It hasn’t been an easy first season in Chapel Hill for eight-time Super Bowl champion and North Carolina first-year coach Bill Belichick. Going into their matchup with a struggling 1-3 Clemson, the Tar Heels, who just had a bye week, were expected to at least keep things close with the Tigers.
That didn’t happen. Just 10 seconds into the game, Clemson started the scoring with a long touchdown pass on a trick play from WR Antonio Williams. While the game isn’t over, it’s not looking good for UNC, which trailed Clemson 35-3 at halftime. It doesn’t make it any better that fans have seemingly given up.
North Carolina Fans Stream Out at Halftime After First Half Beatdown by Clemson
Since the day he was named as the program’s new head coach this offseason, Bill Belichick has seemingly faced endless scrutiny. From situations involving his 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson to his team looking flat in all four games they’ve played this year, the Patriots great’s detour into college coaching has been rough.
After opening up their season with a massive 48-14 beatdown at home by TCU, North Carolina managed victories against Charlotte and FCS squad Richmond. Things seemed to be back on track, but then the team laid another egg — a 34-9 loss to UCF in Orlando.
Still, if this was the year for any ACC team to take down Clemson, this would be the year. At 1-3, the Tigers haven’t looked themselves. Regardless, things got ugly fast in Chapel Hill Saturday.
UNC fans are LEAVING THE STADIUM in the 2Q down big vs. Clemson 😳 pic.twitter.com/vzdQ7AbQL6
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 4, 2025
Unfortunately for Belichick, the criticism quickly spread to social media, where fans criticized how poorly this team had performed through four games.
Fans around campus are taking note. As this video from the podcast Pardon My Take shows, bad football is wreaking havoc on UNC students.
“TCU was one of the saddest feelings I’ve had at this university and I’ve failed midterms before”
UNC students are down tremendously pic.twitter.com/S6HOJn1un4
— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) October 4, 2025
“TCU was one of the saddest feelings I’ve had at this university, and I’ve failed midterms before,” one student said in an interview.
Meanwhile, even analysts are taking shots at the team, likening the Tar Heels to “Fyre Fest,” the infamous beach musical festival that looked much better on paper than its real-life execution.
The Bill Belichick UNC era is becoming ccollege football’s Fyre Fest. https://t.co/X9edciUmDA
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) October 4, 2025
As soon as Clemson opened up the scoring, UNC fans began leaving the game. Around halftime, the stadium seemed almost empty.
The state of UNC football 😔 pic.twitter.com/L4NB7rBzBV
— Two Shows One Host (@2shows1host) October 4, 2025
Even brand accounts, like PrizePicks, joined in on the fun, trolling Belichick and North Carolina for going down by more than four scores after just two quarters. For reference, Clemson was favored by around 15 points going into this ACC showdown.
Now, while this game isn’t over, it would take some highly efficient football to make this competitive. As CBS Sports reporter Shehan Jeyarajah writes, if the result holds, Belichick’s squad would have as many Power Four losses of 25 points or more in five games as the school had in the past 76 games — a period of around eight years.
North Carolina lost its first two games against P4 teams by 25 points, and already trail Clemson by 25.
Assuming this holds, Bill Belichick is about to have as many 25-point losses in three power games as UNC had in its last 76 before Chapel Bill, a period of eight years.
— Shehan Jeyarajah (@ShehanJeyarajah) October 4, 2025
The second half has begun in Chapel Hill, and the Tar Heels will have a tough road ahead of them if they want to pull out a miracle victory. With 13 minutes remaining in the third quarter, UNC trails by 32 points but is driving down the field.
