Gio Lopez, defense give Bill Belichick first UNC home win over Richmond

Gio Lopez threw for two touchdowns and ran for a score as North Carolina used defense to control visiting Richmond in a 41-6 victory Saturday in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Both touchdown passes went to Jordan Shipp and Demon June rushed for 148 yards for the Tar Heels.

It marked the first collegiate home-field victory for first-year North Carolina coach Bill Belichick.

North Carolina (2-1) also recorded a touchdown by its defense with Mikai Gbayor returning a fumble 62 yards for a touchdown in the first minute of the fourth quarter.

Gomez was 10-for-18 for 119 yards in the air. June, who had a 45-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, did his work on 14 carries.

Richmond (1-2), playing in its third consecutive road game, was bottled up on offense for most of the game and finished with 199 yards of total offense. The Spiders scored on a pair of field goals.

North Carolina scored on its first possession on Rece Verhoff's 27-yard field goal. Lopez passed 29 yards to Shipp for the game's first touchdown on UNC's second drive.

Trailing 10-0, the Spiders gambled on fourth down and came up a yard short, giving the ball back at the Richmond 25. North Carolina settled for Verhoff's 22-yard field goal on the second play of the second quarter for a 13-0 lead.

Lopez ran 1 yard for another touchdown as the Tar Heels built a 20-0 edge, while Richmond remained without a first down.

The Spiders finally got moving, going 76 yards in 14 plays and scoring on Jayden Alsheskie's 25-yard field goal with 1:11 to play in the first half. That drive consumed nearly nine minutes.

Still, North Carolina held a 193-58 advantage in total yards in the first half.

The third-quarter touchdown drive, capped by Shipp's 3-yard catch, required only 34 yards following a Richmond fumble. That marked the Tar Heels' third consecutive scoring drive that involved less than 40 yards of gains.