The UNC football program's quarterback play this season has left a lot of room for improvement.
Between the duo of Gio Lopez and Max Johnson, the Tar Heels offense simply hasn't been able to find a rhythm. Sure, there are quite a few areas you can point at regarding the offensive struggles (such as questionable play calling), but at the end of the day, it's ultimately going to fall on the guys leading the charge.
This is especially the case when the starting QB is making $2 million in NIL money.
On Friday night, Lopez returned from injury, one that sidelined him for the Tar Heels' brutal loss to Clemson. He completed 19 of 35 pass attempts for 166 yards, as 68 of those yards came on two plays (a 37-yarder to Kobe Paysour and a 31-yard reception for Shanard Clower).
That leaves 98 yards across the remaining 17 completions.
If you stayed up to watch the game on Friday night, you saw some frustrating decision-making from the South Alabama transfer. Lopez was focused on his first read on every pass attempt and panicked if that option wasn't there. In a sport where it's critical for your quarterback to get rid of the ball, Lopez is making it difficult for the offensive unit the longer he holds the ball in hopes that his first read is there.
Even if that read isn't available, Lopez made some questionable throws to try and get the ball to that specific receiver.
Of course, this isn't a breaking development: the UNC football program has had a quarterback problem that dates even before the Bill Belichick era began. Tar Heel fans suffered through a season mixed of Johnson (for three quarters), Conner Harrell and Jacolby Criswell and thought it simply couldn't get worse.
This year's team laughed and said, "hold our beer."
While the program refuses to play Bryce Baker (the talented freshman who is expected to red-shirt), they seem to be fully content with letting it ride with Lopez and Johnson for the foreseeable future. The hope is that Lopez progresses and figures it out, but at this point, you'd have to expect that not much is going to change in this regard.
No one is rooting against Lopez. In fact, everyone hopes that the Tar Heels' major investment pays off eventually. However, you'd be naive to think that Lopez's leash isn't shorter than we think, as the UNC football program will need to look long and hard at this position this offseason to evaluate potential options to help get this offense back to a strong unit moving forward.