Miami Survives North Carolina Rally to Stay Undefeated
On October 31 in Chapel Hill, No. 1 Miami beat Bill Belichick’s North Carolina Tar Heels 38-35, remaining unbeaten at 8-0. The loss ended Belichick’s 103-0 run in games when his teams scored at least 35 points.
North Carolina pushed the top-ranked Hurricanes to the final minutes, but Miami held on for a 38-35 win in Chapel Hill. The result lifted Miami to 8-0 and left the Tar Heels 4-4. It also ended a streak stretching back to 1991: Belichick’s teams had won all 103 games in which they scored 35 points or more, across his college and NFL coaching career.
Quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. completed 28 of 34 passes for 341 yards and four touchdowns. His 16-yard scoring pass to Jordan Shipp gave North Carolina its first lead, 21-17, in the third quarter. A one-yard touchdown run by Demon June later put the Tar Heels ahead 28-24 early in the fourth.
Miami answered with touchdowns by Mark Fletcher Jr. and Malachi Toney, moving ahead 38-28. Edwards hit Trech Kekahuna on a 15-yard scoring play with 1:38 left, bringing North Carolina within three.
The Tar Heels recovered two onside kicks, but penalties nullified both plays. Miami took possession on the next attempt and ran out the clock. A key turning point came when Miami’s Marquise Lightfoot stripped Edwards and recovered the ball at North Carolina’s 37-yard line. Toney scored on a nine-yard pass soon afterward.
Miami quarterback Darian Mensah threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns, and also ran for 36 yards. Fletcher scored three times. The defeat followed North Carolina’s 31-30 overtime loss to Syracuse the previous week.