UNC finally won a home conference game in 2025 with a 20-15 victory over Stanford Saturday evening after rallying for 17 second half points. The Tar Heels were able to come away with the win despite losing
the total yards battle 320-253 and only picking up 50 yards on the ground in the game.
The first half was absolutely abysmal for both offenses. UNC and Stanford combined for 147 total yards of offense with 47 of those being on the part of the Tar Heels. It felt very much like neither team was all that interested in winning. Carolina got their field goal in the first quarter and Stanford scored theirs in the second quarter to send the game to halftime tied.
As bad as the Tar Heels looked for the entire first half, the offense definitely woke up after halftime with Gio Lopez finding Davion Gause for the first touchdown of the game to cap off a 75-yard drive. The Heels, who struggled to move the ball at all in the first half, cobbled together over 100 yards in the third quarter. Rece Verhoff extended the lead to 13-3 to open the fourth quarter with a 48-yard field goal. Jordan Shipp tacked on another touchdown in the fourth after shaking a defender out of his shoes for a 55-yard score to round out scoring for the Heels.
A number of Stanford’s offensive woes were a direct result of Carolina’s defense. They sacked quarterback Elijah Brown early and often, finishing the game with nine total. The UNC defense kept the Cardinal in check with just the one field goal for three quarters until they scored twice in the fourth quarter to make things interesting to close it out. Stanford went for two after both of their touchdowns but were not able to convert either attempt or the onside kick afterward. The Cardinal actually had a chance to sneak out of Kenan Stadium with a win with the ball on the last drive of the game, but they weren’t able to put it together with so little time on the clock. The fact that they even had the chance should be at least a little concerning to those in charge.
It’s disappointing that even a middling offense would have been able to make this game a laugher. Unfortunately, Carolina’s offense has found a way to not even be middling for so much of the season. They’ve done enough to win two weeks in a row against teams that were ripe for a blowout victory. The Tar Heel defense has played well enough to make up for some of the offense’s deficiencies, but it’s glaringly evident that the entire offensive unit is the primary liability for this team. Sure, things were a bit better in the second half against a defeated Cardinal defense, but the first half simply did not look like a D1 team.
Carolina will now need to take two games from their remaining schedule of in-state opponents, Wake Forest, Duke, and NC State, if they hope to be bowl eligible at the end of the season.
They travel to Winston-Salem to take on the Demon Deacons next week.
