North Carolina
2-0ACC · Bill Belichick, year 2 (6-8) · Kenan Stadium · 50,500 · 42,362 avg in 2026
LastW 35–3 vs East Tennessee State · Sat Sep 12 · Xavier Lewis 2 sacks, 2 TFL, 5 tackles
Nextat Clemson · Sat Sep 19 · 12 pm ET · Memorial Stadium (Clemson, SC) · Clemson by 3.5 · series 18-40-1, lost the last 7 · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2
All 71 stats
FBS rankings · 2026 season · all stats vs 136 FBS programs
| Player | # | G | Cmp/Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | INT | Rate | ZPR | QBR | Adj ANY/A | Sack% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +0.43 EPA/play | 9 | 2 | 31 / 48 | 64.6 | 476 #51 FBS | 9.9 | 2 | 0 | 161.6 | 59 | 67.4 | — | — | |
Yards by week → | ||||||||||||||
| Player | # | G | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Move TE · +0.86 EPA/play | 45 | 2 | 8 | 165 #51 FBS | 20.6 | 1 | 35 | |
Yards by week → Move TELined up out wide as often as inline. Creates mismatches downfield. 4 of 21 TEs we've classified this way this season. Season receipt Yards / reception20.3 98th percentile · FBS TEs, min. 8 receptions Reception volume8 bottom 12th percentile · FBS TEs, min. 8 receptions Trait fingerprint Plays like View Jelani Thurman's full player page | ||||||||
| +0.55 EPA/play | 1 | 2 | 7 | 96 | 13.7 | 0 | 19 | |
Yards by week → | ||||||||
| Player | # | G | Tot | Solo | TFL | Sack | Hur |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two-Gap Base | 91 | 2 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Two-Gap BaseStout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number. The most common profile in its group this season — 12 of 27 classified this way. Played in 2 of 3 games this season · sophomore · 3-star, 2024 class View Leroy Jackson's full player page | |||||||
| 3-Tech Penetrator | 90 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 6.5 #1 FBS | 4 #2 FBS | 1 |
3-Tech PenetratorDisruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield. 8 of 27 IDLs we've classified this way this season. Season receipt TFL rate54.2% 100th percentile · FBS interior linemen, min. 10 tackles Plays like View Xavier Lewis's full player page | |||||||
| 11 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 2 #26 FBS | 2 | |
| — | 2 | 8 | 2 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Player | # | G | Tot | Solo | Ast | TFL | Sack | PD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 2 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | 2 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player | # | G | Tot | PD | INT | TFL | Sack |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 1 #22 FBS | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 18 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player | # | G | FG M/A | FG% | XP M/A | Pts | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 92 | 2 | 2/4 | 50 | 6/6 | 12 | 28 |
2026 stat leaders · North Carolina
through 2 games
2026 stat leaders · North CarolinaDerek Mcdonald leads North Carolina with 14 tackles through 2 games.
How They Play · 2025North Carolina fields a struggling offense behind a solid, bend-don't-break defense.
Percentile vs all FBS, based on this season's per-game production. Bar = where this team ranks — right is better.
North Carolina reads strongest in explosive plays allowed (top 16%) and passing epa allowed (top 25%); the crux lives in rushing epa, where North Carolina sits at the 10th percentile.
offense · strengths lead
defense · higher bar = harder to play against
hidden math · special situations
Home-field advantage · North Carolina · 2018–present · FBS opponents
North Carolina is worth +1.8 points more at home than on the road.
Bottom third of FBS, 16th percentile of 133 programs
52% at home, 41% away against FBS opponents since 2018 (22–20 home, 17–24 away). Interval ±3.4.
Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge — per-team modelling was tested and did not survive scrutiny (why) — and the books use about 3. Against the closing line, North Carolina has beaten the number by −1.2 more at home than away over 69 games — inside the ±6.5 that many games can resolve. Results here cannot tell the flat number apart from the building, and that is the honest reading of nearly every FBS stadium.
Kenan Stadium seats 50,500 and has averaged 96% full (48,595, 27 games reported). Visitors get here easily: a median 175 miles trip since 2018, the 4th-shortest of 135 FBS venues. There is no travel penalty on visitors here either way. 9% of the 2026 roster (9 of 103 located players) grew up inside 100 miles of the stadium.
Edge = half the gap between average home margin and average road margin, FBS opponents only, non-neutral games since 2018; the interval is 95%. Market line: closing spread, seasons with lines on file. Trip length is straight-line miles from the visiting team's campus to the venue, measured across all 51 home games since 2018.
More in this tab
Tendency drift
Season by season
How North Carolina’s current staff calls plays, year over year
Ratings
Comparable teams
Most similar programs · North Carolina
Most similar programs · North CarolinaReads like
Matched on how the programs are built — tier, prestige band, kind of fanbase, conference, voice and roster size — not on this season's stats. A calibration, not a prediction.
Conditions
68°F average kickoff temp; 13% of games had measurable precipitation; 6 mph average wind.
Based on 77 home games with weather data.