Edwards Wins Starting QB Job Before Dublin Opener
Billy Edwards Jr. beat out three challengers with 1,000 flashcards of Bobby Petrino's playbook, and he gets his first start today as a 7.5-point underdog at TCU in Dublin.
Edwards won the job with 1,000 flashcards
Bill Belichick named Billy Edwards Jr. his starting quarterback for the opener, and by the transfer's own account it wasn't one throw or one practice that won it. "The biggest thing for me was just putting my head down and knowing that it's not going to be one day, it's not going to be one snap, one play," Edwards said, according to WRAL. He built 1,000 flashcards to learn new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino's playbook cold, and linebacker Derek McDonald said it showed up in the huddle: "He knows how to go through his reads...he's an experienced quarterback and a lot of guys will have confidence being around him." The job wasn't handed to him — Miles O'Neill, a Texas A&M transfer with his own history in Petrino's offense, pushed him the whole way, along with Au'Tori Newkirk and freshman Travis Burgess.
On site for practice at Aviva Stadium 🇮🇪 t.co/23zfGvzqFi
It's the third straight year Edwards has won a starting job at a third different school, after Maryland in 2024 and an injury-shortened stint at Wisconsin last year. Belichick still isn't promising him the whole game Saturday, saying only that Edwards would start without committing to how the reps get split from there. Whatever happens, his first snaps as a Tar Heel come on a wet Aviva Stadium pitch that Belichick has been walking his team through all week — a world away from a Chapel Hill August, with the coach joking that Dublin's spring-like weather and left-side driving are the least predictable parts of preparing for a season opener 3,000 miles from home.
Last season ended on a three-game skid
North Carolina opened last season's final stretch with wins over Syracuse (27-10) and Stanford (20-15), then lost three straight to close it out — 28-12 at Wake Forest, 32-25 at home to Duke, and finally 42-19 at NC State on November 30 to finish last season. That loss to the rival Wolfpack was the last time this program took the field before Saturday, and it's the version of this team Belichick has spent the offseason trying to rebuild away from.
None of that carries over on the scoreboard — the record resets to 0-0 today — but it's the backdrop for everything that's happened in camp since, from the quarterback competition to a coaching staff that has had all offseason to install Petrino's offense. The Tar Heels get their first real test of that work against a Big 12 opponent on a neutral continent, in front of a crowd that, per Belichick, will be cheering for both sides at once.
Recent News
North Carolina isn't the only team missing pieces Saturday. TCU defensive lineman Zach Chapman — 6 career TFLs, 4.5 sacks — is not expected to play after missing fall camp with an injury, per On3's Pete Nakos. And TCU's leading returning receiver, Jordan Dwyer, made the trip to Ireland but will not play against Carolina after battling a foot injury all offseason, Pete Thamel reported Saturday; Dwyer caught 54 balls for 730 yards and 7 touchdowns last season. Jordan Dwyer's foot injury made him a game-time call vs. UNC before that news came down. With Dwyer out, Harvard transfer Jaden Craig is set to take his first Power Four snaps for the Horned Frogs, a debut covered here.
Carolina has its own name on the injury sheet. Tight end J. Warren is listed Out with an undisclosed injury, per Covers, first reported last week and expected to sideline him an undetermined length of time. It's a thin table on both sides for a Week 0 game, but between Chapman, Dwyer and Warren, neither offense gets to run at full strength in Dublin.
TCU opened as a 7.5-point favorite for kickoff in Dublin
It all kicks off this morning at TCU, with the Horned Frogs favored and Carolina an underdog on a total that opened at 47.5. TCU enters at 0-0 like everyone else this week, but the program that shows up carries real pedigree — last season's group beat USC 30-27 in its finale. That's a 2025 result, not anything TCU has proven yet in 2026, but it's the best form anyone has on either sideline this morning.
For Carolina, the number matters less than the tape. Edwards gets to introduce himself against a Big 12 opponent that's already down its top returning receiver and a rotational lineman, on a slick field neither roster has practiced on before this week. Win or lose the line, that's the version of this team worth watching kick off the Belichick era for real.