Carter-Finley Stadium erupted in cheers, and a smattering of laughter, after North Carolina quarterback Gio Lopez slipped on a third-down double-pass to Jordan Shipp, losing 14 yards in the process.
It went silent one drive later — with 10 minutes and 18 seconds remaining in the third quarter — as Lopez writhed in pain after being sacked on second down; North Carolina coach Bill Belichick standing over the quarterback and the athletic trainers. This was the third time this season Lopez has left with an injury. It was a disappointing ending to a disappointing season for UNC.
“They were certainly the better team tonight,” Belichick said of N.C. State following the loss. “They did everything better than we did. Coaches, players, offense, defense, special teams. So, yeah, they were the better team. They deserved to win. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
N.C. State, meanwhile, closed the regular season with its best overall performance and picked up the 42-19 rivalry win. It was the most points given up by Carolina since TCU scored 48 in the season opener. This was the second straight game N.C. State has held an opponent under 20 points.
The Wolfpack moved to 9-4 against UNC under head coach Dave Doeren and has won five straight games against the Tar Heels. That ties the record for the longest winning streak, matching the 2007-11 and 1988-92 streaks.
“Losing to them is unacceptable, and I take a lot of pride in that rivalry game. Nine wins out of 13 [seasons], eight of the last 10. That sounds pretty good. Feels good,” Doeren said. “It’s very meaningful, man. It goes back to my first day here on the job. I can’t tell you how many people welcomed me, and at the end said, ‘Whatever you do beat them.’ That really resonated, and our kids understand what it means to this fan base.”
The Wolfpack (7-5, 4-4 ACC) jumped to a 14-0 lead after two drives and held a 28-10 advantage at halftime, despite playing against UNC’s supposedly-improved defense. It recorded 271 yards and picked up 19 first downs in the first two quarters. N.C. State’s offensive efficiency dropped in the second half after going scoreless in the third quarter.
It responded on the first play of the fourth quarter. Will Wilson punched in the 15-yard touchdown, dragging multiple defenders with him into the end zone.
Wilson led the team with three rushing touchdowns, while Justin Joly and Wesley Grimes both recorded receiving touchdowns. CJ Bailey finished 21-of-30 passing for 201 yards and two touchdowns.
Doeren felt “really good” about how the game would go after his team jumped out to its 14-0 lead.
“That’s a big D-Line,” Doeren said. “They’ve got a big, big D-Line, and we were pushing them back, pushing them back. Gotta give our offensive line and tight ends a lot of credit in this football game. I think they really did a great job against the front that’s caused a lot of people problems.”
UNC (4-8, 2-6) also allowed N.C. State to go 4 of 4 on its fourth down chances, three coming on rushing plays and one on a fake punt. The Tar Heels entered the game holding opponents to 73.3% on fourth down. That was good enough to rank No. 7 in the country and No. 2 in the ACC.
N.C. State’s defense struggled this season but had few issues stopping UNC’s offense. It forced a three-and-out on the first drive of the game, holding Carolina to eight yards, and another on the second drive of the third quarter.
The Wolfpack added a season-high four sacks and had six pass breakups, including a near interception by Caden Fordham, and Tra Thomas forced a fumble with 12 ½ minutes left in the game. It was recovered by Sabastian Harsh.
The Tar Heels scored a crunch time touchdown on a pass from third-string quarterback Au’Tori Newkirk to Jordan Owens. They were, however, held to 265 yards of total offense. N.C. State finished with 386 yards.
Shipp was Lopez’s favored target all night and one of UNC’s most consistent playmakers. The sophomore finished with 90 yards with one touchdown for the Tar Heels.
“It’s awesome. Credit to these coaches, these guys on this team,” said linebacker Caden Fordham. Fordham has never lost to UNC in his five-year career. “We fought back. It’s been an amazing journey, obviously, never to losing to them. It’s something I’ve always dreamed of, coming here at N.C. State. It’s something that’s emphasized here every year, so it was awesome to go out there with a bang.”
Here’s what we learned from the rivalry matchup.
Pack lights it up in the red zone
N.C. State opened the game with two consecutive trips to the red zone and back-to-back scores to take a 14-0 lead after two drives. It added a third red zone opportunity in as many opportunities and took a 21-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Wolfpack went 6 of 7 in the red zone, all of its scores for touchdowns. Getting into the red zone was a major focus all season, and the emphasis paid off.
The Wolfpack’s offensive success was reflective of its efficiency this fall. It entered the game converting on 94.1% of its red zone opportunities, ranking No. 6 in the nation and No. 1 in the ACC. With Bailey as the quarterback, the Wolfpack has not turned the ball over inside the 20-yard line.
“Since I got here, Coach [Kurt] Roper put it in our head, ‘Be needy, not greedy,’” Bailey said. “When you get in that red zone, it’s gonna come to you, just don’t try to force anything. Don’t try to be extraordinary, because we’ve got points. We always got three points in our back pocket. So, when I get down there, that’s my first thought: Take care of the ball.”
On the opposite side, Carolina entered Carter-Finley holding opponents to a 75.7% red zone conversion rate. Despite ranking No. 2 in the ACC for red zone defense, the Wolfpack offense made the Tar Heel defense look anything but one of the conference’s best in the metric.
Gio Lopez injured, Max Johnson enters
Lopez exited the game midway through the third quarter after suffering an apparent left ankle injury. N.C. State’s Brandon Cleveland fell on Lopez following a tackle, contact that appeared incidental.
The UNC quarterback was later spotted watching from the tunnel with a boot on his left leg, supported by a crutch.
Saturday marked the third time Lopez has exited a game this season due to injury. Max Johnson took over for Lopez against TCU and UCF. Johnson slotted in yet again for Lopez against N.C. State, finishing with 54 passing yards. He completed eight of 15 pass attempts and added 28 yards on the ground before he was replaced by Newkirk.
Lopez finished with 118 passing yards and completed 11 of 16 pass attempts (a 69% completion rate. He threw for just one touchdown to Shipp in the second quarter.
Far too many penalties for the Tar Heels. Again.
UNC’s loss to Duke provided many lessons for the Tar Heels. Among them: a need for discipline.
Belichick lamented there were “too many penalties” against the Blue Devils. He was right. North Carolina was called for 12 penalties for a loss of 103 yards last week.
“It was defensive penalties, there were offensive penalties,” Belichick said after the Duke defeat. “I mean, we had them both. We had too many penalties on everything.”
Shipp and other players spoke about a need for more discipline against N.C. State, both after the loss to the Blue Devils and earlier this week. But, once again, North Carolina hurt its own chances with self-inflicted penalties.
The Tar Heels were called for 11 penalties against the Wolfpack, resulting in a loss of 129 yards.
NC State racks up explosive plays
UNC knew exactly what it was in for with N.C. State’s offense, and it still seemed ill-prepared to slow things down.
“It’s got a lot of firepower there offensively,” Belichick said this week. “They’ve hung up some points on a lot of people.”
The Wolfpack recorded six explosive plays on its first three drives, including a 24-yard pass to Noah Rogers and a 19-yard quarterback scramble. On the Wolfpack’s final drive of the first half, Joly and Terrell Anderson contributed the seventh and eighth explosive plays. Anderson hauled in a one-handed catch for a gain of 29 yards. He was pulled down at the Carolina 1-yard line, but the Pack scored its fourth touchdown on the drive.
N.C. State gained 196 yards on its three opening drives, surpassing its total of 143 yards against Miami two weeks ago. It went into the break with 271 yards, including 156 on big plays.
The Wolfpack finished the game with 10 explosive plays for 171 yards.
North Carolina struggles to contain Bailey, ground game
N.C. State became the second straight opponent the Tar Heels have allowed to score on its first four possessions. Last week, that was the Blue Devils racking up 24 points over their first four drives. This week, the Wolfpack followed suit — recording touchdowns on each of their first four drives. Three of those drives took 11 plays and 75 yards. One took 12 plays and 76 yards.
North Carolina briefly responded, forcing two straight three-and-outs, before N.C. State capped another 75-yard drive with a touchdown to open the fourth quarter and go up 35-13.
The Tar Heels’ defense was heralded as a point of pride — a sign of improvement — as recently as early November.
The rise of a potent UNC pass rush coincided with two straight wins over Syracuse and Stanford. In the four weeks leading into North Carolina’s matchup against Wake Forest (a 28-12 loss on Nov. 15), the Tar Heels had racked up a national-best 20 sacks, per Sportradar. Linebackers Melkart Abou-Jaoude and Tyler Thompson led the charge and, entering Saturday, ranked first and third, respectively in sacks on the season in the ACC
But the North Carolina defense struggled from the onset to contain Bailey, who rushed for 65 yards on eight attempts and threw for 201 yards. Bailey was just one part of the Wolfpack’s potent rushing attack.
UNC has held its opponents to an average of 120.3 yards on the ground entering Saturday. N.C. State gained 185 yards on the ground.
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