North Carolina quite literally had a win slip out of their fingertips in Friday’s game against Cal.
The Tar Heels, trailing 21-18, were inching closer toward a go-ahead touchdown with under four minutes left at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, Calif. Facing 2nd-and-8 at the Golden Bears’ 13, quarterback Gio Lopez found wide receiver Nathan Leacock on a simple slant route.
The bruising wideout muscled his way into the end zone. But Leacock got stripped by defensive back Brent Austin just as he was crossing the plane. The ball popped out of Leacock’s hands and rolled toward the corner of the end zone.
Leacock, in a desperate attempt to salvage the play, tried swimming toward the ball while lying on the grass. North Carolina fans everywhere could only watch in horror as Austin was first to the ball for the fumble recovery.
UNC FUMBLES INTO THE ENDZONE OH NO pic.twitter.com/VMLKLtGBA7
— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) October 18, 2025
Cal was awarded a touchback. The Bears were able to burn enough clock to seal the three-point victory. Lopez was left in disbelief, with his hands on his helmet, trying to make sense of the roller coaster of emotions one play brought.
The loss was North Carolina’s third in a row and fifth of the season. It’s been that kind of season for North Carolina in Bill Belichick’s first campaign at the helm.
The PR disaster off the field has arguably been just as bad, with various reports of Belichick repeatedly pulling petty moves against his New England Patriots. It’s gotten so bad that a planned Hulu documentary about North Carolina’s season has been scrapped completely.
If anything, fans would pay good money to get an inside look at the dumpster fire North Carolina has become under Belichick. But school surely wasn’t going to provide access to a show that would end up making the program look bad.
