Carolina couldn’t stop the Pittsburgh offense on Saturday at Kenan Stadium, as the Tar Heels allowed more than 500 total yards in a 34-24 loss. It’s UNC’s third straight loss on the season.

“Pitt’s really a good team. We knew that,” said head coach Mack Brown. “They’ve always had good skill. They play good defense. They’re always aggressive.”

Panther quarterback Eli Holstein threw for 381 yards and rushed for 76 more, accounting for all four of Pittsburgh’s touchdowns.

“I think he’s really good,” Brown said of Holstein. “He’s as good as any quarterback I’ve seen this year. And we thought that coming in. We were just hoping the young guy might throw us some balls.”

Carolina did pounce on one Holstein mistake, as Kaleb Cost intercepted a pass in the red zone and returned it 84 yards for a touchdown. It was UNC’s longest interception return since 2014, and its first interception returned for a touchdown since 2019.

Unfortunately for the Tar Heels, standout defensive plays were few and far between against a Pitt offense which converted nine of its 16 third-down attempts and its only fourth-down attempt.

“We had our opportunities to get done what we needed to get done,” Brown said.

UNC’s offense couldn’t keep pace, as the Panthers stopped Carolina on a 4th-and-1 run by Omarion Hampton at the Pittsburgh 8-yard line midway through the fourth quarter with the visitors leading 31-24. Pitt bled more than seven minutes off the clock on its ensuing drive, kicking a field goal to take a 10-point lead with less than three minutes remaining. The Tar Heels wouldn’t score again.

“That was just a devastating one,” said quarterback Jacolby Criswell, who threw for 269 yards and a touchdown. “They just scored, so you have to score now. And we didn’t execute.”

Overall, Carolina went for it on six fourth downs, converting its first two and missing on its last four. That includes a 4th-and-2 from the Pittsburgh nine-yard line when Brown declined to attempt a field goal. Criswell threw an incompletion to stall the drive, which had lasted 19 plays and more than nine minutes on the clock. Pittsburgh scored on its next possession.

“We didn’t think we were gonna stop them very well,” said Brown, “so we made a conscious decision going in: we need to score touchdowns. We couldn’t be kicking field goals.”

Offensive highlights for Carolina included another 100-yard day for Hampton, who finished with 106 yards and a touchdown on the ground. In the process, he tied UNC legends Amos Lawrence and Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice for ninth place on the school leaderboard with his 28th rushing score. Through the air, receiver Nate McCollum reeled in 10 of Criswell’s 24 completions for 128 yards. John Copenhaver caught Criswell’s only touchdown.

This is the first time UNC has lost three straight regular-season games since the 2019 season. Carolina will be back in action at Kenan Stadium when it hosts Georgia Tech next Saturday at 12 p.m.

 

Featured image via Associated Press/Chris Seward

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