UNC Football Moments After – UNC vs. Pittsburgh 34-24 Loss
UNC Tar Heels Football Team Continues to Struggle and Falls to the Panthers
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
After two dispiriting losses the last couple of weeks, the North Carolina football team looked to get back in the winning column against Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon. Early on, there wasn’t much offense from either team. The only touchdown in the first quarter came from a Kaleb Cost interception that was returned for a touchdown. This was a huge play for the Tar Heels to give them their first lead of the game and some early momentum. After scoring only three points in the second half last week against Duke, UNC’s offense continued to struggle to put points on the board this week. When Carolina did put together good drives on offense and got into the red zone, they became so desperate for touchdowns that they went for it on fourth down but failed to get any points. It was a head-scratching decision to go for it on fourth down so early in the game and it would sure cost them later if the game was close.
Defensively, the Heels were getting completely torched against Pittsburgh’s passing attack due to blown coverages, missed assignments, and just not making any plays on the ball in the air. North Carolina’s poor secondary play has been a trend for weeks and their opponents have taken full advantage of it. Pittsburgh made sure to exploit this major weakness for UNC and had over 250 passing yards in the first half alone. 14 of their 17 first-half points came off two passing touchdowns. Even with the success Pittsburgh had offensively, the game was still tied 17-17 going into halftime. The Tar Heels had some success on offense in the first half with a good balance in the run and passing game with over 200 total yard on offense and three of their five offensive drives finishing in the red zone, but only one drive finished with a touchdown.
To start the second half, North Carolina’s offense would drive right down the field, but once again would finish the drive with no points after going for it on fourth instead of kicking the field goal. At this point in the game, there were six points left on the board by the Tar Heels. The decisions to go for it on fourth down were just not smart decisions by the coaching staff, especially with how much success the Pittsburgh offense was having against the Tar Heels defense. The Pittsburgh passing attack looked unstoppable in this game and the UNC defensive players could never disrupt anything they were doing. Carolina was not getting any pressure on the quarterback or making any plays in the backfield and failed to get off the field on third downs. Pittsburgh receivers were running all over the field wide-open due to several blown coverages and assignments by the Heels’ secondary throughout the game. The combination of all those things is just a recipe for a disaster for any defense.
For a couple of possessions in the game, Pittsburgh and Carolina were going back and forth scoring touchdowns as neither team’s offense could be stopped. The difference in the game was the Tar Heels’ multiple decisions to go for it on fourth down instead of taking the field goal and Pittsburgh’s ability to get stops in the red zone on third and fourth downs. North Carolina went 0-4 on fourth downs in their own red zone. That left 12 points on the board by the Tar Heels in a game where Pittsburgh never led by more than 10 points. The inability to finish drives offensively and stop Pittsburgh’s offense ultimately cost the Heels this game and gave them their third loss of the season. This was the first time since 2019 that UNC has lost three straight regular season games. North Carolina surrendered over 500 yards of total offense to Pittsburgh, 380 of those yards came through the air, and for the second straight week, the Heels allowed a running back to have over 200 yards of total offense. This loss leaves Carolina searching for answers as they fall to 3-3 on the season.
UNC Game Stats
UNC Total Offense- 416 yards
Rushing 269 Passing 147
UNC Passing: Jacolby Criswell 24/45 269 yards 1TD
UNC Rushing: Omarion Hampton 23-106 yards 1TD
UNC Receiving: Nate McCollum 10-128 yards, John Copenhaver 4-32 yards 1TD
Pittsburgh Total Offense- 520 yards
Pittsburgh Passing: Eli Holstein 25/42 381 yards 3 TDs 1INT
Pittsburgh Rushing: Eli Holstein 10-76 yards 1TD, Desmond Reid 18-55 yards
Pittsburgh Receiving: Desmond Reid 11-155 yards 1TD, Konata Mumpfield 3-111 yards, Censere Lee 4-38 yards 1TD, Raphael Williams Jr. 2-34 yards 1TD
UNC Bright Spots
Jacolby Criswell threw for 269 yards and one touchdown.
Omarion Hampton had 23 carries for 106 yards.
Nate McCollum had 10 catches for 128 yards
John Copenhaver had 4 catches for 32 yards and one touchdown.
Kaleb Cost recorded his first pick 6 of the season.
Needs Work
The passing defense must be better. Their performance throughout the course of the season has been awful. They stay out of position, blowing coverages and assignments allowing receivers to be wide open for easy catches, and are not making plays when the ball is in the air in their area. They have been the weakest link on an overall poor defense in a season we thought they would be so much better. Also, the defensive line must be better at rushing the passer and making plays in the backfield. They also need to be more disciplined. Because of their alignment on defense and their poor decision-making to take bad angles, it allows opponents to have more explosive plays. This must be addressed. Defensive coordinator Geoff Collins needs to go back to being more aggressive defensively and putting these players in a position to disrupt and wreak havoc on these offenses. If not, these offenses will continue to torch them.
The coaching staff has to be better making decision in critical situations. They went for it on fourth down instead of taking field goals four different times in this game when the defense was struggling to stop the opposing offense. That is just poor decision-making when the team doesn’t have any room for error. The coaches need to make sure every decision they are making is putting their team in a better position to win not the opposite.
Offensive coordinator Chip Lindsay needs to do a better job of finding ways to counter the pressures and blitzes from opposing defenses with his play-calling. Teams start bringing pressure and it completely wrecks the offense. He also needs to do better with his play calling in critical situations on third and fourth downs. They cannot afford to have bad play calls in those situations.
The offensive line must be better in pass protection. They have done a terrible job against the blitz and are allowing free runners to hit the quarterback on multiple occasions during the game. They must do better with identifying blitzes, and the coaching staff needs to have more 6 or 7-man protections to help out and implement more plays that will get the ball out of the quarterback’s hands quicker in those situations.
Final Observations
North Carolina falls to 3-3 on the season and is now on a three-game losing streak. This season might be spiraling out of control for the Tar Heels and their coaching staff. North Carolina has yet to put a complete game together where all phases play well in the same game. The coaching staff is not helping the team either with their decision-making in critical situations. The Tar Heels left 12 points on the board in this game after deciding to go for it on fourth downs in the red zone instead of taking field goals. That is totally unacceptable and was a big reason the Tar Heels were not in a better position to win this game. North Carolina continues to search for an identity for this team.
Defensively, they look lost especially in passing-down situations. The players are out of position too often on defense and makes us wonder what they are doing during the week to prepare for these games. The North Carolina defense has nothing they hang their hat on. They don’t get enough pressure on the quarterback or wreak havoc in the backfield and allow receivers to be wide-open all over the field giving quarterbacks easy throws. Changes must be made. They need to become more aggressive defensively up front and play more man-to-man coverage on the back end because when they drop back in coverage, they look like they have no idea what they’re doing. Opposing offenses are taking full advantage of that and the schedule after this week doesn’t get any easier.
Offensively, the Tar Heels are solid. They need to run the ball a little more often and run some easier pass concepts to make Jacolby Criswell more comfortable and job easier. However, there are some things that are still plaguing this offense and keeping it from going to another level. Number one is the offensive line play against the blitz in passing situations and the run blocking. Defensive players are running free in the backfield to wreak havoc too often on run downs and obvious passing downs and it needs to be addressed immediately. Mack Brown and his coaching staff have their work cut out for them to turn this season around. They are on the extreme hot seat right now with this team not nearly playing up to their standards and for the third straight season underperforming as a team. Their future as coaches of this football program is certainly in jeopardy. Next up is Georgia Tech next Saturday at 12 Noon on the CW.