UNC Tar Heels Finally Get a Win in the ACC

by Derrick Clyburn

The Tar Heels have dealt with adversity, bad breaks, injuries, poor play calls, mental errors, and the unfortunate bounce of the ball all season. This North Carolina football team could have packed it in for the season. Up in Pittsburgh on a cold Thursday night with not many fans in the stands, they could quit. But Fedora has kept this team playing hard and fighting. Their efforts finally paid off tonight with a hard-fought 34-31 win.

Game Stats

UNC Total Offense – 366 Yards

Rushing 96, Passing 270

UNC Passing: Nathan Elliott 20-31-235yds 2 TD’s

UNC Rushing: Jordon Brown 15-70yds

UNC Receiving: Anthony Ratliff-Williams 5-75 yds 1 TD, Josh Cabrera 2-44yds 1TD, Brandon Fritts 3-23yds 1 TD

Pitt Total Offense – 409 Yards

Pitt Passing: Ben Dinucci 11-17-142yds 

Pitt Rushing: Darrin Hall 23-121yds 4 TD’s, Ben Dinucci 14-83yds

Pitt Receiving: Maurice Ffrench 3-35yds

Bright Spots

Nathan Elliott 20-31-235yds 2 TD’s. He was steady and moved the ball effectively and had no turnovers.

Anthony Ratliff-Williams was a triple threat for the Tar Heels. He scored 1 TD passing, 1 TD receiving, and score 1 TD on a kickoff return.

The Defense has been more reliable keeping the Tar Heels in games for most of the season after week two.

Needs Work

The defense needs to wrap up consistently on every tackle. The offensive coordinator needs to be more creative on first down so that the offense is not always behind the sticks with 2nd and long.

Final Observations

It’s proud to see the fight in these young Tar Heels. They have had to deal with so much this season. Playing so many young players should pay dividends for next season. The coaches have seemed to keep them focused. The offense and the defense made plays when they were needed down the stretch. It will be a great plane ride home for a long weekend that they can now celebrate an ACC victory.