North Carolina beat East Tennessee State 35-3 on Saturday at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill.
Billy Edwards Jr. threw 24 yards to Jelani Thurman at 9:48 of the first quarter and 26 yards to Benjamin Hall at 12:13 of the second for a 14-0 lead. Demon June ran in from 9 yards with 1:20 left in the half, then added runs of 6 yards at 13:10 of the third and 1 yard at 3:30 for a 35-0 margin. East Tennessee State's only points came on Ewan Johnson's 41-yard field goal with 3:57 remaining.
Edwards completed 15 of 20 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns. Thurman caught 4 for 71 yards, and Hall led the Tar Heels' rushing with 49 yards on 4 carries. Jaylen Harvey had two sacks. Mason Mims was 23 of 31 for 178 yards with an interception for the Buccaneers; TJ Peyton ran 13 times for 52 yards, and Charlie Browder caught 3 passes for 50 yards.
North Carolina totaled 427 yards, 161 of them rushing, and converted 5 of 9 third downs without a turnover. East Tennessee State held the ball for 33:44 and gained 255 yards but turned it over twice. Attendance was 42,362.
Reporting source: ESPN public site API (game summary) Captured Sep 14, 2026, 3:19 AM UTC