Bill Belichick’s North Carolina Tar Heels didn’t appear to be too happy with losing on Saturday.
After the final seconds ticked off the clock against the Louisville Cardinals, UNC managed to get involved with fights scattered across the field — not quite a brawl, because things were too spread out, but certainly more postgame feuds than you ever want to see.
At one point, Belichick even got in the mix to try and break things up.
This is what we know and have on video.
Why Did UNC and Louisville Fight?
It appears the skirmishes started because of activity on the game’s final kneel down.
Louisville offensive lineman Johnnie Brown III kept in contact with North Carolina defensive tackle Xavier Lewis after the final knee.
Their dispute seemed to bring other players in the mix, and soon things were spread out all over the field.
The Associated Press wrote it like this:
“UNC defensive tackle Xavier Lewis and Louisville offensive lineman Johnnie Brown III kept jostling after the kneeldown that would drain the final seconds. That continued and escalated with multiple players stepping in and locking up, as jawing at one other escalated to shoving, players in pileups and a haze of flailing arms with possible punches being thrown. That included multiple skirmishes and at least one tussle that broke off from the main mass of players, leading to a separate pileup of players in an end zone. The teams were eventually separated, with that clean-up work including UNC coach Bill Belichick stepping in to direct and pull multiple Tar Heels players away from the edge of what was brief-but-intense chaos.”
North Carolina had just lost frustratingly, 16-14.
UNC-Louisville Fight Video
There’s one on-field view circulating from local reporter Pat Welter.
You can watch it here (or at this link if it doesn’t display properly):
UNC’s Billy Edwards Injury
As if the loss and the fight weren’t bad enough — North Carolina’s starting quarterback got hurt.
Billy Edwards Jr. took a big hit on a second-half sack and had to leave the game.
That brought in backup Travis Burgess, who actually made a useful fourth-down throw with 58 seconds left down two points but had the ball deflect unfortunately into the hands of Louisville’s Jabari Mack.
That led to the final sequence of knees, which led to the postgame fight — including Belichick trying to stop one of his offensive linemen from getting involved, a bit of a size mismatch
For a North Carolina team that fell to 5-5 (2-4 ACC) with the loss, nothing about this was a sight they’d want to see.
A quarterback injury, a narrow loss and postgame fights? Not a recipe for success at any program.
Bill Belichick’s UNC Fights Louisville After Injury-Filled Loss