UNC Football Looking To Match Pitt’s Physicality Saturday

The 4-5 North Carolina football team desperately needs a Homecoming win against the 4-5 Pittsburgh Panthers Saturday. The 12:30 p.m. kickoff inside Kenan Stadium will feature one of the nation’s premier running backs, and he’s not playing for the Tar Heels.

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The Panthers are playing an old-school brand of power football that Pittsburgh fans enjoy and opposing ACC defenses lament.

UNC head coach Larry Fedora puts it bluntly, saying the Tar Heels have two choices this weekend – man up or take a beating.

“You have to come with a mentality that you’re going to match the physicality. If you don’t, you’re going to get embarrassed,” Coach Fedora says.

Sophomore wide receiver Ryan Switzer says the five losses have been hard to swallow, but the upperclassmen leadership is holding the team together with the stretch run of the season to come.

“It’s hard to stay positive when you have five losses. But that’s where the seniors and leaders on this team come into play. That’s how they earn their titles as leaders when we’re struggling. It’s our job as a team to stay positive. We have three big games left to finish the season,” Switzer says.

The star attraction for the Panthers is running back James Conner, who’s already racked up over 1,300 yards on the ground this year.

Coach Fedora says the Panther offense can wear out opposing defenses and will offer a severe challenge to the struggling Tar Heel unit.

“He’s [Conner] a big 6’ 2”, 250-pound guy that can go. They lead him with a 270-pound fullback and are really big up front. The quarterback is doing a nice job and then you’ve got the [Tyler] Boyd kid that makes all kinds of plays out at wide receiver for them. We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Coach Fedora says.

Coach Fedora is under no illusions. He doesn’t expect his defense to completely shut down a runner as talented as Conner, but he says the Tar Heels will have to limit his damage and come up big on third downs.

“I don’t know if you can go into the game and say you’re going to stop the run. We have to control the run. We have to be effective, force them into third downs and then get off the field on third down,” Coach Fedora says.

The Kenan scoreboard operators best be prepared for some fireworks Saturday.

Former Panther quarterback and current color analyst for Pitt radio Pat Bostick says although the game will feature two strong offenses, they both go about their business in very different ways.

“It’s two different styles. Carolina is going to run plays at a fever pace. They want to run fast. They want to run 75-80 plays a game and possess the ball for less than 25 minutes. Pitt’s going to want to do the opposite by running the football and score points running the football. The key for both of them is protecting the ball,” Bostick says.

Switzer, for one, recognizes the urgency surrounding this time of year. He says the Tar Heels need to take full advantage of each play on the football field with the finish line looming large.

“We don’t get to get these games back. It’s important for us to go into the next three games with that mindset. I feel like that will help us all as a team. You’re definitely not promised another game. We need to make sure that we don’t take these last few for granted and play with everything we have,” Switzer says.

Against a rugged Panther football team that likes to use ball control to eat up the clock with long, sustained drives, Coach Fedora says junior quarterback Marquise Williams and company must be efficient on offense to emerge victorious.

“They’re going to get in their base fronts and play football. They’re going be very sound, tackle well and be where they’re supposed to be. They’re going to make you beat them. We have to execute on offense to be able to do it. We have to get back to playing football the way we play it,” Coach Fedora says.

The Tar Heels lead the all-time series against the Panthers on the gridiron by a 5-3 margin and snagged the most recent meeting in 2013 – a 34-27 victory spurred on by a pair of Switzer punt returns that went the distance.

With both squads needing to win two of their final three games to qualify for the postseason, the stakes will be high Saturday afternoon in Kenan Stadium.