Pitt’s rushing offense has been an absolute juggernaut, piling up 717 yards through three games.
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It’s the ACC opener for North Carolina on Saturday, when the Tar Heels host the Pitt Panthers at Kenan Stadium. In his last two games alone, Trubisky has thrown for 885 yards with an 8/0 TD/INT ratio.
“After a loss last week, I think we respond well to adversity”, Panthers defensive end Ejuan Price said, “and we’re not thinking so much about redemption but about getting on the track”.
Pitt tries to get back on track today and it won’t be easy with another hard opponent.
Pitt had a 13-point lead with 324 seconds left.
After an afternoon of mostly frustration, UNC’s defense did its part to prompt the comeback by forcing Pittsburgh’s offense to punt after three downs on consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter.
The Tar Heels are favored by seven points but this one could be a little closer because of the Panthers’ ability to put points on the board. UNC put together a quick drive to cut the halftime score to 19-16 on kicker Nick Weiler’s 34-yard field goal.
Four Tar Heels scored, including twin brothers Tucker and Walker Hume, who each found the net in the second half. On the following offensive drive, the Panthers staged a showcase for running back Chawntez Moss.
The run game didn’t do a ton in this game, running for just 18 total yards. Those defensive issues – the Tar Heels allowed 421 yards to Pitt – figure to resurface again, especially with Justin Fuente’s Hokies scoring 103 points the last two games, and the Hurricanes’ Brad Kaaya completing a career-best 65.8 percent of his passes under Mark Richt.
Conner isn’t the only guy who can run on this Pitt team. Henderson is a do everything player who also leads the country in kickoff returns at almost 41 yards per return and is racking up almost 200 all-purpose yards per game.
Pitt rushed for 281 yards using 10 different ball carriers, and won the possession battle by 22 minutes but the defense could not come up with the big stop when it was needed. Quarterback Nathan Peterman has thrown for 503 yards on 44 completions, with tight end Scott Orndoff (10 catches, 88 yards, one TD), wideout Quadree Henderson (nine, 113, one) and Conner (nine, 105, two) his favorite targets. If all three remain out, the Pittsburgh ground game could have a field day (remember Georgia’s 289 yards, 5.6 ypc effort in Week 1). Although UNC is 2-1 like last season, their defensive performance thus far spells trouble for when they face stronger competition. Courtesy of UNC Athletics.
He’s the Tar Heels’ senior receiver and, at 6 feet 5, their tallest receiver.
But then UNC took over.
And once again, it was Switzer, who hauled in a 15-yard pass to extend the game. Three times, he converted fourth-and-long plays to keep the drive alive, twice hitting Switzer for the conversion.
Offensively, North Carolina football is averaging 294.3 yards in passing and 176.3 in rushing, and 42.7 points per game.
The Tar Heels play two goalkeepers-starter Shannon Johnson and Alex Halpin-who split time nearly evenly and have allowed just nine goals combined this season, though Johnson has been credited with all six wins and Halpin with both of the teams’ losses.
Aside from the investigation, Williams has had to fight against negative recruiting that he holds players back so they won’t leave school too early and, even worse, that he fails to develop them for the National Basketball Association.
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Right around 7 p.m., I changed the channel back to this game.
