The Bill Belichick era has been filled with surprises so far, but very rarely have the surprises been positive. Today we finally got one when the Tar Heels took down TCU 15-10 to start the season 1-0.
Things started off eerily similar to last season’s game against the Horned Frogs — the Heels effortlessly marched down the field and got into the red zone, but Billy Edwards Jr.‘s off-target throw to Jelani Thurman led to a field goal to go up 3-0. When TCU took over, they were able to pound the ball
down the field, but ultimately they had to settle for a field goal as well. This would be the final parallel to last season’s matchup for the rest of the game.
Carolina’s defense was able to keep TCU quarterback Jaden Craig from having much fun through the air in the first half. Most of the damage they were able to do was in their slant plays, which ultimately led to 111 rush yards for the half. Still, after the 10 points that they scored in the first quarter, TCU went radio-silent. UNC was able to turn off the hose when they needed to the most, but they had some help from the Horned Frogs. More on that in a moment.
Turning our attention to our first look at Bobby Petrino’s offense, things definitely looked better than anything Freddie Kitchens rolled out last year. A lot of plays involved getting the ball out of Edwards’ hands as quickly and accurately as possible while also making TCU respect the ground game. Edwards finished the first half 9-18 for 152 passing yards and zero touchdowns. The lone touchdown of the game for the Tar Heels was scored by running back Jaylen McGill with 1:04 left in the first quarter.
In the second half, the sloppiness started to show more and more for both teams, but for TCU in particular. Fresh off the heels of a terrible long snap that led to a safety near the end of the first half, the Horned Frogs continued to suffer when UNC defensive end Melkart Abou Jaoude forced a fumble that would gave the Heels possession and resulted in adding three more points on the board. From there things just continued to fall apart for them, and all UNC had to do was minimize the mistakes to come away with a win. Fittingly, with just seconds left in the game on a 4th and 1, TCU jumped offsides to give the Heels the first down and their first win of the season.
It’s hard to say what exactly fans should takeaway from this game, largely because TCU was a lot sloppier than they were last year. UNC’s defense deserves some credit for that, but rain and some poor decision-making dug a hole for the Horned Frogs that they couldn’t climb out of. As far as UNC’s offense goes, Billy Edwards Jr. did well enough to stay on the field for the entire game, but it is still concerning that they were only able to score one touchdown. They could’ve easily had at least one more if it weren’t for some missed throws, but at the end of the day nobody expects a Week 0 game to be without mistakes. The Heels will have some extra time to smooth out any kinks thanks to their Week 1 bye week.
Next up for the Tar Heels is their Week 2 game against East Tennessee State on September 12th at 12 PM ET. The game will be broadcasted on ACC Network.
