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North Carolina came inches away from pulling major upset

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated Oct 25, 2025 6:24 PM ET

The North Carolina Tar Heels came just inches away from their biggest win under head coach Bill Belichick on Saturday.

The Tar Heels put together an impressively competitive game against No. 16 Virginia at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Saturday, taking the Cavaliers to overtime. Virginia scored a touchdown in the first overtime period, but the Tar Heels answered with a 9-yard score of their own.

Belichick made the gutsy decision to go for two and end the game right there. Running back Benjamin Hall caught a short pass and stretched for the pylon, but came up just short.

Bill Belichick’s Tar Heels come up inches shy of his first ACC win. pic.twitter.com/r2gYmx0xmv
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 25, 2025

Replays showed that Hall’s knee was down while he had the ball inside the 1-yard line, but had not quite made it to the goal line.

GAME OF INCHES https://t.co/1Llg18jiWi pic.twitter.com/D4pdnBxKx2
— Liam Blutman (@Blutman27) October 25, 2025

This is the second straight heartbreaking loss for the Tar Heels, who could have easily won last week as well. Belichick can take heart in the fact that his team is getting closer, but they are still 0-3 in ACC play.

The Tar Heels had other chances to win the game, as quarterback Gio Lopez was intercepted in the red zone late in the third quarter while the game was still tied at 10. The team still looks to be playing hard, even though there were legitimate questions about Belichick’s job security not that long ago.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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