lost the football — a forced fumble by TCU — retrieved by edge Zachary Chapman.

A five-play, 76-yard drive by TCU resulted in a passing touchdown from Hoover to wide receiver DJ Rogers, as the scoreboard read 48-14 and 9:21 left in the game. Coach Dykes' team continued its beatdown, all the way until the end, play after play, yard after yard, sucking fans out of the stands.

The Tar Heels begin the Bill Belichick era with a loss. It was pretty for a moment, but then it turned into an outing that did not have much life, with a few exceptions of Johnson's appearance and touchdown to his brother.

UNC takes on Charlotte on the road this Saturday, September 6 at 7 p.m.

Please