CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolinas football stock is climbing after the Tar Heels went into Pittsburgh and beat No. 25 Pitt 21-17 on Saturday, the first ranked win of the Bill Belichick era and UNCs first road victory since 2020.
UNC improved to 3-2 and 1-1 in the ACC with a pair of Power Four wins already on the resume against TCU and Pitt. The Tar Heels also played Clemson and Notre Dame close, and national recruiting analysts bumped the programs stock up after the road upset of a previously unbeaten ranked foe.
Trailing 10-0, quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. hit Jordan Shipp for a 49-yard gain that set up a touchdown pass to Jelani Thurman. Demon June later scored from a yard out, and Shamar Easter sealed it with a 75-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter after Pitt had briefly retaken the lead.
Pittsburgh finished 0-for-4 on fourth down and managed only one score on its final nine possessions. UNC held the Panthers to 2.4 yards per carry in the second half and picked off Holden Geriner twice, including a Greg Smith III end-zone interception after a Peyton Seelmann blitz.
Shipp finished with six catches for 93 yards and later presented Belichick with a game ball for the programs first ranked win under the new staff. Edwards and Easter connected on the season-changing strike that flipped a 17-14 deficit into a 21-17 lead at Acrisure Stadium.
The win gives UNC momentum heading into the rest of October after a statement road result against a previously unbeaten ranked opponent and a defense that stiffened once the Panthers reached scoring range.
For a Tar Heel team still evening out its ACC ledger, the Pitt result is the clearest proof yet that Belichicks group can finish close games on the road when big plays and fourth-down stops arrive together.
