Midway through the 2015 college football season, the ACC Coastal division is still up for grabs.

On Thursday night the Tar Heels travel to take on the No. 23 Pittsburgh Panthers for an important game between two of the division’s three remaining undefeated teams in conference play.

Both the Tar Heels and the Panthers come into this matchup with records of 6-1 overall, however Pittsburgh sits half a game ahead of UNC and Duke in the conference standings at 4-0, instead of 3-0.

Despite losing star tailback James Conner to a knee injury early in the season the Panthers have found another standout performer to lead them to this point—6-foot-2 junior receiver Tyler Boyd, a man Tar Heels head coach Larry Fedora says will present a unique challenge to UNC’s much-improved secondary.

Tyler Boyd has presented many problems for opposing defenses this season.(Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)

Tyler Boyd has helped Pittsburgh by presenting many problems for opposing defenses this season. (Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)

“[Boyd’s] a tremendous player,” Fedora said after practice on Tuesday. “I mean, they put him in the backfield, they move him all over the place. He’s a guy they’re gonna get the ball to, there’s no doubt about it.”

Through seven games Boyd has already caught 53 passes for 489 yards and four touchdowns. No other player in the ACC has more than 41 receptions, and only one—Virginia Tech’s Isaiah Ford–has more yards.

But for senior cornerback Malik Simmons and the rest of the Tar Heels pass defense, a group ranked second nationally in yards allowed, stopping Boyd will come down to one thing.

“It’s really just lining up with him to tell you the truth,” Simmons said. “Just finding him, seeing where he is—because that’ll dictate what they wanna do. They usually wanna go to him nine times out of 10, throwing, so we just gotta find him, play into our technique and we’ll be fine.”

The Tar Heels will finally have their full stable of cornerbacks for this game, with the return of sophomore MJ Stewart, who was suspended along with freshman Mike Hughes for their roles in an incident back on October 4th. This after Simmons, who had two interceptions last week, was forced to sit out the season’s first two games for a pair of misdemeanor charges during the summer.

Despite the off-field troubles, defensive coordinator Gene Chizik is pleased with the way his guys have responded on the field.

“I’m very proud of our secondary,” Chizik said. “I think they come to work every day with the intent to improve. I think it’s important to those guys to play well. They study the game, they’re very attentive, and they’re very much in tune to what we’re asking them to do.

“They’re not perfect, like none of us are–but I’m very proud with the way, collectively, they’ve been playing,” he added.

Tar Heels vs Cavaliers

Cornerback Brian Walker (5) has helped the secondary stay afloat despite three suspensions this season. (Photo via Smith Cameron Photography)

UNC has built a strong identity as an offensive team under Fedora, but it was Chizik’s defense that created five turnovers last week against Virginia to help win the game while the offense struggled to score points.

Redshirt freshman Robert Dinkins, a Tar Heel defensive end, says he’d be just fine if the same thing happened this week against head coach Pat Narduzzi and his hard-nosed Pittsburgh team.

“It feels great to be able to tell your brothers on offense that ‘Look you guys do whatever you can,’” Dinkins said. “’Even if y’all just score one field goal that’s gonna be enough for us. We just gonna make sure they don’t score as many points as y’all do.’”

The game also gives the Tar Heels another shot to prove themselves in front of a Thursday night national audience after coming up short in their first game of the year against South Carolina. On top of that, they also get a shot to prove the makers of the top 25 polls wrong for again leaving them unranked—the only one-loss team from a Power 5 conference to earn that honor.

“You can’t ignore us,” Dinkins said about what this game will show the nation. “We’re not gonna be ignored. We’re not gonna let you ignore us.

“We just gonna keep putting wins up on the board. On ESPN, you’ll see us. [If we get] the wins, eventually [the poll-makers] are gonna have to put us in there.”

Broadcast Information:

The game will be broadcast live on WCHL’s airwaves, and will be televised on ESPN with kickoff set for 7 p.m.

Game Notes:

  • The UNC coaching staff has said that the cornerbacks will be used in a rotation system with Stewart’s return.
  • In its seven games, the Tar Heels defense has allowed just 45 points in the second half.
  • Senior quarterback Marquise Williams needs three touchdowns to tie Darian Durant for the school record in touchdowns accounted for, passing, rushing, or receiving (79).
  • Quinshad Davis, also a senior, is one catch shy from tying Hakeem Nicks for the school record for receptions (181).