DUBLIN - North Carolina spent the preseason hearing plenty of doubt from outside its own building. On Saturday, the Tar Heels answered with defense, discipline and just enough offense to beat TCU 15-10 at the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Aviva Stadium.
It was the kind of opener that changes the conversation fast. UNC looked nothing like the team that got blown out by TCU last season, and the difference showed up most clearly on the back end of the game, where the Tar Heels made the stops that mattered.
The biggest one came in the fourth quarter. With TCU driving for a potential go-ahead touchdown and 4:05 left, UNC forced an incomplete fourth-and-two pass in the end zone. That stand preserved the lead after a night full of swings, mistakes and momentum changes.
UNC also survived a late push by doing what it had to do on offense: move the chains, burn clock and make TCU keep playing from behind. The Tar Heels didn’t run the ball well, but they squeezed enough out of their final drive to drain most of the remaining time. On fourth-and-one with 30 seconds left, TCU jumped offside, and that was that.
The defense did the heavy lifting all afternoon. Six Tar Heels finished with at least five tackles, with linebacker Derek McDonald leading the way with 11. Melkart Abou-Jaoude made several big plays, and Xavier Lewis added two sacks.
Billy Edwards Jr. managed the offense as the graduate quarterback, finishing 16 of 28 for 232 yards with a 126,7 passer rating. He had some misses, including an early fourth-quarter shot to Jordan Shipp in the end zone, but he also delivered key throws, none bigger than a 25-yard pass to Jelani Thurman late as UNC tried to chew up the clock.
Shipp and Thurman gave the passing game its best production. Shipp caught five passes for 71 yards, while Thurman finished with four catches for 94 yards.
The game opened with field goals on both sides. Aeron Burrell hit a 20-yarder for UNC, and TCU answered with a 31-yarder from Kyle Lemmermann.
UNC’s first drive showed promise, especially through Thurman. He caught two passes for 55 yards on the opening series, but then dropped a poor Edwards throw in the back of the end zone on third-and-goal from the 2.
TCU got its first touchdown after a series of UNC mistakes. Ansel Din-Mbuh beat right guard Aidan Banfield for a sack that ended UNC’s second drive with a nine-yard loss at the 23. After a 35-yard punt return, the Horned Frogs needed just four plays to go 25 yards, finishing with a 2-yard Jon Denman touchdown run and a 10-3 lead with four minutes left in the first quarter.
UNC responded quickly. Edwards hit Shipp on a huge 18-yard completion on fourth-and-seven, and Jaylen McGill followed with a nine-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 10 with 1:04 left in the first quarter. The defense then shut down TCU on a fourth-and-10 pass that went nowhere.
Special teams swung it back to UNC before halftime. A high snap on a TCU punt attempt sailed into the end zone with 1:49 left in the first half, giving the Tar Heels a safety and a 12-10 lead at the break.
The decisive third-quarter sequence started with defense again. After Benjamin Hall fumbled and handed TCU the ball at the UNC 24, the Tar Heels answered with a stop at the 5, where multiple defenders, including Isaiah Johnson and Xavier Lewis, helped drag Jeremy Payne down for a one-yard loss on fourth-and-one. Earlier in the quarter, Jaylen Harvey recovered a fumble after Abou-Jaoude delivered a crushing hit from behind on Craig, setting up a 28-yard Burrell field goal and a 15-10 UNC advantage with 10:04 left in the third.
TCU eventually put together its best offensive stretch of the night with a nearly eight-minute drive in the fourth quarter, but it ended the same way so many of its other opportunities did: with UNC standing firm. Craig couldn’t connect with Jeremy Scott in the end zone on fourth-and-two from the UNC 10.
There was more than just the result for North Carolina to take from the night. It was the program’s first victory over a Big 12 school and its first against TCU since 1997. The Tar Heels won their opener for the fourth time in five seasons and now lead the all-time series 4-1.
It was also Bill Belichick’s fourth win outside the United States, after twice winning in London and once in Mexico City while coaching the New England Patriots.
UNC now gets two weeks off before facing East Tennessee State at noon on Sept. 12 in its home opener. That will be the Buccaneers’ third game; they hosted Campbell on Saturday and host Tusculum on Sept. 5.
TCU was without wide receiver Jordan Dwyer because of a foot injury, and defensive lineman Zach Chapman also missed the game with an injury. Abou-Jaoude suffered a hand injury on TCU’s first touchdown drive but returned for the next possession. Burrell handled both placekicking and punting for UNC.
The Tar Heels’ last safety came against Cincinnati in a bowl game in Charlotte on Dec. 28, 2013.
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