NC State Ends Carolina’s Disappointing Season With Abysmal 43-19 Defeat

SPORTS

CHAPEL HILL, NC – UNC ended the season on the worst note possible:

A lopsided loss to rival NC State.

The context is important. Carolina hasn’t bested their foes from Raleigh in five years. Bill Belichick’s first season in college has been the worst since Mack Brown returned to coaching about 6 years ago. This is also the first time since the Larry Fedora era that the team has not been bowl-eligible. Don’t forget they have dropped three straight games to in-state ACC rivals in the order of Wake Forrest, Duke and NC State.

Needless to say, it has been a discouraging month for the Tar Heel faithful.

UNC started the game out in the hole. State’s sophomore QB CJ Bailey threw a simple wide receiver screen, which senior wideout Wesley Grimes took up the field 15 yards for a touchdown. The senior wrapped up in Carter Finley with five catches for 61 yards and a score.

After a quick drive resulting in a punt from UNC, NC State marched down and ran the ball in for the score from short-yardage QB Will Wilson. The freshman quarterback is often used as a running option and on Saturday, he racked up four touchdowns on 12 carries with 45 yards.

UNC would begin to feign a comeback when Gio Lopez lofted a dime of a pass to Jordan Shipp for a 20-yard touchdown in the back right of the endzone. Shipp and Lopez have developed an impressive connection. Shipp has been the clear-cut No. 1 option all season, but the duo has recently shown remarkable chemistry. Multiple passes against Duke last week were in a position only Shipp could grab them, including an important two-point conversion on a fade route that was placed right over the defender’s head. Shipp finished the game with eight catches for 90 yards and a touchdown.

However, the margin would only widen in this game despite this pass pulling them within a score.

The 3rd quarter had four consecutive punts with the teams alternating kicks before UNC would score a field goal on their next drive. On their 2nd drive of the half, Gio Lopez was sacked and went down with an injury and would not return after that point. It appeared to be a late hit form a State defender but a UNC lineman actually pushed the player into Lopez. Incidentally, Lopez has some form of a left leg injury. He did not put weight on it, leaving the field. He would end the day with 118 yards and a touchdown on 11-of-16 passing attempts.

Lopez’s play has certainly improved over the last seven games of the season after he was benched for the Clemson game. In that time, he threw seven touchdowns with only two interceptions. His yardage numbers were somewhat pedestrian, with only 1,317 yards, that is 188 yards a game. He completed about 66% of his passes in that time. Lopez is not being viewed as Carolina’s saviour right now, but his play has not been awful in those games, yet not the performance of a true difference maker either.

Johnson came in for relief and played solidly overall with 28 yards rushing and 54 passing yards on just two drives. He led UNC to their field goal to end the 3rd but opened the 4th quarter with a fumble on a play he was sacked.

UNC would allow freshman quarterback Au’Tori Newkirk to get a drive in to end the game. Newkirk is a freshman from Norfolk, VA, who was a four-star recruit and earned Offensive Player of the Year honors in his junior and senior seasons in Class 5 Virginia football. He went 3-of-5 passing for 23 yards and a four-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Jordan Owens.

Freshman quarterback Au’Tori Newkirk setting up to pass. Photo Courtesy of GoHeels. Photo credits to Nate Skvoretz.

However, between Johnson’s field goal and Newkirk’s touchdown, State had scored two more touchdowns that half to bring the score to 28-10 at the end of the half. Those were two of Wilson’s four rushing touchdowns of the day.

UNC’s defense was praised as improved, but it operated as an open door for the Wolfpack. They gave up 386 total yards with 185 of those coming on the ground.

Speaking of the ground game, UNC’s rushing attack disappeared. They logged 24 attempts for 70 yards as a team. Their leading rusher in attempts and yardage was Benjamin Hall, who had six carries for 29 yards.

The offseason looks murky for UNC. Their QB situation is unclear as are their recruiting chances. The university continues to pour money into football. Will some of UNC’s few bright spots like Demon June and Jordan Shipp stay? Will Belichick opt to develop Gio Lopez and put more pieces around him or will Lopez leave and head back down to a mid-major school like the South Alabama he came from? Donors and fans are sure to be worried, but remember: this is the first season of a new regime that had most of its roster turned over from the previous season.

Granted it’s the team’s worst season of the last six seasons, but there is a lot of unknown for Tar Heels fans. UNC currently has the 17th-best recruiting class before the transfer portal opens. Bill Belichick and team GM Mike Lombardi have a lot of time to right the ship in a new era where rosters can change for the better or worse in just a season

Thomas Hicks is a journalist with video, PR, and writing experience who studied at UNC and the Hussman School of Journalism and Media. Thomas is always looking for work and the next story! He loves working with his camera or with his pen. This reporter can be contacted at thomasjhicks55@gmail.com, LinkedIn: Thomas Hicks and X: ThomasJ_H