Five days after a miracle comeback took down a ranked foe, the UNC football team was in the mood for an encore in the Steel City. After trailing 23-7 in the second quarter to No. 21 Pittsburgh, the Carolina defense completely locked down senior quarterback Kenny Pickett and the Panthers, allowing Sam Howell and the offense to methodically chip away at the deficit.
Antoine Green’s second touchdown catch of the night got the Tar Heels a little bit closer in the third quarter, and a touchdown run from Howell sliced the lead to 23-20 with 5:34 remaining in the game.
The defense continued to shine on the next possession, with linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel picking off Pickett to set up Carolina with outstanding field position. The Tar Heels quickly drove the ball to Pitt’s 2-yard line as the clock ticked under two minutes remaining, but miscues and penalties stalled the drive in its tracks. UNC had to kick a game-tying field goal, and though the defense forced overtime, Pitt had dodged a major bullet.
The Panthers scored a touchdown on their overtime possession, and the skies promptly opened up to greet the Carolina offense. In a pouring rain, Howell and the Tar Heels only went backward, failing to convert a 4th-and-11 to fall to the Panthers in heartbreaking fashion, 30-23.
“Proud of the effort of the kids overall,” Brown told reporters after the game. “We put ourselves in a position to win in the fourth quarter and just didn’t get it done. Second half, we played as good [on] defense as we’ve played all year. Had our chances, but the defense gave us a chance. The offense was awful in the first half. As bad as I’ve ever seen.”
“I don’t know why we can’t put a whole game together and have both sides play well,” he added.
It’s hard to imagine Carolina getting off to a worse start than they did to begin the game. Pittsburgh put up 17 points in the first 15 minutes, while UNC’s offense was stuck in reverse, managing only 12 yards of offense and one first down in the first quarter.
“Being with the guys on this team, playing ball with them for so long, being down 17-0 in the first quarter, nobody bats an eye,” Gemmel said. “Guys were ready to continue to fight, and you saw it with our guys. We fought until the very end.”
Carolina cut the deficit to 17-7 with a long touchdown pass from Howell to Green, but Pittsburgh responded on its very next possession with a 4-play, 77-yard touchdown drive to push the lead right back to 23-7. It remained that way until halftime and through a good portion of the third quarter, before Howell’s second touchdown pass to Green started the UNC rally.
Several Pittsburgh errors allowed the Tar Heels to hang around, including two missed field goals and a missed extra point, but it was Carolina’s mistakes which loomed large. A false start on lineman Joshua Ezeudu pushed the ball back five yards on 2nd-and-goal during UNC’s final possession in regulation. The Tar Heels couldn’t score a touchdown and settled for the field goal on 4th-and-3, a decision which Brown said he regretted afterward.
“I should’ve gone for the 4th-and-3 at the end,” he said. “Because the way it ended up, the rain was really hard, and put us in an awful position in overtime. You’re on the road. The reason I didn’t do it, I got talked out of it. But also, we hadn’t made 4th down [earlier in the game]. But still, looking back, I would’ve been better off going for the 4th down at that point.”
Thursday night’s game marked the 10th straight in the UNC-Pitt series which has been decided by one possession. It also eerily resembled the last meeting between the two schools: a 2019 overtime victory for Pitt at home in which they staved off a UNC comeback. This is the first time Pitt has ever won two straight games against the Tar Heels.
Carolina now sits at 5-5, needing one more win to secure bowl eligibility for the third straight season. As a silver lining, Brown noted the team has markedly improved from August, but still couldn’t shake off the disappointment of another winnable game gone by the wayside.
“We’re a much better football team than we were when the season started,” he said. “It’s not even close… Tonight, they sure didn’t quit. Even though the offense [wasn’t] playing well, they played hard. So, playing three ranked teams in 13 days, two of them on the road, and had a chance to win all three games, it’s disappointing that we only won one.”
Up Next
UNC will close out its home schedule on Saturday, November 20 against Wofford.
Game Notes
- Sam Howell has thrown a touchdown pass in all 35 games he’s played for Carolina.
- UNC is just 4-8 all-time in overtime games.
- The Tar Heels are 9-11 all-time in Thursday night games. 18 of those games have been played on the road.
- Carolina has alternated wins and losses ever since beating Virginia in Week 3 to improve to 2-1.
Featured image via Associated Press/Gerry Broome
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