The North Carolina Tar Heels will welcome No. 1 Miami to Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill on Halloween night, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. ET on Oct. 31, as the ACC announced Monday. ABC will carry the game though some chance remains that it may be moved exclusively to ESPN.
The newly announced game time and network amps up the pressure on legendary head coach Bill Belichick, in his second season at UNC after being fired by the New England Patriots — the team he took to nine Super Bowls, winning six. But Belichick, 74, has never faced the Hurricanes as a college head coach. He arrived in Chapel Hill in 2025, and the schools last met in 2023, when North Carolina won 41-31, according to UNC. The Tar Heels lead the all-time series 16-11 and have won five straight.
Prime time on a major broadcast network is not a regular stop for the UNC football program. ESPN gave Belichick’s 2025 debut a Labor Day night slot, and 6.6 million viewers watched TCU win 48-14. A 10:30 p.m. ET Friday date against Cal also aired on ESPN. Neither game ran on ABC.
Both teams play next Saturday, Oct. 24. Miami hosts Pittsburgh at noon, according to Pitt athletics’ kickoff announcement. North Carolina hosts Syracuse, 2-4 overall and 0-4 in the ACC, at 7:30 p.m.
Darian Mensah Powers Hurricanes Toward Belichick Showdown
Miami is 6-0 and sits atop the AP poll for the first time since 2002, a spot it earned with a double-overtime win over Florida State on Saturday night. The Hurricanes played for the national title last season, losing to Indiana 27-21.
Quarterback Darian Mensah, a Duke transfer, strung together 35 straight completions across two games in September. That erased the ACC record of 30 that Mitch Trubisky set at North Carolina in 2016, according to The Associated Press. The mark had stood for a decade.
North Carolina is 4-2 and 2-1 in the ACC. The Tar Heels beat No. 25 Pittsburgh 21-17, Belichick’s first win over a ranked opponent as UNC’s coach, according to OutKick‘s postgame report. The Tar Heels followed with a 24-20 victory at Duke. The losses came at Clemson, 28-20, and against Notre Dame, 37-26.
On Oct. 30, 2004, a 3-4 North Carolina team stunned fourth-ranked Miami 31-28 when freshman Connor Barth kicked a 42-yard field goal as time expired, On3 reported. Three of the Tar Heels’ five straight wins in the series came at night in Kenan Stadium.
Bill Belichick’s North Carolina Tar Heels Tenure Draws Investigation
Belichick took the job in late 2024 and went 4-8 in his first season. Year 2 brought a different kind of test — an investigation into the culture and climate of the football program.
Outside lawyers conducted about 60 interviews, including one with Belichick, and examined allegations of drug use and sexual relationships, according to WRAL reporter Brian Murphy. General manager Michael Lombardi resigned Sept. 3. Defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, the head coach’s son, resigns effective Oct. 27, when his medical leave ends.
UNC said the investigation found actions showing “a disregard for Carolina’s values and standards of conduct,” as quoted by WRAL’s Murphy. The school called those actions isolated, not systemic. Belichick, who gave investigators access to his staff and facilities, remains the head coach.
The turbulence predates the 2025 opener. Investigative reporter Pablo Torre on his “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast reported that Belichick’s 25-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson had been barred from team facilities. The program denied it.
Kickoff against Miami is 12 days away on the spookiest night of the year.
Bill Belichick Faces New Pressure After Miami-UNC Game Announcement