It was a play that perfectly encapsulated the Bill Belichick experience at North Carolina.
For the first time in more than a month, UNC wasn’t getting blown out, but had a chance to win. In the red zone and down by three points in the fourth quarter against California on Friday night, quarterback Gio Lopez found Nathan Leacock streaking across the middle of the field.
The touchdown and late lead were right there. All Leacock had to do was cross the goal line and a chance to change the narrative in Chapel Hill was imminent.
But as Leacock was about to put the Tar Heels ahead, Cal defender Brent Austin punched the ball out. It rolled into the end zone and Austin recovered it. The Golden Bears took possession and held it until it left the Tar Heels with six seconds left and a failed lateral-filled final play.
A win literally slipped out of UNC’s hands. Call it a rude welcome to Pac-12 — sorry, ACC after dark. Apologies to any Tar Heel fan who stayed up til after 2 a.m. ET to watch that.
Despite showing improvement, Belichick’s early tenure in North Carolina continues to slide, dropping a 21-18 late night decision in Berkeley.
“Came up a little bit short today, or a couple of inches,” Belichick said. “Just keep working on the things that obviously we need to do a better job of.”
Now after an incredibly hyped debut, the Tar Heels are 2-4, have lost three straight games and are 0-4 against Power Four teams. That first ACC win will have to wait.
To be fair, Friday night was the best North Carolina has looked since its opening drive of the season against TCU. After a fumble on the opening play of the game that led to a Golden Bear touchdown, it looked like another blowout loss was in store.
Yet, the Tar Heels kept it close. In the third quarter, a Cal touchdown made it 21-10 and gave the Golden Bears a chance for the knockout punch.
Instead, North Carolina went down the field — thanks to some Cal penalties — and scored a touchdown and 2-point conversion to make it a three-point game. It forced a punt on the following drive, only for its chance at redemption to be stripped right before the goal line.
Is it progress? Yes. The offense wasn’t completely stagnant and the defense didn’t get ripped apart. For most Power Four teams with a new coach, it’s what you’re hoping to see as the season moves along.
But that’s not what you’re looking for when you hire a six-time Super Bowl winning coach whose personal life has garnered more attention than what’s happening on the field. It’s not what you want when you are spending more time defending the decision to be there than time spent leading a game.
Even when it continues to be a story, Belichick dodges questions related to anything going on not related to a football field.
“I’m just focused on the game,” Belichick said. “I’m not going to deal with any of this, whatever else.”
Besides, progress doesn’t seem to really be exciting the coach.
“It is what it is,” he said when asked about the close loss instead of another blowout.
UNC football schedule doesn’t get any easier
The saying goes “winning fixes everything.” Given all the controversy and peculiar stories coming in and out of the program, a win against Cal could’ve really helped calmed down the noise.
Instead, the strangeness gets more amplified, and it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to see when a win could help quiet the criticism.
The Tar Heels have resurgent No. 19 Virginia next, followed by a road trip to Syracuse. It’s gotten to the point the games against Stanford and Wake Forest can’t be shoe-in victories. Then there’s the in-state battles against Duke and North Carolina State to end the season.
Is there a path to six, even five wins there? Not exactly what Tar Heel fans were hoping would be the goal just eight weeks into this strange tenure.
You’re expecting results, and they aren’t showing up in North Carolina.