Bill Belichick picked up his first Power 4 victory and first ACC win Friday night when North Carolina beat Syracuse 27-10 at the JMA Wireless Dome.
The Tar Heels entered Friday looking like they had started to make some progress after a 3-point loss to Cal two weeks ago and a 1-point overtime loss to Virginia last week. They were ultimately able to put the pieces together this time to finally give Belichick and his team the jolt it’s been looking for all season.
UNC’s offense finished with 425 total yards in its best outing of the year by a nearly 75-yard margin. Things clicked both through the air and on the ground all night long. Quarterback Gio Lopez went 15-of-19 passing for 216 yards (though 72 of them were on a catch-and-run from running back Demon June) and two touchdowns, and the run game looked dominant against the Orange with the Tar Heels racking up 209 yards on 43 carries.
June, the true freshman from Jacksonville, N.C., was no doubt the difference maker for the Tar Heels, finishing with 13 carries for 101 yards and a touchdown, in addition to two catches for 81 yards and the 72-yard score. Syracuse, meanwhile, finished with just 147 total yards behind true freshman walk-on quarterback Joseph Filardi, who was making his first career start and went just 4-of-18 passing for 39 yards.
UNC’s 209 rushing yards were a season high, as were the Tar Heels’ 6.9 yards per play.
With the win, Belichick was finally able to at least hit pause on the negative chatter that has engulfed the program since his hiring. Belichick promised an NFL-like approach for the Tar Heels, but his personal life has dominated the headlines for much of the year. UNC entered Friday with just two wins, against Charlotte and Richmond. The Tar Heels hadn’t won a game since Sept. 13.
Believe in the process. 😤 pic.twitter.com/wLIk0JNZy4
— Carolina Football (@UNCFootball) November 1, 2025
“Keep grinding, keep working. Look, let’s get used to it. We’re going to win a lot more games around here, OK? You can see the potential we have. We’ve just got to keep working, keep grinding, fix a few little things here, and things are going to be a lot different going forward,” Belichick told the team after the game. “We know what we can do here.”
Syracuse now falls to 3-6 on the year and continues to look for answers after star quarterback Steve Angeli went down with a season-ending injury four games into the campaign. It has now lost five consecutive games. The Tar Heels still have a long way to go, but all of a sudden, bowl eligibility doesn’t look totally out of the question.
UNC needs three more wins in its next four games against Stanford, Wake Forest, Duke and NC State. It hosts the Cardinal and the Blue Devils at home.
On the recruiting front, the Tar Heels scored a big commitment Friday when four-star linebacker Duyon Forkpa Jr. committed to Belichick and UNC over Miami, Michigan and Florida.
