North Carolina’s nightmare is over. Bill Belichick’s team has beaten a power conference opponent.
The Tar Heels got their first ACC win of the season on Friday night in a 27-10 win over Syracuse. The win makes North Carolina 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the ACC. And it crucially keeps the Tar Heels’ slim bowl hopes alive.
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You’d be forgiven if you thought Halloween in what’s now known as the JMA Wireless Dome would go poorly for North Carolina. The Tar Heels trailed 10-3 early, thanks to a Syracuse fumble return for a TD, but Orange true freshman QB Joseph Filardi failed to complete his first eight passes of the game.
Things got a lot better for the Tar Heels in the second half. UNC scored 14 points in the third quarter and turned the game into a rout in the fourth quarter after a Melkart Abou Jaoude sack of Filardi turned into a fumble recovery by Smith Vilbert. Three plays later, UNC QB Gio Lopez found Jordan Shipp wide open for a 21-yard touchdown and a 17-point lead.
If North Carolina didn’t win on Friday night, it was hard to see where the Tar Heels were going to get an ACC win in 2025. UNC’s only two wins of the season so far came over Charlotte and Richmond.
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But there were signs of frustrating progress over the past two games. UNC lost by three at Cal despite multiple mistakes near the end zone and were less than a foot away on a 2-point conversion from an upset win over No. 15 Virginia in Week 9.
Syracuse entered Friday night’s game at 1-4 in the conference, and Filardi was making the first start of his career as he prepares to also play lacrosse in the spring. Filardi is the third quarterback to start a game for the Orange this season after Steve Angeli suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in the team’s win over Clemson. Filardi finished 4 of 18 passing for 39 yards.
North Carolina now needs to win three of its final four games to have a chance at a bowl game. And it’ll probably only be favored in one of those contests. The Tar Heels host Stanford in Week 11 before games against Wake Forest, Duke and NC State to finish the season.
