ACC Football: TCU Rattles UNC, 48-14

Bud Clark had a first-half pick-six and Kevorian Barneshad had a 75-yard touchdown run on the first second-half snap to help TCU spoil Bill Belichick’s college coaching debut, rolling past North Carolina 48-14 on Monday night in Chapel Hill.

The 73-year-old Belichick had won six Super Bowl titles in a 24-year run as head coach of the NFL’s New England Patriots. His Tar Heels (0-1) scored on the game’s first possession, but the Horned Frogs steadily took control to drive a full-house hostile crowd to the exits.

The Tar Heels opened the game with an impressive touchdown drive and then promptly got run over by the Horned Frogs until the game was out of reach.

Clark’s 25-yard return late in the second was the first of two defensive touchdowns for the Horned Frogs (1-0), the other being Devean Deal’s 37-yard scoop-and-score in the third.

TCU QB Josh Hoover  threw for two touchdowns  while receiver Jordan Dwyer finished with nine catches for 136 yards and a 27-yard first-quarter TD. TCU running back Trent Battle added his own score by running untouched around the left side for 28 yards as TCU built a 41-7 lead. The Horned Frogs led 20-7 at halftime

The 48 points scored by TCU marked the most allowed by UNC in any opener in its history, according to Sportradar. TCU outgained UNC 542-222 in total offense. 

On the other side Caleb Hood ran for a score for the Tar Heels’ first touchdown under Belichick. South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez completed 4 of 10 passes for 69 yards before exiting the game after halftime with a back injury.   For UNC, Belichick had overhauled the roster, with UNC bringing in roughly 70 new players between transfers and incoming recruits. 

After Lopez went down that means Max Johnson took over at QB for UNC for his first action since returning from his knee injury last season. Johnson completed 9 of 11 passes for 103 yards and a late touchdown. 

The opener showed just how far North Carolina has to go simply to be relevant this season.

Belichick has preached fundamentals since his introductory news conference in December and, well, North Carolina was not fundamentally sound. The Tar Heels had tackling issues, dropped passes and even dropped punt snaps. It was a disastrous performance for nearly every unit.

TCU: The Horned Frogs get a week off before returning with a home game against Abilene Christian on Sept. 13.

UNC: The Tar Heels have a short turnaround, visiting the state’s biggest city with a trip to Charlotte on Saturday.

Quote from UNC Head coach Bill Belichick:

“There was a great atmosphere here for the game tonight. The fans had tremendous energy, and I know we played competitively, but then [we] just couldn’t sustain it. So obviously, we have a lot of work to do. We need to do a better job all the way around—coaching, playing, all three phases of the game. And I know we’re a lot better than that, so we need to work on those things and show it on Saturday and turn it around. But give TCU credit, they came in and did a good job, and they were clear that their team tonight deserved to win, and they did it decisively.“