It’s been a bleak season for North Carolina football. The buzz around Bill Belichick’s college debut faded quickly as the Tar Heels got off to a 2-5 start. North Carolina’s season was derailed by a four-game losing streak, and it got so bad that Belichick had to deny rumors suggesting he was seeking an early exit from the school.
But the Tar Heels may have turned a corner.
After defeating Syracuse 27-10 on Halloween, North Carolina beat the Stanford Cardinal 20-15 at home on Saturday. With the win, Belichick and company improved to 4-5 and have a chance to get back to .500 next week against Wake Forest.
### Belichick’s Locker Room Speech
After the game, Belichick addressed the team. The famously deadpan coach did his best to inspire the Tar Heels with a rousing locker room victory speech.
“That’s the way we thought it would be, coming right down to the wire. We had our chances to make it a little more space than we had. But, in the end, it’s a damn good win all the way around. We’re gonna keep building on that one. We’ve got the three games in North Carolina now. So this is the heart of our schedule,” Belichick said, per UNC’s official X account.
“We need to play our best football. Have our best week of practice, play our best football on Saturday. Get ready to get Wake [Forest] here. Get ready to get Wake. But let’s keep grinding now, we can’t stop. We’ve gotta keep grinding, keep getting better, keep believing in ourselves, believe in the process. Alright? Let’s make it three in a row. Congratulations, men. Congratulations,” Belichick concluded, to polite applause.
### Game Summary
Both teams got off to slow starts on Saturday. North Carolina scored first with a 27-yard field goal in the first quarter. Stanford answered in the second quarter, and the game was tied 3-3 at halftime.
However, the Tar Heels came out firing after the break. UNC scored 17 straight points in the second half, taking a 20-3 lead.
Stanford eventually responded with two fourth-quarter touchdowns but missed the two-point conversion on both scores. The Cardinal made it a one-possession game with under two minutes remaining and managed to get the ball back.
With just 42 seconds remaining and no timeouts, Stanford’s last-ditch lateral effort was stymied by North Carolina’s defense as time expired, securing the win for the Tar Heels.
North Carolina inches closer to .500 with the Stanford win and now look to keep the momentum going against Wake Forest next week.
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