The North Carolina Tar Heels had a golden chance to finish their football season with some rare, positive momentum on Saturday afternoon against UConn in the Fenway Bowl.
Instead, UNC lost a disappointing – but unsurprising – 27-14 matchup against a Huskies (9-4) squad that hadn’t won a bowl game since 2009.
North Carolina (6-7) finished with a losing record for the second time in four seasons, a trend we so desperately hope ends under head coach Bill Belichick. Saturday was UNC’s fifth consecutive loss in a bowl game.
The Tar Heels played without several starters in Saturday’s Fenway Bowl. Omarion Hampton was expected out, as he declared for the NFL Draft weeks ago, but the recent opt-out of starting right guard Willie Lampkin was unexpected.
An already-thin UNC squad thinned even more early in the first half, with starting quarterback Jacolby Criswell leaving after getting hit on a scramble. Criswell was expected to play coming in, but his departure was the last thing North Carolina needed.
Just how much did the Tar Heels’ offense struggle on Saturday? They didn’t pick up a first down until late in the second quarter, when freshman quarterback Michael Merdinger – who’s in the transfer portal – completed a 23-yard pass to starting tight end John Copenhaver.
To make matters worse for UNC’s offense, it didn’t convert a SINGLE third down and went just 1-of-3 on fourth down tries. UConn, on the other hand, converted 8-of-16 third down attempts and its lone fourth down try.
North Carolina’s defense never seemed like it was able to get off the field. The Tar Heels struggled against the run once again, allowing five different Huskies to combine for 210 rushing yards.
With Belichick already in Chapel Hill, we’re hoping this recent chapter of mediocrity in UNC football finally came to an end today.
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