Head coach Pat Narduzzi’s Pittsburgh Panthers have long been known for their tough brand of football.
But on Saturday night in Kenan Stadium, Mack Brown and the Tar Heels showed they can play that game, too.
Carolina erased a 10-point second half deficit to the defending ACC champions and inched ever closer to booking its ticket to Charlotte for the ACC Championship Game.
The 42-24 win snapped a brief two-game losing streak to the Panthers and moved UNC to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in conference play. After two overtime losses at Pittsburgh in the last three seasons left the Tar Heels with a sour taste in their mouths, Brown lauded his team’s toughness Saturday night.
“I’m proud of the mentality that this team has,” Brown said. “They don’t quit. They’re very resilient. They’re very positive with each other. And when somebody gets hurt, they pat them on the back and go to the next one.
“It started back in January when we weren’t pleased with the end of last year,” he continued. “We weren’t finishing some games, and they came up with, ‘We want to be passionate about what we do, we want to be accountable for each other and we want to be a tough team.”
To Brown’s point, the team’s toughness showed when multiple starters and rotation players went down with injuries. Running back Caleb Hood and linebacker Noah Taylor each left after the first quarter and did not return, and tight end Bryson Nesbit and defensive lineman Kaimon Rucker both also suffered injuries during the game.
Because of the injuries, Carolina was forced to rely on its youth, particularly on defense. Freshmen Travis Shaw, Malaki Hamrick, Will Hardy and RaRa Dillworth each saw critical snaps in the later portions of the game. Brown said that depth is something the team hasn’t had in the past.
“I’m so proud that our recruiting is finally kicking in,” Brown said. “Because some of the younger ones are stepping up and playing, and they’re playing older. We’ve been inconsistent, and with these guys getting hurt, they’ll have to play more. And also, there is a level of toughness that I haven’t seen with our team since we’ve been here.”
Rucker injured his shoulder during a game-changing fumble by Pitt running back Izzy Abanikanda in the fourth quarter. But the junior from Georgia still felt well enough to participate in the postgame press conference. Rucker emphasized the defense’s growth from the team’s loss against Notre Dame while also responding to comments made by the Panthers during the week.
Pitt LB Tylar Wiltz on #UNC’s Drake Maye:
“We are going to hit him… If he doesn’t get up, that’s not our problem.” 👀
Wiltz has not recorded a sack this season.https://t.co/48xNeO6jQ5
— Grant Hughes (@GrantHughesNC) October 28, 2022
“Just because we get down a little bit, that doesn’t mean we’re gonna be out for the count,” Rucker said. “That just shows how tough we are. We have a lot of teams that talk about how tough they are, how they want to take our quarterback out. But we just showed we don’t have to do all that talking. We don’t have to say what we’re gonna do to be tough. We’ll just show you.”
It’s unlikely, but Carolina could clinch the Coastal Division as soon as next weekend. That scenario would require a UNC win at Virginia and losses by Duke, Georgia Tech and Miami. Of course, if the Tar Heels simply keep winning, they won’t have to worry about what other teams do. And if there’s one thing that defines tough teams, it’s taking care of business.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati
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