Art’s Angle: The New Game

Here is how volatile college football has become.

A year ago, South Alabama lost its Sun Belt Conference opener to North Texas State 52-38 in a shootout between two quarterbacks who wound up in the ACC.

The Jaguars’ quarterback Gio Lopez had 494 yards of total offense and threw for three touchdown passes. The Mean Green’s quarterback Chad Morris, the son of a coach, also had three TD passes in his 432 yards of offense.

Lopez was a late transfer to Carolina and won the starting job after not going through spring practice. He led a touchdown drive on the Tar Heels’ opening possession against TCU on Monday before leaving with a back injury in the second half of the 48-14 loss.

Morris transferred to Virginia and passed for two TDs in the Cavs 48-7 romp over Coastal Carolina in their opener last weekend. He had the ’Hoos on the verge of upsetting N.C. State on Saturday afternoon in Raleigh before throwing an end zone interception in the final seconds of the Wolfpack’s 35-31 win.

Almost four hours later, Lopez started at Charlotte and threw a majestic 51-yard scoring bomb to UNC wide receiver Chris Culliver on the third snap of the game at tiny Jerry Richardson Stadium in the Tar Heels’ eventual 20-3 win over the 49ers.

Who knows how many other transfer entanglements we will hear about as the 2025 season progresses. But we do know that Lopez and Morris will square off on October 25 when the Tar Heels play host to Virginia in Kenan Stadium. Meanwhile. . .

Carolina won its first football game of the season, and Belichick won the first football game of his college coaching career.

North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick directs his team during the first half of an NCAA football game against Charlotte in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (Photo via AP Photo/Nell Redmond.)

Last week, more than 50,000 people filled Kenan Stadium to watch the Tar Heels lose their – and Belichick’s – first game on a night that exploded with fireworks in the skies over Chapel Hill. UNC’s lopsided loss ended with less than 15,000 still in the stands.

Fewer than 15,000 fans braved afternoon storms that postponed the start of the game at Charlotte by 30 minutes. Most stuck around for the end that produced just two touchdowns, both by Carolina in a rare meeting between in-state schools from the ACC and the AAC (American Athletic Conference).

Despite the difference between the Big 12 and Sun Belt, the Tar Heels were much improved on defense, missing far fewer tackles than they did against the hunkier Horned Frogs. And for the second straight week, Lopez lofted another majestic bomb on the opening drive to give the Tar Heels the lead they never lost. Culliver later left the game with an injury, yet publicly diagnosed.

ESPN’s Eli Lederman reported this spring that Lopez, who wears a great smile and diamond ear studs, is earning $2 million in college football rev share from UNC. He finished with 199 yards of total offense, which is why Belichick plucked him from the portal and stuck with him after he limped off the field in the opening game. The quarterback played every snap in his second start, making the Heels a heavy favorite to beat mid-major Richmond in their return to Kenan Stadium this Saturday.

After that, Carolina goes to Central Florida — another Big 12 foe that crushed North Carolina A&T 68-7 in its opening game — followed by the toughest test of the season against eighth-ranked Clemson in Chapel Hill. The Tigers lost their opener to LSU and scored 27 points in the second half to beat Troy in another of the rain-interrupted games over the weekend.

By then, Belichick’s first college team will likely be 2-3 but faces seven winnable ACC games if it continues to improve like from week one to week two of this season. The “Hoodie” was happy, if not very talkative, after the win over Charlotte. The six-time NFL Super Bowl champion head coach is famous for speaking in blips.

“We did the fundamental things better . . . we didn’t turn the ball over . . . we tackled better,” Belichick said afterward. “Happy for the guys, they played a good, solid game.”

Although the 49ers are far inferior to TCU, the Tar Heels played a much cleaner game than they did in their ballyhooed opener. They held Charlotte to 21 yards rushing and less than 1 yard per carry, forcing the game into the hands of their former quarterback Conner Harrell — who left Carolina after last season in another example of the new game college football has become.

North Carolina quarterback Gio Lopez (7) hands off to running back Demon June (35) during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Charlotte in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (Photo via AP Photo/Nell Redmond.)

Besides senior running backs Caleb Hood, who had a touchdown last week, and sophomore RB Davion Gause, who had UNC’s second touchdown against Charlotte on a 12-yard run, Belichick may have discovered another running back. Freshman Demon June — a three-star prospect from Jacksonville, North Carolina — was the leading rusher in the game with 52 yards on nine carries, including one for 19 yards that he nearly took to the house.

The Heels also unveiled their new kicker, senior Rece Verhoff, who transferred from Marshall and added 49- and 33-yard field goals. Charlotte’s only score came on a 39-yard field goal from former Tar Heel Liam Boyd, one of a half dozen 49ers who had played at UNC.

Lopez spread the ball to nine different receivers, including three to Culliver, three to Hood and three to another freshman, Javarius Green from Shelby. In his post-game availability, he gave a shout-out to the Carolina training staff that helped him get over the back injury and resume practicing during the five days between games.

“We didn’t play our best ball against TCU,” Lopez said. “It as good to get out there on a short week.”

When asked about Lopez, Belichick perked up more than usual. “He did a really good job improvising and extending plays,” he said.

When pressed on how he felt getting his first college win after 303 in the NFL, the coaching legend said: “It’s hard to win. You gotta do a lot of things right, you gotta do it better than your opponent. . . so we were fortunate to do that. It’s good to be part of it. I tried to do what I could to help but I didn’t make any blocks, tackles, catches, runs or anything else.”

Richmond looks like a sure win and a warm-up for Central Florida, but the Tar Heels have to keep improving on defense and develop more of a killer instinct on offense. Beyond the usual target on their backs because of UNC as a brand, they now have a celebrated coach who every opponent will prep hard to beat and put a notch in their belts. The first two games — one more successful than the other — reflect that.

Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.

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Art’s Angle: The New Game

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