It was a long time coming. On Friday night at Syracuse, it finally arrived.
Long-time NFL coach Bill Belichick got his first conference win with North Carolina.
“Feels good,” Belichick told reporters after the game, via the Associated Press. “Feels great. We had a couple of opportunities the last couple of weeks that we couldn’t capitalize on. It was good to get this one. So we look forward to all the rest of the games in the ACC.”
The 3-5 Tar Heels have four ACC games remaining this season. With three more wins, Belichick’s team becomes bowl eligible.
“Things didn’t go great at the beginning of the game, but then they just kept on battling and we had a really good second half defensively,” Belichick said. “We all know in football it’s not who you play, it’s when you play them. We were probably fortunate to get them [now] as opposed to the week they played Clemson.”
Syracuse beat Clemson on September 20, 34-21. Against North Carolina, the Orange used walk-on lacrosse phenom Joe Filardi at quarterback. He completed four of 18 passes for 39 yards.