UNC football is progressing under Bill Belichick. Why ACC wins remain elusive

For those who missed the in-game scene on Saturday, North Carolina defensive back Will Hardy’s mom was happy to provide a reminder.

On Sunday afternoon, Lindsey Hardy posted a photo to her X account of various members of UNC’s defense and special teams units standing with their arms wrapped around each other during North Carolina’s failed two-point conversion attempt in overtime against Virginia.

“I think some guys were praying,” Hardy said. “We were just sort of bonded together and just watching and hoping for that moment. Obviously, it didn’t turn out the way we wanted to. But [it’s] another sign of our team sticking together.”

After being outscored 120-33 against its first three P4 opponents, the Tar Heels have suffered one-possession losses to Cal and No. 16 Virginia over the past two weekends. While the defense has shown signs of progress — tallying a season-high six sacks and limiting the Hoos to 10 points in regulation on Saturday — the offense has remained stagnant.

Nationally, North Carolina ranks 129th out of 134 FBS teams in total offense.

When asked what UNC’s offense needed to do to take a step forward, Bill Belichick said, “we gotta score more points.

“That’s why they put a scoreboard up there,” Belichick said. “We just got to score more points. We move the ball, but you don’t get points for moving the ball. It’s got to cross the end zone or get a kick between the uprights. We’ve missed on too many of those opportunities.”

Missed opportunities

The Tar Heels have scored on 16 of 21 red zone attempts this fall. That 76.2% is good for 113th in the nation, and isn’t too far off from Manny Diaz’s Duke Blue Devils at 77.4%.

“They are team opportunities — it’s not just one guy,” Belichick said. “But we’ve got to do a better job of collectively finishing our drives, finishing our plays and having the result that we feel like should be the result at the end of the play. It hasn’t always been that way.”

Instead, what’s occurred is a series of “pretty unfortunate events,” as Hardy described it Tuesday.

From Nathan Leacock’s fumble at Cal to Kobe Paysour’s failed attempt to stretch for the left pylon against Virginia, Belichick has repeatedly emphasized ball security. On Tuesday, Belichick went in-depth about his approach to shore up this Achilles heel for the team.

Belichick said it starts with understanding — how to protect and handle the ball properly. The coaching staff backs this up with drills.

“Sometimes it’s hard to simulate those situations in practice, they just come up kind of randomly based on where the runner is, how he’s got the ball, where the tackler is, and so forth,” Belichick said. “So you set up individual drills that simulate more common situations, and keep repeating those so that the players who handle the ball have a consciousness of ball security and protection. And we just have to do a better job of it.”

Emphasizing ball security

Belichick said he emphasizes this with his players every week, but sometimes their focus on ball security can evade them in game settings when they may be thinking about “gaining yards or scoring or whatever.”

That seemed to be the case with Paysour, as UNC general manager Michael Lombardi alluded to in his Monday night radio show.

“You’re trying to make a play, but you’re really not,” Lombardi added. “You’re hurting the team by doing that.”

Another crucial red-zone turnover came when UVA’s Mitchell Melton picked off UNC quarterback Gio Lopez at the Cavaliers’ five-yard line. Lopez said Tuesday the “turnover situation” starts with him at QB.

Lopez has thrown four touchdown passes — only one since UNC’s win over Richmond on Sept. 13 — and five interceptions this season.

“I think I gotta make a better decision in the red zone trying to throw that ball to Shanard [Clower],” Lopez said. “That ball, at the end of the game, I was just taking a shot. But, situationally, I just had to be better in the red zone.”

“I think if we clean up some of the turnovers, and especially in the red zone, that changes a lot of our outcomes in the game,” Lopez added. “If we can clean those things up, then we’re sitting at a different record. And I think that’s something that we want — that we’re urgently wanting to get better.”

The Tar Heels (2-5, 0-3) have another chance to put together a clean game when they travel to take on Syracuse (3-5, 1-4) at JMA Wireless Dome for a Halloween night game at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

Captains like Lopez and Hardy are optimistic that, despite the frustrating endings to recent games, things will be different this time around.

“[We] can’t just look at the negative,” Hardy said. “We’re improving a lot, and I think it’s gonna start showing on the scoreboard this weekend.”

This story was originally published October 28, 2025 at 3:03 PM.