For both UNC and Syracuse, the 2025 football season is rapidly slipping away. Both teams had high hopes when the season kicked off; Bill Belichick was supposed to bring a pro-style program to Chapel Hill,
while Syracuse was looking to build upon a massively successful 2024 campaign where they went 10-3, and knocked off ninth ranked Miami.
Instead, both teams are watching their seasons circle the drain. I’m sure most UNC fans reading this don’t need a season recap, but it suffices to say this season hasn’t lived up to the hype. Syracuse actually started off decently, going 3-1 with the only loss being to a ranked Tennessee team. An injury to the starting quarterback has helped kick off a four-game losing streak where the Orange have looked thoroughly outmatched. This game feels like a game where two bad teams are squaring off to regain any semblance hope for the rest of the year. Judging by the fact that as of the time this was written you can get tickets online for as little as $6, many fans would rather spend their Halloween evening watching something less scary.
In any event, if you run out of candy for trick-or-treaters and decide to turn the game on, here are three things to watch:
Will either team’s offense show up?
At this point, UNC’s struggles on offense are pretty well know. The Heels are in the bottom ten in the entire country in yards per game; they average 18.3 points per contest and neither throw nor run the ball very well. Outside a respectable first half against Virginia, Gio Lopez has looked overwhelmed and unable to operate the offense. They’ve had exactly one pass catcher have 100 yards receiving in a game and have yet to have a running back gain 100+ on the ground.
On the other hand, Syracuse isn’t exactly lighting it up either. Their offense has been marginally better than UNC’s and did manage to put up 34 on the same Clemson team that steamrolled Carolina. Since the Clemson game, Syracuse has averaged 12.5 points per contest in four straight double-digit losses. In the Orange’s defense, this also corresponds to when they lost starting QB Steve Angeli to an Achillies injury; backup Rickie Collins has thrown six touchdowns to eight interceptions and is only completing 54.5% of his passes for the season.
Establishing the run game
As previously mentioned, Gio Lopez has by and large struggled in the role of starting quarterback for the Heels. While there’s plenty of blame to go around, it’s worth noting he hasn’t gotten much support from his running game. The Heels come into this matchup averaging 110.9 yards rushing a game. That’s among the 20 worst rushing offenses in the country. Some of this is dictated by game flow (it’s hard to run the ball when you’re down 28-3 in the first quarter) but even in the UNC’s recently close games the ground attack hasn’t really gotten on track.
Bill Belichick seems determined to operate on a running back by committee approach, and there doesn’t seem to be any particular rhyme or reason to it. Demon June has generally been the most explosive runner of the bunch and has average 6.2 yards a carry this season yet seems to be losing carries recently to Benjamin Hall. I can understand rotating your running backs to a certain extent to keep everyone fresh but can’t help but wonder if they should just let June have the lion’s share of the carries for a game or two and see what happens.
Is the defensive improvement real or a mirage?
Let’s end with a little bit of optimism; against Virginia, a UNC unit finally had a dominant performance against an FBS opponent. The Tar Heel defense harried UVA QB Chandler Morris all game, sacking him six times and picking him off once as well. The defensive line in particular was a force, constantly forcing Morris into throwing uncomfortable passes; they also held the Cavs to 59 total rushing yards (accounting for sacks). While the ‘Hoos helped them out with some drops and mistakes, the defense was the biggest reason UNC was even in the position to win the game in walk off fashion.
Syracuse offers UNC the opportunity to prove that the improvement is real. The ‘Cuse running game isn’t any better than the Heels, so they need Collins to make some plays. Unfortunately for the Orange, so far, a lot of those plays have been interceptions. If the UNC defense plays the way they did against Virginia, Bill Belichick may finally get his first ACC win.
