North Carolina — ACC
PPA off / def
0.06 / 0.15
2025
Class rank
#19
class of 2026
Returning PPA
28%
returning production
| 1975 |
OSU W 32–7 | Columbus |
| 1972 |
OSU W 29–14 | Columbus |
| 1965 |
OSU L 3–14 | Columbus |
| 1962 |
OSU W 41–7 | Columbus |
2026 schedule
2025 results (4–8)
Statistical comps — 2025 North Carolina's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (19 in / 31 out)
Origins
Choo Choo Justice finished second for the Heisman twice in the 1940s and filled Kenan Stadium. Mack Brown built and then rebuilt the program across two separate tenures thirty years apart.
Founded 1789 · The first public university to open its doors to students · first football 1888 · defined by Charlie Justice
All-time record
All-time
695–560–48
1893–2025
Win %
55.2%
125 seasons played
Winning seasons
70
56% of seasons
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 1997 | 11 | 1 | ACC |
| 1980 | 11 | 1 | ACC |
| 1972 | 11 | 1 | ACC |
| 2015 | 11 | 3 | ACC |
| 1914 | 10 | 1 | FBS Independents |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1893 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 269 | 53% |
41% | 93 of 136 | 5.5 | 11% |
| 2nd down | 197 | 48% |
31% | 130 of 136 | 4.5 | 6% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 38 | 71% |
55% | — | 3.5 | 5% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 50 | 30% |
42% | — | 6.2 | 12% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 51 | 22% |
22% | — | 5.0 | 14% |
| 4th down | 13 | 31% |
77% | — | 5.0 | 0% |
131 drives · 32% ended in points · 7.1 plays and 38.8 yards per drive · 0.29 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 10 | Syracuse |
Demon June 72 Yd pass from Gio Lopez (Rece Verhoff Kick) |
72 | 5.86 |
| 11 | Stanford |
Jordan Shipp 55 Yd pass from Gio Lopez (Rece Verhoff Kick) |
55 | 5.81 |
| 1 | TCU |
Gio Lopez sacked by Jonathan Bax for a loss of 5 yards Gio Lopez fumbled, forced by Jonath… |
37 | 4.16 |
| 2 | Charlotte |
Gio Lopez pass complete to Chris Culliver for 51 yds for a TD (Rece Verhoff KICK) |
51 | 3.92 |
| 10 | Syracuse |
(13:36) #96 T.Maginness punt 40 yards to the SYRA14 fair catch by #1 D.Samuel Jr. at SYRA1… |
40 | 3.92 |
| 3 | Richmond |
Demon June run for 45 yds for a TD (Rece Verhoff KICK) |
45 | 3.74 |
| 11 | Stanford |
Davion Gause 20 Yd pass from Gio Lopez (Rece Verhoff Kick) |
20 | 3.61 |
| 8 | California |
Gio Lopez pass complete to Shanard Clower for 31 yds to the CAL 48 for a 1ST down |
31 | 3.49 |