The North Carolina football team rallied past Pittsburgh 40-35 Saturday afternoon thanks to a four-touchdown performance from quarterback Marquise Williams that electrified the Kenan Stadium crowd and evened the Tar Heels’ record at 5-5 overall and 3-3 in ACC play.
With the loss, the Panthers dropped to 4-6 on the year and 2-4 in conference play.
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Williams’ key fourth-down conversion kept the final drive alive for the Tar Heels and allowed for T.J. Logan to punch the ball in the end zone for the go-ahead score with 50 ticks remaining on the clock.
The win was absolutely vital for Carolina’s postseason chances. UNC head coach Fedora says he was happy with the perseverance of his team Saturday afternoon.
“We had a lot of guys who were very resilient and persevered when things didn’t look good. We were really positive all the time on the sideline with each other. No matter what mistakes were made, there was a lot of encouragement. They just kept playing. We talked about it during the week […] that if we stay together, we’ll be all right. We found a way to get the win,” Coach Fedora says.
In total, Williams tallied 276 yards and one touchdown through the air and racked up 122 yards on the ground with three scores. Logan led all UNC running backs with 92 yards and a touchdown that sealed the victory.
Pitt’s prolific running back James Conner didn’t disappoint. The sophomore churned out 220 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead the Panther offensive attack.
James Conner rumbles ahead (Post-gazette.com)
The Panthers shot out to a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to a pair of Conner touchdown runs, one for 56 yards and another from 16 yards out.
From there, the Tar Heels answered. A 23-yard dash on a keeper by Williams cut the deficit down to 14-7 with 12:03 on the second quarter clock.
But Pitt responded right back with a 50-yard touchdown pass from Chad Voytik to Tyler Boyd to extend their edge out to 21-7 with 6:57 left in the half.
A late scoring drive that served as the longest of UNC’s season, ended with a 2-yard touchdown by Williams around the end. But a failed two-point conversion attempt had the halftime scoreboard reading 21-13 in favor of the visitors from Pittsburgh.
In the second half, a 63-yard connection from Williams to Switzer narrowed the gap to a mere two points with 13:48 in the third quarter.
The Tar Heels got things clicking on offense, finding rhythm and distributing the ball effectively in a typically up-tempo manner.
But with 3:33 left in the game, Conner dashed into the end zone for his fourth score and gave his Panthers the 35-34 edge.
Marquise Williams and Ryan Switzer share a call with the coaching staff. (Elliott Rubin)
As it turns out, there was far too much time on the clock. UNC answered the bell with a gutsy drive that included a fourth down conversion from Williams and ultimately ended with the game-winning Logan rushing touchdown that sealed the 40-35 win.
Star signal caller Williams says he had no doubts about his ability to come up with the goods in his team’s final drive.
“If a team goes down to score and we have maybe three minutes to go, I go down to the right far end zone, stand by myself and get my thoughts together. I tell myself that I practice this every Wednesday. I told myself I’m going to win this two-minute drill for the team. It felt good,” Williams says.
Next up for the Tar Heels comes a short week of practice before a nationally-televised contest against 8-2 rival Duke Thursday night at Wallace Wade Stadium.
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