We have come a long way since the pre-season buzz surrounding Chapel Hill and the UNC football program on Labor Day, as Tar Heel football fans prepared to welcome the TCU Horned Frogs to Kenan Stadium. The campus was buzzing, North Carolina's athletic department poured funds into improving the game-day experience, and vibes were high with new head coach and NFL great Bill Belichick at the helm.
It's been a long three months since September 1st. Around 8:15 PM on that night, Caleb Hood walked in for the first touchdown of the season and a 7-0 lead. What happened next was a disastrous football season capped by a 42-19 loss to rival NC State, the fifth straight season.
How did it happen?
From the opening kickoff, NC State looked like the team that wanted to be there, and the Tar Heels were just trying to get to the off-season as quickly as possible. NC State set the tone early with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that included converting on a fourth down. UNC's offense, as it has all year, struggled on its first possession and went three-and-out.
That allowed the Wolfpack to put together a similar drive to the first series, a 12-play, 76-yard drive to take a 14-0 lead. The Tar Heel offense was able to cut the lead back down to one possession at 14-7 after a great catch by Jordan Shipp, but just when it looked like North Carolina was going to sneak back into this one, NC State showed they watched film.
Remember just last week Duke beat the Tar Heels on a gutsy special teams play call? Dave Doeren did something similar. The Tar Heel defense thought they had forced a three-and-out and had the Wolfpack looking at 4th and 1 on their own 36. The UNC Football offense was set up to get the ball back to possibly tie the game at 14 and flip the momentum back in their favor.
And then... the Wolfpack faked the punt and ran it right up the middle. NC State went on to score with ease and the Tar Heel offense couldn't get going again.
NC State took the air out of the UNC sideline to end the first half with a 11 play, 91 second drive that went 67 yards for a touchdown to extend their lead to 28-10 heading into the break.
The second half was much of the same as NC State continued to dominate in a mostly uncompetitive game. North Carolina was able to outscored the Wolfpack 3-0 in the 3rd quarter as the Tar Heel defense was able to force two 3-and-outs and allowed the offense to cut into the 18-point halftime deficit, but it wasn't enough.
NC State began the fourth quarter with a touchdown to cap off an eight play, 75-yard drive to increase their lead to its largest of game at 35-13. Following another failed UNC Football offensive possession, the Wolfpack added to it with a 10-play, 42-yard drive to extend the lead to 42-13 with just over 5 minutes remaining in the game.
Freshman Au’Tori Newkirk was inserted into the game for the final offensive drive of the game, in which he led the Tar Heels down the field and scored to make the final deficit a little closer than the game ever really was with a 42-19 final score.
Key Numbers That Impacted the Game
Unlike for most of the second half of the season where North Carolina had relied heavily on their defense to keep them competitive in games against the likes of California, Virginia, and Stanford... that was not the case in Raleigh on Saturday evening. While the defensive effort was better in the second half, holding the Wolfpack to 14 points, it was the first half performance that really put the Tar Heels behind the eight ball and in an impossible position to mount a comeback.
CJ Bailey caused issues with his legs and arm for the Tar Heel defense as he was NC State's leading rusher on the night with 65 yards on 8 carries, and most of those came on designed pass plays where he scrambled. When he wasn't running, he was slinging it down the field. Bailey completed 20 of his 29 attempts for 189 yards and 2 TDs.
North Carolina's defense clearly wasn't prepared to see NC State backup quarterback Will Wilson. The Wolfpack freshman was a primary use on the ground as he racked up 54 yards on 12 carries and was responsible for 4 NC State touchdowns.
A huge impact on the game was NC State offense keeping their drives alive as they were 6-12 on 3rd down (50%). But on 4 occasions where they didn't convert on 3rd down? They were 4-4 on 4th down (100%). The Wolfpack had 26 total first downs on the evening in a game where the offense did pretty much anything it wanted to. The UNC defense simply could not get off the field throughout the night, and in the first half the Wolfpack offense scored a touchdown on every single possession it had.
Maybe not as impactful given the margin of victory, but certainly did not help matters were the penalty situation and the Tar Heels' lack of discipline. Through the first four games of the season, the UNC Football program was penalized a total of 19 times. On Saturday night in Raleigh, North Carolina committed 11 penalties for a total of 129 yards.
What's Next?
Given the way this season went, I think all UNC Football fans are glad that it's finally over. It was just rubbing salt in the wound to lose to all three in-state rivals (Wake Forest, Duke, and NC State) in the same season since 1989, and it is the first time ever in the history of the UNC Football program that the Tar Heels have lost to the three rivals in consecutive weeks.
We officially move into the off-season in Chapel Hill. The early signing period for the Class of 2026 officially opens on Wednesday, December 3rd, as Bill Belichick and Co. will look to continue to rebuild the UNC Football program through additions from the upcoming high school class and transfer portal. That class currently ranks 17th in the country according to 247Sports with 39 total commits (yes, 39!).
There will be several questions to be answered in the off-season surrounding player and coaching personnel for 2026. But there will be plenty of time for that later over the next several weeks. For now? Let's close the book on the 2025 UNC Football season. I think we're all done reading this book.