Bill Belichick’s debut season is far from the grand entry fans thought he’d be making into college football. UNC is now 2-2 and faces an important game against Clemson in Week 6. However, Belichick has a serious question mark in Gio Lopez, who has proved to be a disappointment to the Tar Heels so far. He provided an update on his QB as fans await his status before the high-stakes clash.

Gio Lopez beat out veteran Max Johnson for the QB1 role at North Carolina. That was because of his fall camp performance and his great run at South Alabama. But as North Carolina’s QB1, Lopez has been beyond underwhelming. He was already growing into a problem for Bill Belichick when an injury in the UCF game sidelined him for the rest of the night. The injury isn’t considered serious, since Belichick had both good and bad news about the QB’s status.

Belichick told the press that Lopez “didn’t do much last week, has been getting treatment, and will practice today.” “We will see where he is today,” he added. That means Gio Lopez has become an even bigger question mark for the Tar Heels before their first big test of the season against Clemson. The struggling Tigers are also looking for redemption. The defense will not let up on whoever leads the Tar heels offense. Even with Gio Lopez at QB1, Bill Belichick has not found the success he had with this position in the NFL.

Gio Lopez has hauled in a total of 430 yards, 3TDs, and 3 INTs. He is struggling with passing, having completed only 62.7% of his attempts so far. Lopez started off weak against TCU. He connected on only 4 of his 10 passes, and that too only for 70 yards. But he had a better outing against Charlotte, completing 17 of his 25 passes and hauling in 155 yards. There have been flashes of brilliance from the QB. But Lopez still struggles with deep ball accuracy. He has peculiarly not been able to connect for throws beyond the line of scrimmage on the field’s right.

This is more concerning since he wasn’t as bad at South Alabama. Last year, Lopez only had 5 interceptions while hauling in a whopping 2,559 yards and 18 TDs. Though he didn’t have much experience in the big leagues, he was looking like a good investment for Belichick ahead of the season. Max Johnson had issues staying healthy, and Lopez seemed like the best bet. But as Bill Belichick’s first college QB1, Lopez is seldom in that 2024 form.

He is also averaging just 107.5 yards per game, which is the 127 best in Div I quarterbacks. As Lopez remains a doubt before their clash against Clemson, Belichick is now left with a serious question at hand. Who leads the offense against the ACC giant?

Bill Belichick’s QB room now a mix of unproven talent

Belichick’s top 2 QBs are prone to illness. Lopez went down in the TCU game, came back up against Charlotte, and went down in the UCF game. He is also coming back after a season-ending injury at South Alabama. If Lopez’s health keeps switching, Belichick has to look at other options. The problem is, they’re not exactly the kind to be excited about. Save for maybe Max Johnson. UNC’s returning QB stepped in for Lopez both times he went out. But he isn’t all that spectacular.

In fact, he pitched in 20 fewer passing yards than the QB1 against UCF, while his accuracy dipped to 57.9 in that game. But Johnson also brought in a TD, which still keeps him alive in the race to replace Lopez as a starter. At least he hasn’t led an offense that ranks near-last almost everywhere. Beyond these two, the situation looks grim for Belichick. Before the season, it was only Johnson who was coming in with experience at the top level of football. And under Belichick, he’s been demoted to backup duties.

Since UNC football is still an experiment, Bill Belichick should still set his eyes on rookie Bryce Baker. He was the 11th-best QB of the 2025 cycle and came in with 6,605 passing yards from his prep career. Belichick knows that Clemson is not a squad against whom one rolls out an absolute newbie. But the existing situation in the QB room isn’t that uplifting either. UNC needs the offense to be rewired right now. They’ll need a good QB1 to spark some much-needed energy into the unit. Or else,