UNC falls short but shows improvement in OT loss to Virginia - ESPN

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina still hasn't won a game against a Power Four opponent under Bill Belichick, but Saturday's 17-16 overtime defeat against No. 16 Virginia showed the improvement he has long promised is finally unfolding on the field.

The Tar Heels dominated Virginia at the line of scrimmage, racking up six sacks and largely eliminating the Cavaliers' run game, but a failed 2-point try in overtime proved the difference.

«It's one thing for people to say we're getting better,» North Carolina wide receiver Jordan Shipp said, «but now we're showing it. That's a top-20 team in the country that went down to the last play of the game.»

Shipp wasn't celebrating a moral victory. In the locker room after the game, he said he shed tears, knowing how much work this team had put in and how close it had come to its first ACC win of the season.

But if the Heels weren't celebratory, there was ample reason to feel good.

North Carolina's defense held Virginia to 259 yards and didn't allow a second-half point. The offense managed 359 yards — a relative pittance, but still a season high — and for the second straight week, UNC had a shot to win with its final possession, which is a drastic improvement after four early blowouts.

Perhaps another sign of North Carolina's improvement was Belichick's postgame news conference, where he was in vintage form.

What went into the decision to go for two in the first overtime?

«Just trying to win the game,» he said.

Who was QB Gio Lopez's first target before rolling out on the two-point play?

«Whoever was open.»

How much did UNC need these past two games to show real improvement on the field?

«I can't put a percentage on it,» Belichick said.

He was effusive in the team's need to avoid