UNC Tar Heels Football Team Make a Great Comeback But Falls Short in Overtime

by Derrick Clyburn

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The North Carolina football team started the game slowly sputtering on offense and allowing Pittsburgh to do whatever they wanted. This led to 17 unanswered points in the first quarter.

Then the Tar Heels defense tighten up and North Carolina went on a 23-6 run for the rest of regulation. They had a chance to take the lead and put the game away down 3 points and first and goal on the three-yard line. However, UNC had two false starts to end the series and they had to settle for a field goal to tie the game with one minute left in the game. The game went into overtime.

Pittsburgh scored a touchdown on their first drive. Then the bottom drop out of the sky and it was a monsoon during the Tar Heels possession. It was raining so hard that North Carolina couldn’t make a play and Sam Howell threw a desperation pass under duress that was intercepted to end the game.

UNC Game Stats 

UNC Total Offense- 384 yards  

Rushing 88 Passing 296 

UNC Passing: Sam Howell 22-32-296 yds 2TDs 1 INT

UNC Rushing: Ty Chandler 14-42 yds, Sam Howell 17-28 yds 1TD 

UNC Receiving: Josh Downs 8-95 yds, Antoine Green 3-108 yds 2TDs 

PittTotal Offense- 441 yards 

Pitt Passing: Kenny Pickett 25-43 346yds 3TDs 1 INT 

Pitt Rushing: Israel Abanikanda 12-63 yds,

Pitt Receiving: Jared Wayne 3-70 yds 1TD, Lucas Krull 4-51yds 1TD 

UNC Bright Spots 

Sam Howell threw for 296 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also had 17 carries for 28 yards and one touchdown.  

Antoine Green had 3 receptions for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns. 

Josh Downs had 8 receptions for 95 yards.

Needs Work 

Defensive Coordinator Jay Bateman needs to do a better job of having his players prepared to play at the beginning of the game. They allowed Pittsburgh to score 17 points in the first quarter before they settled down to play defense.

Offensive Coordinator Phil Longo needs to call better plays to start the game. He is too predictable. They need to call more quick-hitting plays to get the ball out of Sam Howell’s hands.

The offensive line has to play better as a unit. They miss too many blocks and don’t stay on blocks until the whistle blows.

The Tar Heels also need to cut down on their penalties and be more disciplined. They had 12 penalties for over 105 yards in today’s game. 

Final Observations 

The Tar Heels had their chances to win the game. Mack Brown should have kicked the extra point in the 3rd quarter rather than going for two, which came back to haunt them. They would have won in regulation with the field goal that made with one minute left in regulation.

The defense played their best game of the season after the first quarter. They held Pittsburgh to 6 points for the rest of the game. They gave North Carolina opportunities to win the game. They were able to get consistent pressure on the quarterback which shows that they are improving.

North Carolina is starting to grow up as a team. They just can’t keep spotting teams 17 plus points. Next up is Wofford on next Saturday.