Gio Lopez Likely To Be North Carolina's QB Against Cal

North Carolina quarterback Gio Lopez was not on the Tar Heels injury report released Wednesday night, so presumably he will be the Tar Heels starting quarterback against Cal on Friday night in Berkeley.

North Carolina (2-3) had a bye this past weekend, but Lopez missed the Tar Heels’ game two weeks ago against Clemson with a leg injury he sustained the previous week.

Max Johnson was North Carolina’s quarterback in the 38-10 loss to Clemson after Lopez had been the Tar Heels’ starter in the first four games.

Lopez is listed as the starter on the Tar Heels unofficial depth chart this week, although head coach Bill Belichick did not name a starting quarterback for the game against Cal during his Monday press conference.

It's possible Belichick could make a change at the quarterback position and have Johnson start, but Lopez is available to play so a change seems unlikely.

Lopez, a transfer from South Alabama, has completed 62.7% of passes this season with three touchdown passes and three interceptions. Johnson has completed 63.9% of his passes with two touchdown passes and no interceptions.

Tar Heels cornerback Thaddeus Dixon, who started the first five games this season, has been ruled out of Friday’s game and represents the Tar Heels' most significant absence for Friday's game.

The most significant injury for Cal is running back Brando High Jr., who has been ruled out for Friday’s game. High is second on the team in rushing yards per game, averaging 19.7 yards per game. He has played in five games and has rushed for 98 yards and a 4.3 yards-per-carry average. He did not play in the Bears’ most recent game against Duke and had just one carry for 3 yards in the victory over Boston College the week before that.

High’s best game came in the opener against Oregon State, when he rushed for 41 yards on 10 carries and also had one reception for 5 yards. High has been used in short-yardage situations.

Kendrick Raphael is Cal’s starting running back and leading rusher, averaging 69.0 yards per game. He has run for 414 yards and an average of 4.3 yards per attempt. Rapahel has rushed for more than 100 yards twice this season and ran for 67 yards in the Bears’ most recent game, a 45-21 loss to Duke two weeks ago.

Cal’s third-leading rusher in terms of yards per game is LJ Johnson Jr., who is averaging 17.8 yards per game, and has totaled 107 yards in his six games played.

Both Cal and North Carolina are coming off a bye. The Bears lost to Duke in their most recent game while the Tar Heels are coming off consecutive losses to UCF and Clemson.

Cal starting safety Isaiah Crosby and Bears starting outside linebacker Ryan McCulloch were ruled out for the season several weeks ago.