Bill Belichick, USC, NC State lead college football Week 0 winners and losers - USA Today

- Bill Belichick and North Carolina secured a needed 15-10 victory over TCU after a tumultuous offseason.

- UNC's defense-first approach may be its blueprint for success against a difficult upcoming schedule.

- TCU struggled offensively, hampered by penalties, poor third-down conversions, and subpar quarterback play.

Bill Belichick needed this one.

That the 74-year-old Belichick came into his second year at North Carolina on one of the hottest seats in college football was a signal that the six-time Super Bowl winner had officially lost his fastball after a dismal end to his run with the New England Patriots.

A full accounting of how far Belichick and UNC have come since last season won’t be complete until deeper into one of the toughest schedules in the Bowl Subdivision. But the Tar Heels’ often ugly 15-10 win against TCU in Ireland rights the ship for Belichick and gives his tenure a must-have boost after another drama-filled offseason.

The Tar Heels were swamped at home by TCU in last year’s opener, scoring the game’s first points before giving up 41 in a row and losing 48-14.

This TCU team has clear quarterback issues after losing multiple-year starter Josh Hoover to Indiana. Combined with a lack of elite skill talent, the Horned Frogs might struggle to reach bowl eligibility.

One thing that’s obvious: TCU is not going to contend with the best teams in the Big 12 by committing 11 penalties, going a combined 8 of 21 on third and fourth downs, averaging just 2.7 yards per carry and only 5.5 yards per pass attempt.

Despite the Horned Frogs’ obvious issues, UNC might have displayed a Belichick-era blueprint for winning close, low-scoring games by leaning on low-error play from veteran quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. and a talented defensive front that had three sacks and six tackles for loss, the lion’s share by sophomore Xavier Lewis.

For the Tar Heels and Belichick, the win is all that matters. We’ll know by the second half of October — after games against No. 23 Clemson, No. 5 Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Duke — whether this throwback, NFL-style model can get UNC into the postseason and salvage Belichick’s diminished reputation.

Belichick, Virginia and TCU lead the biggest winners and losers from Week 0 of the 2026 season:

Just in the past month, UNC has placed general manager Michael Lombardi on indefinite leave and been forced to move forward with defensive coordinator Steven Belichick sidelined with an undisclosed medical condition. Those are the two most recent twists and turns for what has been one of the most drama-filled programs in the country this side of wherever Lane Kiffin is at the moment. Every UNC win, regardless of the score or beauty points, shifts the focus away from Belichick’s messy program.

Last year’s ACC runner-up showed some staying power by pushing projected ACC contender North Carolina State around in a bruising 34-8 win. Virginia held CJ Bailey to just 84 yards on 23 pass attempts and allowed just one gain of more than 14 yards while letting transfer quarterback Beau Pribula do most of the work in his program debut. He ran for 110 yards on 15 carries and went 9 of 11 passing for 155 yards and two scores. N.C. State has won at least eight games in five of the past six years – if that’s who the Wolfpack are again in 2026, Virginia will be a dangerous team.

The greatest dynasty in Championship Subdivision history — the most dominant in Division I history, really — picked up where it left off with an impressive 33-7 win against Jacksonville State in the program’s FBS debut. The Gamecocks are no pushover: JSU had gone 27-14 since joining the FBS in 2023 and won the 2024 Conference USA crown under former coach Rich Rodriguez. The Bison got things started by holding the Gamecocks’ normally productive running game to just 85 yards on 31 carries while going for 209 yards on the ground themselves and 373 yards overall. It seems obvious that NDSU can compete for and win the Mountain West in 2026.