Thanksgiving Basketball In Florida, Reese Brantmeier Wins A Natty, Football Falters
Plus: 5-stars Maximo Adams and Kate Harpring sign, Women's Soccer advances, Women's Basketball dominates, Field Hockey heartbreak
A sincere thank you to everyone who reached out over the weekend to send their condolences following the loss of my stepfather. Even though we’re all mostly internet strangers in this newsletter, we’re still Carolina Family, and your kind words were a real comfort. Now, as we head into Thanksgiving week, lets look back and ahead at the week in UNC Athletics. On to the updates…
🏈 Football
There will be no bowl game for UNC Football this season after falling to Duke 32-25 on Senior Day in Chapel Hill.
Against the Blue Devils, it was Carolina’s special teams that were problematic. A roughing the kicker penalty on a missed field goal ultimately resulted in 7 first-half points for the bad guys. And the Tar Heels fell for a fourth-quarter fake field goal attempt that set up Duke for the game-winning touchdown a couple of plays later. “Good teams find ways to win, and bad teams find ways to lose.” Unfortunately, it was the latter this week.
On a brighter note, UNC quarterback Gio Lopez (21-of-27, 204 yards, 1 TD passing, 1 TD rushing) outplayed highly regarded Duke quarterback Darian Mensah (20-of-33, 175 yards, 1 TD) despite taking numerous big hits throughout the game.
Now the Tar Heels travel to Raleigh next Saturday to face a hungry NC State team in a hostile night environment.
North Carolina long snapper Spencer Triplett has been named one of 10 semifinalists for the Patrick Mannelly Award, given annually to the nation’s best long snapper.
UNC has a history of outstanding long snappers who have gone on to lengthy NFL careers. Greg Warren (UNC 2000-2004) spent 12 years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, winning two Super Bowl rings. And before that, my former teammate Ethan Albright (UNC 1989-1993) played 17(!) years and 236 games in the NFL, even making the Pro Bowl in 2007. Nice work if you can get it.
In the NFL, R.L. Bynum has all the stats and highlights in the Tar Heel Tribune’s weekly rundown. Including…
Drake Maye threw for a career-high 294 yards and a touchdown in New England’s 26–20 come-from-behind win over Cincinnati.
Javonte Williams racked up 94 total yards as his Dallas Cowboys rallied from 21 points down to beat the Eagles 24-21.
Arizona running back Michael Carter had five carries for 28 yards and three catches for 30 yards.
🏀 Basketball
Carolina Basketball is spending Thanksgiving at the Fort Myers Tip-Off event in Florida after a less-than-stellar win over Navy last Tuesday that sparked a players-only meeting following the game.
On one hand, you hate to see such a talented team take their foot off the gas late in the game against the Midshipmen. But on the other hand, it’s nice to see the players holding themselves accountable and addressing any issues while they’re still winning.
The No. 18 Tar Heels face St. Bonaventure on Tuesday, Nov. 25 (6 p.m., FS1) before taking on No. 17 Michigan State on Thanksgiving Day (4:30 p.m., FOX). We’ll see if UNC’s team meeting results in two complete games with no letups.
Off the court, Caleb Wilson (to no one’s surprise) has been named to the Wooden Award Watch List recognizing college basketball’s national player of the year.
And I get asked about this every year (and usually don’t know the answer), so here’s a reminder that the 2025 Carolina Basketball Posters are available. You can order them here.
🏀 Basketball Recruiting
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Tar Heel Times Newsletter to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.