North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Gio Lopez suffered a right leg injury in the third quarter of the game against UCF on Saturday. He was taken to the locker room and was replaced by Max Johnson for the remainder of the game. The injury happened after Lopez tried to run the ball during a 4th-and-1 situation.
With the bye week going on for North Carolina, On3’s Pete Nakos provided an update on the quarterback:
“Sources have told On3 that a timeline is not clear for a return, but Lopez has started rehabbing and a return in early October is not out of the question. The Tar Heels are on a bye week before hosting Clemson on Oct. 4.”
Going by this update, it seems the bye week has come at the right time as it will allow North Carolina’s QB1 to get enough rest and return healthy. Therefore, there’s a good chance, Lopez will feature as the starting quarterback when the Tar Heels face Clemson in the first week of October.
Gio Lopez and Max Johnson couldn’t help North Carolina win vs UCF
The Tar Heels started the season on a low, losing 48-14 to the TCU Horned Frogs. They bounced back with a 20-3 win against Charlotte and 41-6 win against Richmond. However, their winning momentum took a worse hit on Saturday after UCF rendered them in single digits and won the game 34-9.
After the game, head coach Bill Belichick was blunt in his assessment, saying:
“We’ve scored points the last two weeks. We had trouble doing it today. … Look, football is a sport with 11 guys out there. I’m not talking about one guy. It’s the 11 guys who have to operate efficiently, and times we’ve done that, and times we haven’t. Today wasn’t one of our better ones.”
Before injuring himself in the third quarter, Lopez was 11 of 14 for 87 yards and two interceptions. Backup Max Johnson and threw for a touchdown while completing 11 of 19 for 67 yards.
On the season, Lopez is has thrown for 430 yards with three touchdowns and as many interceptions in four games. It remain to be seen if he features in the Week 5 clash against the Clemson Tigers.
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