UNC Tar Heels Football Team Makes a Statement in the Comeback Win Over Pittsburgh

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

The North Carolina football team faced off against Pittsburgh on Saturday night as they looked to remain unbeaten in conference play. Pittsburgh got off to a good start scoring on their opening drive and forcing a three-and-out on North Carolina’s first offensive possession. UNC responded with a three-and-out and a touchdown drive of their own to tie the game at 7.

In the first two series of the second quarter, Pittsburgh scored 10 unanswered points as the Tar Heels’ defense couldn’t stop the Pittsburgh running game and play-action shots down the field. This would make the game 17-7 before the Tar Heels drove the field for a touchdown late in the second quarter.

In the second half, Pittsburgh came out and got a stop followed by a touchdown drive to put them up 10. However, that would be the last time Pittsburgh would score for the remainder of the game. The Tar Heels flipped a switch and would go on to score 28 unanswered points. The Carolina defense finally started to get pressure on the Pittsburgh quarterback Kedon Slovis and blew up the Panthers’ running game, completely changing the game.

Meanwhile, the North Carolina passing game started to get going. Drake Maye was spreading the ball to several receivers and completely dissected the Pittsburgh secondary, leading to four straight touchdown drives after being down 10. Drake Maye finished the game with 388 yards passing and five passing touchdowns.

Antoine Greene and Josh Downs were tremendous as they couldn’t be stopped with both of them having over 100 yards receiving and two touchdowns. North Carolina blitzed Pittsburgh 28-0 over the final 25 minutes of the game, completely dominating them in the second half. The Tar Heels get their 7th win of the season as they remain unbeaten in conference play and #1 in the ACC Coastal division.

UNC Game Stats

UNC Total Offense– 474 yards

Rushing 86 Passing 388

UNC Passing: Drake Maye 34-44-388 yards 5TDs

UNC Rushing: Drake Maye 14-61 yards, Elijah Green 8-18 yards 1TD

UNC Receiving: Antoine Green 10-180 yards 2TDs, Josh Downs 11-102 yards 2TDs, Kobe Paysour 1-1 yard 1TD

Pittsburgh Total Offense– 367 yards

Pittsburgh Passing: Kedon Slovis 14-31 236 yards

Pittsburgh Rushing: Israel Abanikanda 26-127 yards 3TDs

Pittsburgh Receiving: Jared Wayne 7-161 yards, Bub Means 3-53 yards

UNC Bright Spots

Drake Maye threw for 388 yards and five touchdowns.

Josh Downs had 11 catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns.

Antoine Green had 10 catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns.

Elijah Green had 8 carries for 18 yards and one touchdown.

Cedric Gray led the team in tackles with 9.

Needs Work

The defensive line needs to do a better job of getting pressure on the quarterback. They are giving the opposing quarterback too much time in the pocket and are getting torched in the passing game as a result.

The secondary is the Achilles heel of the defense and the main reason they struggle as a unit at times. They still find themselves out of position on too many plays and have too many blown assignments and coverages.

Offensively, Phil Longo needs to learn to not overthink his play-calling. His play-calling has put the Tar Heels behind the sticks and makes it too difficult for the offense to be successful consistently.

Final Observations

The Tar Heels move to 7-1 on the season and 4-0 in the ACC. The Heels also remain atop the Coastal division and are 2 games ahead of the second-place team. UNC continues to find ways to win. They were down 10 but made plays on both offense and defense to gain control of the game. The secondary still remains a concern for the Heels, but the defense as a whole made enough winning plays in the second half of games in combination with the explosive offense to pull out wins since conference play has started. Next up is Virginia on Saturday, November 5 at 12 noon.