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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/eatapenny on 2025-09-07 15:27:48+00:00.
Charlotte, NC - After 333 NFL wins and 6 Super Bowl titles, Bill Belichick, at the spry, young age of 73, has finally won a college football game. In a game delayed by heavy rain and thunder, the UNC Tar Heels (1-1) cruised to a relatively underwhelming, but important 20-3 road win over the Charlotte 49ers (0-2). The city of Charlotte is home to much of the state’s top talent, so the fact that UNC chose to play a road game against a G5 school in their own school system made sense in that regard. What did not make much sense is why it was played at Jerry Richardson Stadium, which seats approximately 15,000 people, and not at the nearby Bank of America Stadium, that seats nearly 75,000. That being said, although the capacity is only 15,000, Charlotte did its best to accommodate as many people as possible for arguably the biggest game in school history, with temporary expansions leading to a school-record 19,233 in the stadium, and it definitely showed - the fans, especially the students, were loud and proud for the entire game.
The game started off in basically the same fashion as UNC’s previous matchup, with a quick touchdown on their first possession, just 0:59 seconds in - this time, a 51-yard strike from Gio Lopez to runningback Caleb Hoob, who was lined up out wide and simply ran past the Charlotte DB. After a quick Charlotte 3-and-out, UNC drove down again and kicked a 49-yard FG to go up 10-0. And the the game came to a halt - punt, TO on downs, punt, punt, made 39-yard FG by Charlotte on a drive that spanned the 1st and 2nd quarters, punt, missed 26-yard FG by Charlotte. UNC did rally after that missed FG, getting the ball back with under 3 minutes to go, and driving 80 yards in 2:38 for their 2nd (and final) TD of the game (this time, a 12-yard TD run by Davion Gause), to go into the half up 17-3.
The story of the first half was three-fold: Charlotte getting nothing on offense, with just 120 total yards in 30 minutes of play, UNC sleepwalking against an overmatched opponent but also looking generally mediocre on offense again, and most importantly, the scoreboard operators. In two moments that eventually went viral, the scoreboard operators made sure to get in some jabs at UNC. They had a “Gold Digger” Cam, which they can easily pass off as a reference to their nickname and Miner mascot, but was almost assuredly supposed to be about Belichick’s girlfriend, Jordon Hudson. They also had a moment during a TV timeout in which they showed UNC fans around the stadium and implied that they were alumni of App State, ECU, etc..
Unfortunately for Charlotte, this performance on the scoreboard video did not actually translate to the scoreboard score, with the 2nd half being full of a lot of bleh (on both sides, in fact). In the entire second half, there was a grand total of two possessions that did not end in a punt or interception. A 33-yard FG by UNC in the fourth, which was the only UNC second half drive to gain double digit yards, and a turnover on downs by Charlotte to open the half. And it was that drive that had arguably the most notable second half highlight - on 4th & 6, it appeared that Charlotte’s WR had caught a TD, which led to the stadium pyrotechnics people setting off fireworks, as they do for every score. Unfortunately for them, and Charlotte, on replay, it was clear that the WR did not have possession, and the TD was overturned. They definitely didn’t have a shortage of fireworks, but I imagine they likely want that one back.
Charlotte did have a couple of final encouraging drives with their backup QB, Grayson Loftis, their last two drives where they were simply trying to claw back from down 20-3, but both ended with UNC intercepting the ball deep in their own territory, with the 2nd one coming as the clock struck 0 and most of the Charlotte fans had already left to get out of the on and off rain. All in all, a game that had a decent amount of hype in the Charlotte area, and a huge amount of hype on the Charlotte campus, ended in a ho-hum, mostly forgettable 20-3 victory for UNC. UNC held serve in a must-win game, while Charlotte looked like an overmatched G5 program that had some good moments. If you’re a UNC fan, this game probably did not do much to quell the concerns from the TCU game. They did not look particularly impressive, although they did hold Charlotte to a grand total of 9 yards rushing, and they also probably did not break out the playbook much, if at all. Still, you’d hope for more explosiveness on the offensive end, especially versus a G5 team. In the end, this game likely only goes down as a neat trivia fact - “who did Bill Belichick beat in his first career CFB win”?
There was one last interesting moment, from the post-game press conference - apparently Belichick still harbors some ill-will from the way his time with the Patriots ended. He said that he’s not allowing any scouts from the Patriots to come to UNC games because he’s supposedly barred from the Patriots facilities. Take of that what you will, it’s just something of note that could definitely become a bigger story as the season goes on.
2 weeks down, 11 to go. Next week is a likely reprieve for both teams, as they each have an FCS game at home. UNC hosts the Richmond Spiders looking for back-to-back wins before traveling to UCF. Meanwhile, Charlotte hosts Monmouth, looking for their first win of the season before they open AAC play the following week.