CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Bud Clark had a first-half pick-six and Kevorian Barnes had a 75-yard landing run on the primary second-half snap to assist TCU spoil Invoice Belichick’s faculty teaching debut by rolling previous North Carolina 48-14 on Monday night time.
“We wanted this game to be about us, and it was,” mentioned TCU coach Sonny Dykes, who coached at Cal from 2013 to 2016.
The 73-year-old Belichick had received six Tremendous 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 sport’s first possession, however the Horned Frogs steadily took management to drive a full-house hostile crowd to the exits nicely earlier than the fourth quarter.
“I think we all felt a little disrespected,” Dykes mentioned. “There was a lot of conversation about this game, and none of it was about us.”
Clark’s 25-yard return late within the second was the primary of two defensive touchdowns for the Horned Frogs (1-0), the opposite being Devean Deal’s 37-yard scoop-and-score within the third.
TCU’s Josh Hoover threw for 2 scores whereas Jordan Dwyer completed with 9 catches for 136 yards and a 27-yard first-quarter TD. Trent Battle added his personal rating by operating untouched across the left aspect for 28 yards as TCU constructed a 41-7 lead.
Caleb Hood ran for a rating for the Tar Heels’ first landing underneath Belichick. South Alabama switch quarterback Gio Lopez accomplished 4 of 10 passes for 69 yards earlier than exiting the sport after halftime with a again damage.
TCU outgained UNC 542-222 in complete offense.
The 48 factors scored by TCU marked probably the most allowed by UNC in any opener in its historical past, in keeping with Sportradar.
“They were clearly the better team tonight,” Belichick mentioned. “They deserved to win and they did it decisively.”
The buildup to the season right here had included loads of added buzz, together with the varsity promoting out all its season tickets — at an elevated value — and single-game seats for the season. The sport additionally attracted ESPN to carry a pregame studio present from the Kenan Stadium sideline, the place Belichick stopped by earlier than the sport to greet former Alabama coach Nick Saban and the remainder of the crew.
Belichick additionally roamed the sector throughout pregame warmups as if taking all of it in for the higher a part of a half-hour. At one level, he stood on the UNC finish of the sector with common supervisor Michael Lombardi watching the Tar Heels, then shared a fast handshake with Atlantic Coast Convention commissioner Jim Phillips as he made his manner towards midfield.
As soon as there, he shook fingers with members of the officiating crew and stood close to midfield watching the Horned Frogs gamers as they went by means of warm-up drills.
The sport additionally attracted notable former UNC figures from years previous, together with NBA legend Michael Jordan — who received a nationwide championship underneath Dean Smith right here in 1982 — and former UNC star linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who performed underneath Belichick when Belichick was an assistant and finally defensive coordinator with the New York Giants throughout the Eighties.
The takeaway
TCU: It was fairly a reversal for the Horned Frogs, who misplaced two years in the past because the “other” workforce within the Colorado debut of former NFL celebrity Deion Sanders however took over this one in a stretch of 41 unanswered factors.
“It was different,” Dykes mentioned of the Colorado sport. “I didn’t go into that game with the same level of confidence that I came into this on. Not because of our opponent, but just because of the way we prepared.”
UNC: Belichick had overhauled the roster, with UNC bringing in roughly 70 new gamers between transfers and incoming recruits. This was an indication it is going to take time to make good on UNC’s guess that he can elevate its soccer program.
Johnson’s return
Max Johnson took over at QB for UNC after Lopez’s exit for his first motion since coming back from a catastrophic leg damage suffered in final yr’s opener at Minnesota.
Johnson, who misplaced the battle for the beginning job to Lopez, accomplished 9 of 11 passes for 103 yards and a late landing. That each one got here with the result now not doubtful.
“It’s just a blessing to be able to play football again,” Johnson mentioned.
Up subsequent
TCU: The Horned Frogs get every week off earlier than returning with a house sport towards Abilene Christian on Sept. 13.
UNC: The Tar Heels have a brief turnaround, visiting the state’s largest metropolis with a visit to Charlotte on Saturday.
Initially Revealed: September 1, 2025 at 8:36 PM PDT
