Football Turns Away Stanford With 20-15 Win On Homecoming

Saturday, November 8

Chapel Hill, N.C.

4:30 P.M.

North Carolina

4-5 , 2-3

Stanford

3-7 , 2-5

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Stanford

North Carolina

Photo by: AINSLEY E. FAUTH

November 8, 2025 | Football

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By: Justin Wilson

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Headlined by a season-high nine sacks and 206 yards in the second half, the North Carolina football team earned a 20-15 win against the Stanford Cardinal Saturday night at Kenan Stadium.

The Tar Heels' (4-5, 2-3 ACC) defense constantly made it difficult for Stanford (3-7, 2-5) quarterback Elijah Brown to operate, resulting in the most sacks by an ACC team this season (9) and tying for the most by any FBS team in a single game this season.

"It's always good to win at home," said Carolina head coach Bill Belichick. "I'm proud of our team. We had two interesting halves. Had a tough start offensively, and then got things going a little bit in the second half. We played well defensively for three quarters and then gave up a few too many, two-minute drives at the end. We hung on with an onside kick recovery and got a stop on defense."

Continuing its stout play on defense, Carolina has now recorded 19 sacks over the last three games with six against Virginia, four at Syracuse and nine against Stanford. Additionally, the Tar Heels held opponents without an offensive touchdown for 148 minutes before seeing that stretch end in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run from Cole Tabb. Prior to that score, UNC had not allowed an offensive touchdown in regulation since the 6:36 mark in the second quarter of the Virginia game.

After earning ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week and taking over as the conference's individual leader in sacks, Melkart Abou Jaoude did not take any time to rest on his laurels and tallied three more sacks against the Cardinal to push his season total to 10. He finished the game with five tackles, including four solo stops and an assisted tackle.

The teams traded field goals in the first half and went into the intermission knotted at 3-3. Despite having just 47 yards offensively through the first 30 minutes, North Carolina's defense kept the squad in the game even though Stanford had the ball 20:27 and the Tar Heels only had it 9:33.

Carolina took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched 75 yards down the field on 12 plays, capped by a 20-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Gio Lopez to running back Davion Gause to take a 10-3 lead. Lopez was 10-for-13 in the third quarter, as the Tar Heels had possession for 11:30 of the 15-minute period.

Rece Verhoff pushed the UNC lead to 13-3 with a 48-yard field at the start of the fourth quarter and after the defense forced a three-and-out, wide receiver Jordan Shipp found the end zone for his fourth receiving touchdown of the year to give Carolina a 20-3 lead.

Stanford looked to make a comeback with a pair of scores to trim the deficit to 20-15, but the Carolina defense kept the Cardinal out of the end zone on their final possession as time expired with UNC earning a five-point win for its first home ACC win of the season.

"Like a lot of these games, they close, they're tight, similar to the games Stanford has played," Belichick added. "Fortunately, we made enough plays to come out on top today. That's a good feeling and a lot of things we can still improve on and keep working on."

Linebacker Khmori House led the defensive effort with 13 tackles and also recorded his first interception of the season and second of his career. In addition to Abou Jaoude's strong game rushing the passer, Tyler Thompson set a career best with three sacks.

Offensively, Lopez was 18-of-25 for 203 yards with two passing touchdowns. Kobe Paysour reeled in six passes for 54 yards and Shipp tallied five receptions for 83 yards with a score.

North Carolina returns to action on the road next Saturday, traveling to Wake Forest. Kickoff in Winston-Salem is set for 4:30 p.m. from Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium on The CW.