North Carolina Tar Heels

Wasabi Fenway Bowl

Ugh, no.

North Carolina Tar Heels lost to the UConn Huskies

9-4 27 – 14

6-7

Final · Sat, Dec 28

Game Details

Fenway Park (Boston) · 27,900 fans · ESPN View tournament bracket →

Highlights

UConn beats Carolina in Fenway Bowl, dominating Bill Belichick's next team in his old backyard

UConn's victory in the Fenway Bowl showed North Carolina coach-in-waiting Bill Belichick how much work he has ahead of him.

Recap via ESPN

0:34 UConn's Joe Fagnano passes to Skyler Bell for a 38-yard TD

0:48 UNC answers with a 95-yard kickoff return TD

0:23 UConn adds to lead with an Alex Honig 4-yard TD

0:23 UConn punches in TD on 4th-and-goal

Clips play on ESPN

Line Score

	1	2	3	4	T
CONN	10	14	3	0	27
UNC	7	0	0	7	14

Win Probability · North Carolina Tar Heels

kickoffnow: 0%

Game Leaders

UConn Huskies

Joe Fagnano · 16/23, 151 YDS, 2 TDPassing Yards
Mel Brown · 11 CAR, 96 YDSRushing Yards
Skyler Bell · 3 REC, 77 YDS, 1 TDReceiving Yards
Aaron Key · 1Sacks
Malik Dixon-Williams · 7Tackles

North Carolina Tar Heels

Michael Merdinger · 9/12, 86 YDS, 1 INTPassing Yards
Caleb Hood · 11 CAR, 78 YDSRushing Yards
John Copenhaver · 4 REC, 44 YDS, 1 TDReceiving Yards
Beau Atkinson · 1Sacks
Caleb LaVallee · 9Tackles

2026 FBS Independents Standings

Team
Notre Dame
UConn

2026 Atlantic Coast Conference Standings

Team
Miami
Pittsburgh
Duke
SMU
Wake Forest
Clemson
Florida State
Virginia
Virginia Tech
NC State
California
Louisville
Stanford
North Carolina
Georgia Tech
Syracuse
Boston College

Scoring

Q4 6:46

TD John Copenhaver 17 Yd pass from Caleb Hood (Noah Burnette Kick)27–14

Q3 7:40

FG Chris Freeman 24 Yd Field Goal 27–7

Q2 0:54

TD Cam Edwards 2 Yd Run (Chris Freeman Kick)24–7

Q2 14:10

TD Alex Honig 4 Yd pass from Joe Fagnano (Chris Freeman Kick)17–7

Q1 3:24

TD Chris Culliver 95 Yd Kickoff Return (Lucas Osada Kick)10–7

Q1 3:45

TD Skyler Bell 38 Yd pass from Joe Fagnano (Chris Freeman Kick)10–0

Q1 10:46

FG Chris Freeman 32 Yd Field Goal 3–0

Team Stats

UConn HuskiesNorth Carolina Tar Heels

Offense

361 Total Yards 206

151 Passing Yards 110

210 Rushing Yards 96

20 First Downs 10

Efficiency

8-16 3rd Down 0-9

1-1 4th Down 1-3

16/24 Completions 11/14

Turnovers & Clock

0 Turnovers 1

4-30 Penalties 9-55

34:50 Possession 25:10

Box Score

UConn Huskies ▾

Passing

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	QBR
Joe Fagnano	16/23	151	6.6	2	65.8
Nick Evers	0/1	0	0.0	0	4.6
Team	16/24	151	6.3	2	--

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Mel Brown	11	96	8.7	0	47
Cam Edwards	17	74	4.4	1	13
Victor Rosa	7	21	3.0	0	11
Nick Evers	2	11	5.5	0	13
Joe Fagnano	8	10	1.3	0	8
Team	1	-2	-2.0	0	0
Team	46	210	4.6	1	47

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Skyler Bell	3	77	25.7	1	38
TJ Sheffield	5	31	6.2	0	17
Jasaiah Gathings	3	22	7.3	0	10
Alex Honig	2	10	5.0	1	6
Louis Hansen	2	6	3.0	0	5
Mel Brown	1	5	5.0	0	5
Team	16	151	9.4	2	38

Fumbles

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Mel Brown	1	0	0
Team	1	0	0

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Malik Dixon-Williams	7	4	0	0	1	0
Pryce Yates	6	6	1	3	0	0
Jayden McDonald	6	4	0	1	0	1
Aaron Key	4	3	1	1	0	0
Tui Faumuina-Brown	3	3	0	0	0	1
Jack Barton	3	2	0	2	0	0
Cam Chadwick Jr.	3	2	0	0	0	0
Jordan Wright	2	2	0	1	0	0
Donovan Branch	2	1	1	1	0	0
Jelani Stafford	2	0	0	0	0	0
Malachi McLean	2	0	0	0	0	0
John Neider	2	0	0	0	0	0
James Larson	2	0	0	0	0	0
Matt Hoffman	1	1	1	1	0	0
D'Mon Brinson	1	1	0	0	0	0
Cam Edwards	1	1	0	0	0	0
Stan Cross	1	0	0	0	0	0
Oumar Diomande	1	0	0	0	0	0
Rante Jones	1	0	0	0	0	0
Team	50	30	4	10	1	2

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Tui Faumuina-Brown	1	3	0
Team	1	3	0

Kick Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Mel Brown	2	33	16.5	18	0
Team	2	33	16.5	18	0

Punt Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
TJ Sheffield	1	10	10.0	10	0
Team	1	10	10.0	10	0

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Chris Freeman	2/3	66.7	32	3/3	9
Team	2/3	66.7	32	3/3	9

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Connor Stutz	4	175	43.8	0	4	51
Team	4	175	43.8	0	4	51

North Carolina Tar Heels ▾

Passing

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Michael Merdinger	9/12	86	7.2	0	1	3.0
Caleb Hood	1/1	17	17.0	1	0	63.0
Jacolby Criswell	1/1	7	7.0	0	0	54.2
Team	11/14	110	7.9	1	1	--

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Caleb Hood	11	78	7.1	16
Darwin Barlow	5	37	7.4	14
Davion Gause	5	12	2.4	12
Jacolby Criswell	1	7	7.0	7
Tyrane Stewart	1	-7	-7.0	0
Michael Merdinger	5	-31	-6.2	1
Team	28	96	3.4	16

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
John Copenhaver	4	44	11.0	1	23
Kobe Paysour	2	35	17.5	0	22
J.J. Jones	2	12	6.0	0	7
Darwin Barlow	1	9	9.0	0	9
Caleb Hood	1	8	8.0	0	8
Jordan Shipp	1	2	2.0	0	2
Team	11	110	10.0	1	23

Fumbles

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Michael Merdinger	1	0	0
Team	1	0	0

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	QB HUR	TD
Caleb LaVallee	9	7	0	1	0	0
Kaleb Cost	7	6	0	0	0	0
Will Hardy	7	4	0	0	0	0
Beau Atkinson	6	5	1	1	0	0
Jakeen Harris	6	4	0	0	0	0
Kevin Hester Jr.	4	3	0	0	0	0
Travis Shaw	4	3	0	1	0	0
Amare Campbell	4	3	0	0	1	0
DeAndre Boykins	2	2	0	0	1	0
Michael Short	2	2	0	0	0	0
Ty Adams	2	2	0	0	0	0
Tre Miller	2	2	0	0	0	0
Marcus Allen	2	2	0	0	0	0
Malcolm Ziglar	2	2	0	0	0	0
Tyrane Stewart	2	2	0	1	0	0
Cade Law	1	1	1	1	0	0
Antavious Lane	1	1	0	0	0	0
Jacolbe Cowan	1	1	0	0	0	0
Caleb Hood	1	1	0	0	0	0
Tyler Thompson	1	1	0	0	1	0
Alijah Huzzie	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jaybron Harvey	1	0	0	0	0	0
Chris Culliver	0	0	0	0	0	1
Team	68	54	2	5	3	0

Kick Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Chris Culliver	2	118	59.0	95	1
DeAndre Boykins	2	34	17.0	27	0
Jake Johnson	1	20	20.0	20	0
Team	5	172	34.4	95	1

Punt Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Alijah Huzzie	1	-1	-1.0	-1	0
Team	1	-1	-1.0	0	0

Kicking

Player	FG	XP	PTS
Noah Burnette	0/0	1/1	1
Lucas Osada	0/0	1/1	1
Team	0/0	2/2	2

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Tom Maginness	6	230	38.3	0	0	53
Team	6	230	38.3	0	0	53

Roster

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Upcoming

at Pittsburgh Panthers at Duke Blue Devils vs Syracuse Orange · TBD vs Miami Hurricanes · TBD at UConn Huskies vs Louisville Cardinals · TBD at Virginia Cavaliers · TBD vs NC State Wolfpack · TBD

North Carolina Tar Heels

Game Details

Highlights

On the Field LIVE

Line Score

Game Flow

Win Probability · North Carolina Tar Heels

Game Leaders

2026 FBS Independents Standings

2026 Atlantic Coast Conference Standings

Scoring

Team Stats

Box Score

Roster

Schedule Add to calendar