UNC Football Moments After – UNC vs. Pittsburgh 41-24 Win

UNC Tar Heels Football Team Overcomes a Slow Start and Pulls Away from the Panthers

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

The North Carolina football team faced off against Pittsburgh on Saturday night in their first true road game of the season. Pittsburgh got off to a good start with a long methodical 8-minute touchdown drive on their first position. Carolina would respond with a touchdown drive of their own on the very next possession.

Early on, Pittsburgh found some success in the running game, which helped lead them to their 14-7 lead in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the North Carolina defense finally settled in and made the right adjustments to put a stop to Pittsburgh’s run game. Once UNC neutralized Pittsburgh’s rushing attack, Pitt struggled to do anything offensively. This would lead to 21 unanswered points by the Tar Heels going into halftime including a 52-yard punt return touchdown by Alijah Huzzie.  

In the second half, Carolina continued to play well on both sides of the ball. The Tar Heels would score 14 quick points on their first two offensive drives after halftime to extend their lead to 17 and pretty much put the game out of reach. JJ Jones was Drake Maye’s favorite target in this game as he finished the game with 117 yards receiving and was a huge part of the Heels’ offensive success.

After the early offensive success Pittsburgh had in the first quarter, the North Carolina defense shut them down both in the run and the passing game, holding them to just 3 points for the remainder of the game. Drake Maye and Alijah Huzzie both had great games and were the players of the game for North Carolina. Drake Maye had 296 yards passing with one passing and rushing touchdown and Alijah Huzzie had two interceptions and a punt return touchdown, leading the way for the Heels’ 41-24 win over Pittsburgh. 

UNC Game Stats 

UNC Total Offense- 373 yards 

Rushing 77 Passing 296 

UNC Passing: Drake Maye 22-30-296 yards 1TD 

UNC Rushing: Omarion Hampton 18-66 yards 1TD 

UNC Receiving: JJ Jones 6-117 yards, John Copenhaver 2-53 yards, Kobe Paysour 3-39 yards 1TD 

Pittsburgh Total Offense- 307 yards 

Pittsburgh Passing: Phil Jurkovec 11-15-109 yards, Christian Veilleux 8-19-88 yards 2INTs 

Pittsburgh Rushing: Rodney Hammond 14-83 yards 1TD 

Pittsburgh Receiving: Gavin Bartholomew 8-90 yards 

UNC Bright Spots 

Alijah Huzzie had two interceptions and a 52-yard punt return touchdown. 

Drake Maye threw for 296 yards and one touchdown. He also had one rushing touchdown. 

JJ Jones had 6 catches for 117 yards 

Kobe Paysour had 3 catches for 39 yards and one touchdown. 

Omarion Hampton had 18 carries for 66 yards and one touchdown. 

Kaimon Rucker led the team in tackles with 7 and had two sacks. 

Needs Work 

The Secondary needs to do a better job of being in a position to make pass breakups. Too many times they are entirely too far off the receiver and allow easy catches for the opponents. 

The offensive line must do a better job of run blocking. They have shown the ability to run block well in previous games but must show consistency in that area from game to game. This will allow the offense to have a balanced attack and not become one-dimensional, which will make it harder for opposing defenses to stop them. 

Final Observations 

The North Carolina football team moves to 4-0 on the season. This is the first time the Heels have been 4-0 to start a season since 1997.  The Heels had the most complete game against Pittsburgh tonight. The Carolina offense was explosive and looks like they are starting to hit their stride as a unit, scoring on 7 of their first eight drives before becoming conservative after the game was out of reach.

After struggling early and allowing two touchdowns on Pittsburgh’s first two offense drives, the defense made the proper adjustments and held them to just three points for the remainder of the game. That is a major improvement from last year by the defense when they previously used to wait until halftime to make major adjustments. Special teams also had an impact on the game with a major spark from Alijah Huzzie in the return game. North Carolina has gotten off to a great start and is moving in the right direction to achieve their goals this season. The Tar Heels are in a good spot going into their bye week and look to continue that momentum going into their game against Syracuse on October 7.