UNC football comes up short in OT. What we learned in Tar Heels’ loss to Virginia

What a difference two years can make.

The last time Virginia made the trip to Kenan Stadium, the Cavaliers stunned then-No. 10 North Carolina in a 31-27 upset — a shocking loss Mack Brown described as disappointing for his coaching staff.

This Saturday, with Bill Belichick at the helm, the Tar Heels appeared poised to return the favor and deliver the six-time Super Bowl winning head coach his first ACC win in upset fashion. But, after putting together its best first half of the season and pushing the game to overtime, North Carolina fell to No. 16 Virginia, 17-16, in Chapel Hill.

The game, just like UNC’s loss at Cal, came down to a close call at the one-yard line. After Virginia running back J’Mari Taylor’s rushing touchdown put the Cavaliers up 17-10, North Carolina running back Davion Gause responded with a touchdown of his own.

But the Tar Heels (2-5, 0-3 ACC) came up inches short when running back Benjamin Hall was ruled down just inches short of the end zone on his 2-point conversion attempt.

“In the end, we just came up a little bit short today,” Belichick said. “A good effort by a lot of areas, but in the end, just not quite enough.”

After an agonizing late-game fumble by wide receiver Nathan Leacock cost the Tar Heels in Berkeley in a 21-18 loss on Oct. 17, this Saturday’s game delivered another stinger for UNC. But, at the same time, there are also plenty of positives to take away for North Carolina.

Here’s what we learned:

Red zone regrets

For a brief, but fleeting, moment it appeared that UNC wide receiver Kobe Paysour had managed to sneak in for a touchdown to put North Carolina up early over Virginia.

And after coming so close to a win last week vs. Cal — after finally putting together a competitive game against a Power 4 opponent — what a statement that would’ve been in the opening minutes. Paysour seemed back to peak form against the Golden Bears, recording a career-best 101 yards on six catches.

But Saturday, Paysour’s attempt to stretch his run into a touchdown — reaching the ball out toward the left pylon — was ruled a fumble. That marked the Tar Heels’ fourth red-zone turnover of the year.

UVA took over possession and, on the Cavaliers’ next drive, marched down the field and scored a 34-yard field goal to go up 3-0.

North Carolina committed its fifth red-zone turnover of the year — tied for the most in the country with Boston College — when Lopez’s pass was tipped and then intercepted by Mitchell Melton late in the third quarter.

“I mean, [you] give up two red area touchdowns,” Belichick said. “So that’s something we could done a little bit better there.”

The red zone issues for the Tar Heels cropped up on both sides of the ball, with Virginia scoring its first touchdown of the game thanks to a missed tackle at the 12-yard line. UVA’s Chandler Morris targeted Trell Harris, who evaded a tackle from UNC defensive back Marcus Allen before waltzing into the end zone.

Lopez, offense take momentary step forward

In the first half alone, UNC quarterback Gio Lopez had already racked up more passing yards — 173 — than he had in any full game this fall.

The Tar Heels’ offense has struggled mightily — ranking last in total offense, passing offense, scoring offense and third-down conversion percentage in the ACC — but looked far more competent on Saturday.

North Carolina recorded 246 yards of total offense by halftime, putting together its best half this season.

UNC’s efficiency on third down was a highlight — at least, at first. The Tar Heels have ranked among the worst in this category nationally at 32.4% on the season. Belichick listed third-down conversions on offense as an area that needed improvement following North Carolina’s loss to Cal.

On Saturday, UNC got off to a better start: converting three of its first seven third downs. But things took a turn in the third quarter, with North Carolina failing to convert any of its four third-down chances. UNC converted one of three third-down attempts in the fourth quarter.

Lopez stalled too. After completing 17 of his 25 passes in the first half, he attempted just four throws in the third quarter and completed zero.

Lopez completed five of six passes in the fourth quarter to finish with 208 yards and a 64% completion rate.

“Gio’s been working his butt off,” wide receiver Jordan Shipp, who finished with a game-high 67 yards on seven catches, said. “You know, he’s a hard worker in everything he does, and I have nothing but respect and love for Gio.

He knows that we’re all behind him no matter what’s going on.”

Defensive line applying pressure

When UNC defensive line coach Bob Diaco said he’d seen improvement from his corps in a press conference on Thursday, he had little to show for it.

On Saturday, however, the Tar Heels proved him right. UNC recorded a season-high six sacks — a huge sign of improvement from a squad that ranked 113th in the nation in that category with five entering the UVA game.

Defensive lineman Melkart Abou-Jaoude, a redshirt junior transfer from Delaware, led the Tar Heels with three sacks — a career best. Isaiah Johnson, CJ Mims and Tyler Thompson each added one.

Melkart Abou-Jaoude now leads the team in sacks with five on the season.

“Our mentality all week was they haven’t played our D-line yet,” Abou-Jaoude said. “So we just went out there and showed them.”

North Carolina has struggled to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks this season, a fact that linebacker Mikai Gbayor also acknowledged in his press conference earlier this week.

There’s no secret recipe, Gbayor said, other than each player doing their job consistently and winning their individual one-on-one matchups. The Tar Heels did just that on Saturday.

The defensive line still isn’t a “finished product,” per Diaco, but this performance against Virginia was certainly a great step forward for the group.

This story was originally published October 25, 2025 at 3:45 PM.