Bill Belichick was in a smiling mood on Saturday afternoon.
And it’s not hard to see why — he finally got a win over a ranked opponent.
His North Carolina Tar Heels went on the road and knocked off the previously unbeaten Pittsburgh (the No. 25 team in the nation) 21-17.
It was the first time Belichick had beaten someone in the top 25 since coming to Chapel Hill last season.
Belichick, 74, chatted with ESPN for a postgame interview on the field at Acrisure Stadium.
He was chatty, visibly pleased and even made a joke along the way.
When asked about the “atrocious” play of Billy Edwards Jr. in the third quarter and how North Carolina overcame that obstacle, the usually publicly aloof Belichick was happy to point out that there was a different point in the game where his quarterback looked more shaky.
“I thought the first quarter was worse,” Belichick said, adding a laugh with a big grin. “Yeah, we just kept hanging in there. We made a couple of big plays, and they made a couple, too. They’re a good football team.”
North Carolina, now 3-2 and arguably with the signature win of Belichick’s season and a half at the college level, gave a more standard-fare answer about what the next steps for his football team would be.
“You know, just get ready for Duke,” Belichick said, giving one of his vintage lines he was known for during press conferences during his long run as bench boss of the Patriots.
Edwards finished the game with an uneven stat line — 19-for-24 passing with 249 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions — but the UNC defense stepped up with two picks of its own.
Duke, at 4-0 entering Saturday’s matchup with Georgia Tech, will host the in-state rival Tar Heels next Saturday afternoon.
With a win, North Carolina would match last season’s win total.
