Syracuse Football 2025 Opponent Preview: The struggling North Carolina Tar Heels

It’s not necessarily the circumstances we envisioned before the season, but one of Syracuse’s most anticipated games of the season is upon us. Head coach Bill Belichick and the North Carolina Tar Heels are coming to the JMA Wireless Dome on Halloween for a nationally televised game. We learned before the season that this is the first Halloween game in the Dome since 1992, so it’s a big deal, even if the teams are a combined 5-10 this year. While Belichick needs no introduction, let’s take a closer look at the entire North Carolina team.

Where is North Carolina ranked?

The Tar Heels are not ranked, and they’re not even close. Also, they continue to be near the bottom of our weekly ACC power rankings.

Where is North Carolina in the standings?

With a 0-3 record in conference play, the Tar Heels are near the bottom of the ACC standings. With Florida State being 0-4 and Boston College being 0-5, North Carolina is at least ahead of those teams heading into Friday’s Halloween game.

What did North Carolina do last week?

North Carolina came painfully close to its first ACC win last week. Against long-time rival Virginia, the Tar Heels forced overtime after a 10-10 slugfest. After Virginia scored on its first overtime possession, North Carolina did the same. However, Belichick went for the two-point conversion and the win, with the ball carrier coming up a couple of inches short, preventing what would have been a massive upset.

Who is North Carolina’s quarterback?

While sixth-year senior Max Johnson has played at times as well, Gio Lopez is currently North Carolina’s quarterback. Lopez joined the Tar Heels after two seasons at South Alabama and has endured an up-and-down season in Chapel Hill. He’s thrown just four touchdown passes, two of which came against FCS opponent Richmond. Lopez has also thrown five interceptions, while completing a modest 61% of his passes. However, he’s coming off a season-high 208 passing yards against Virginia last week, completing 23 of his 36 passes, so there are reasons to think he’s moving in the right direction.

Who are North Carolina’s other stars?

With the Tar Heels sitting at 2-5, it’s hard to identify too many players who could be classified as stars. Sophomore wide receiver Jordan Shipp is perhaps the closest. His 29 receptions are more than double what anyone else on the team has. He’s amassed 320 receiving yards to lead the team as well.

Defensively, Melkart Abou-Jaoude has been a force along the defensive line, leading the Tar Heels with five sacks. The linebacker tandem of Khmori House and Andrew Simpson has combined for 78 tackles in the middle of the UNC defense. Simpson also has two sacks and an interception this year.

What is North Carolina’s biggest flaw?

Among many options, North Carolina’s biggest flaw right now is a lack of offensive playmakers. Lopez is showing signs of improvement, but there isn’t much help at receiver or in the UNC backfield. As a result, the Tar Heels have scored 18 points or fewer in all five of their games against power-conference opponents, all of which have been losses.

Even in a win over Charlotte, the Tar Heels only managed 20 points. Every other team that 1-7 Charlotte has played has scored more than 20 points against them. As a team, UNC is averaging just under 280 total yards and 18.3 points per game. The Tar Heels have been fortunate enough to get strong defensive performances in recent weeks against Cal and Virginia.

How does Syracuse beat North Carolina?

As a slight favorite at home, this is a very winnable game for Syracuse. But to beat North Carolina, the Orange has to keep building on some of the positives of last week. The Syracuse offense managed to score on a 16-play, 89-yard drive in the fourth quarter. Rickie Collins showed some growth as a passer and at least managed to avoid throwing an interception. He also continued to move the ball with his legs, which must continue to be an important part of the offense.

Given the struggles of the UNC offense this season, the Syracuse defense should have a good game, especially at home. That means the Orange can win without having to score a lot of points. Of course, this also means winning the turnover battle and being able to convert short-yardage situations, which has been an overlooked problem in recent weeks. If Syracuse can win in those areas, the four-game losing streak should end on Friday.