2025 TCU-North Carolina Game Photos

Photos by Tom C. (Midnite) Burke

 

(photos above and below) University of North Carolina's Kenan Memorial Stadium hosted the TCU-North Carolina football game on Labor Day evening (September 1). The Frogs demolished the Tar Heels, 48-14, in the season-opener for both teams and the collegiate coaching debut of former NFL head coach Bill Belichick. Kenan Memorial Stadium opened in 1927 and seats nearly 51,000 people. Kenan Stadium was originally named after William Rand Kenan Jr.'s parents, William Rand Kenan Sr. and Mary Hargrave Kenan, with the donation made in their memory. However, a plaque with these names was covered by the University of North Carolina in 2018 to acknowledge that William Rand Kenan Sr. was the commander of a white supremacist paramilitary group that attacked and killed Black people in Wilmington, North Carolina, in the 1898 Wilmington Massacre. The stadium's dedication was subsequently changed to honor the donor, William Rand Kenan Jr., who was a prominent industrialist.

Against the Tar Heels, TCU head football coach Sonny Dykes was leading the Horned Frogs in a season-opener for his fourth year. The 2022 National Coach of the Year led TCU to more wins (27) in his first three seasons than all but one head coach in program history (Dutch Meyer, 29; 1934-36).

Against the Horned Frogs, Bill Belichick was in his first season leading the Tar Heels and coaching his first-ever collegiate football game. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional football head coaches of all time, Belichick holds numerous coaching records, including the record for most Super Bowl wins (six) as a head coach, all with the New England Patriots, along with two more during his time as the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants, for a record eight combined Super Bowl victories as coach and coordinator. 

Here come the Horned Frogs!

Here come the Tar Heels!

TCU's captains: (from left to right) senior defensive end Devean Deal (#11); senior defensive lineman Coltin Deery (#51); senior safety Bud Clark (#21); senior tight end Chase Curtis (#81); and junior quarterback Josh Hoover (#10).

(photos above and below) In TCU's season-opening 48-14 victory over North Carolina, TCU's offense cashed in often against the Tar Heels' defense. The Frogs' offense scored four touchdowns (two through the air and two on the ground) and two field goals. TCU amassed 29 first downs and 542 total yards of offense; 258 rushing yards and 284 passing yards.

(photos above and below) TCU quarterback Josh Hoover (#10), who is on the watch lists of the nation's awards for college quarterbacks, led the Frogs' offensive attack. Hoover completed 27-of-36 passes for 284 yards. He threw two touchdown passes and one interception. He was not sacked by the North Carolina defense.

(photos above and below) TCU senior running back Kevorian Barnes (#2), a transfer from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), led TCU's rushing attack against North Carolina. He gained 113 yards on 11 runs. He scored one touchdown, on a 75-yard run. 

TCU senior running back Kevorian Barnes (#2), a transfer from UTSA, scored a touchdown on a 75-yard run, on the first play of the game's third quarter. The touchdown and extra point gave TCU a 27-7 lead over North Carolina. 

Senior running back Kevorian Barnes' (#2) TCU career-opening performance in the Frogs' 48-14 win over North Carolina on Labor Day earned him praise on the sidelines from teammates and Kaz Kazadi (in black shirt), who is TCU's assistant athletics director for football human performance. 

Against North Carolina, TCU senior tight end DJ Rogers (#0) had five receptions, including a touchdown catch of four yards in the fourth quarter. 

(photos above and below) TCU junior wide receiver Jordan Dwyer (#7), a transfer from the University of Idaho, opened his TCU playing career with nine receptions for 136 yards and one touchdown in the Frogs' 48-14 win over North Carolina. Dwyer's touchdown opened TCU's scoring against the Tar Heels. It came on a 27-yard reception in the first quarter.

TCU sophomore running back Jeremy Payne (#26) ran seven times for 28 yards against the Tar Heels.

TCU senior wide receiver Eric McAlister (#1), a transfer last season from Boise State, caught three passes for 20 yards against North Carolina. 

(photos above and below) TCU redshirt freshman running back Nate Palmer (#21) ran seven times for 61 yards against North Carolina. He averaged 8.7 yards per run. 

TCU senior running back Trent Battle (#6) only ran the ball once against North Carolina, but he made it count. He went 28 yards untouched for a touchdown in the third quarter, as the Frogs increased their lead over the Tar Heels to 34-7.

TCU senior running back Trent Battle's (#6) 28-yard touchdown run earned him congratulations from TCU head coach Sonny Dykes. 

(photos above and below) TCU's defense, beginning its second season under defensive coordinator Andy Avalos, limited North Carolina's offense to 222 total yards; 170 passing yards and 50 rushing yards. The Tar Heels averaged only 1.8 yards per rush. The Frogs also scored two defensive touchdowns, on an interception return and a fumble return. TCU scored a pair of defensive touchdowns for the first time since a pair of pick-sixes against Iowa State on November 26, 2022.

 

TCU junior defensive end Jonathan Bax (#10) pressures North Carolina quarterback Max Johnson (#14). Against the Tar Heels, Bax had 1.5 tackles for loss, one sack and one forced fumble. 

TCU senior safety Bud Clark (#21), who is on the watch list for the best collegiate defensive back in the country, celebrates his second-quarter, 25-yard interception return for a touchdown against North Carolina. Clark also had five tackles against the Tar Heels. For his overall defensive achievements in the game against North Carolina, Clark was named the Big 12's Defensive Player of the Week.

(photos above and below) In the third quarter against North Carolina, TCU senior defensive end Devean Deal (#11) scooped up a Tar Heels fumble and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown. The score and extra point increased TCU's lead to 41-7 and started a mass exit from the stadium by dismayed North Carolina fans.

TCU's defense recovered two of North Carolina's four fumbles. In addition to a fumble recovery and score by Devean Deal, sophomore defensive end Zach Chapman had a fumble recovery.

TCU sophomore safety Kylin Jackson (#19), a transfer from LSU, tackles North Carolina running back Benjamin Hall (#28). Jackson and TCU's defense limited Hall to  22 yards on six carries. Jackson had three tackles against the Tar Heels, including one tackle for loss.

TCU  junior safety Jamel Johnson (#2) celebrates his tackle of North Carolina running back Davion Gause (#37). Against the Frogs' defense, Gause gained only seven yards on five rushes.

TCU sophomore defensive tackle Markis Deal (#95) pressure North Carolina quarterback Gino Lopez (#7).

(photos above and below) TCU's defense recorded two sacks of North Carolina quarterback Gio Lopez (#7), who completed only four-of-10 passes for 69 yards. He was intercepted once. 

(photos above and below) North Carolina backup quarterback Max Johnson (#14) completed nine-of-11 passes against the Frogs, including a touchdown pass of two yards in the third quarter. Johnson was the Tar Heels' starting quarterback last year, but he suffered a season-ending broken leg in the season's first game.

(photos above and below) North Carolina running back Caleb Hood (#4) gained only 31 yards on 10 carries against TCU's swarming defense. 

North Carolina wide receiver Jordan Shipp (#1) caught four passes for 84 yards against the Frogs' secondary. He had a long reception of 39 yards.

With TCU enjoying a large lead and dominating the Tar Heels in all phases of the football game, North Carolina fans exited Kenan Memorial Stadium in droves beginning in the middle of the third quarter, leaving lots of open seats within the stadium.

TCU head football coach Sonny Dykes and ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe discuss the Horned Frogs' 48-14 victory over North Carolina. TCU improved to 3-1 in season-openers under Dykes, who is in his fourth year as TCU's head coach. The game was TCU' 10th-straight season-opener of scoring 30 points or more.

North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick had to face the media after losing his collegiate coaching debut, as his Tar Heels were blown out in Chapel Hill by TCU, 48-14.

TCU and North Carolina will meet in a rematch in 2026, in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, which is scheduled to be played on August 29, in Dublin, Ireland.