Bill Belichick’s North Carolina Tar Heels moved to 2-1 on the season following Saturday’s 41-6 win over the Patriot League’s Richmond Spiders, but there are questions looming at the quarterback position.
Gio Lopez finished 10-of-18 for 119 yards and two touchdowns through the air and rushed for 40 yards and a score, but questions persisted regarding his accuracy:
Even one of his touchdown passes was nearly overthrown:
Lopez’s struggles have already been a storyline this season. He was just 4-of-10 for 69 yards and an interception in a season-opening blowout at the hands of TCU, going over two hours at one point between completed passes.
He was better last week in a 20-3 win over Charlotte, finishing 17-of-25 for 155 yards and a touchdown. But again, that came against Charlotte, currently 0-2 on the season.
There is now the question of whether Max Johnson would be the better option at the position. Lopez, a South Alabama transfer, won the quarterback battle over the summer, but it’s Johnson who looked sharper when given game time (9-of-11 for 103 yards and a touchdown against TCU, albeit when the Horned Frogs had already built a 41-7 lead in the second half).
Belichick himself didn’t provide much fodder for fans disenchanted with Lopez, putting in freshman Au’Tori Newkirk in garbage time against Richmond rather than Johnson. Newkirk threw an interception on his first attempt.
But North Carolina’s schedule is about to get tougher, with a trip to UCF next week before the ACC slate kicks off in October. Belichick deemed Lopez the victor of the quarterback battle heading into the season, but his fairly mediocre start to the season isn’t inspiring much confidence among fans.
