The 23rd ranked Pitt Panthers football team entered Thursday night’s primetime showdown against North Carolina looking to show the nation that they have arrived.
Those plans are on hold for just a little bit longer.
While the Panthers have been able to pull out some fourth-quarter heroics so far this season, it wasn’t meant to be as Pitt didn’t have enough magic in their hat, falling 26-19.
Pitt (6-2, 4-1 ACC), who struggled on both sides of the ball in the first half and trailed for most of the night, played better in the second half and pulled within a touchdown when quarterback Nate Peterman hit Scott Orndoff with a six-yard touchdown pass with just 46 seconds remaining.
But there was no magic to be found as North Carolina (7-1, 4-0) recovered Chris Blewitt’s onside kick attempt and the Panthers lost in ACC play for the first time on the season.
“We have to play great for 60 minutes,” said Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi. “We started slow and played better in the second half. Two weeks in a row I haven’t been happy with the way we played in the first half.”
The Panthers came out sluggish on both sides of the ball and ultimately dug themselves too big of a hole to crawl out of against a very talented North Carolina team.
Things that helped Pitt start the season 6-1 went missing, especially the pass rush as the Tar Heels had their way with the Pitt defense. The inability to get pressure on North Carolina quarterback Marquise Williams proved costly as Panthers’ corners Lafayette Pitts and Avonte Maddox struggled at times.
Pitt started the game exactly according to script as they kept the UNC offense on the field for the first 8:19 of the game, running 14 plays. Unfortunately for Pitt the drive stalled and they had to settle for a 44 yard Chris Blewitt field goal.
That would be a theme for the night for the Pitt offense as they had trouble finishing drives all night long.
The Panthers held the Tar Heels to a field goal on their opening drive and the game went to the second quarter tied at three, but UNC was able to move the ball easily on the Pitt defense and that continued throughout the half as the Tar Heels scored on their first four possessions.
The Heels started the second quarter out when Williams hit Ryan Switzer with a 71-yard touchdown pass to make it 10-3. The last time the Tar Heels visited Heinz Field, Switzer killed Pitt on special teams and Thursday night he made a big impact in the passing game.
Pitt defensive end Shakir Soto had pressure on Williams, but couldn’t bring him down for a sack, despite pulling Williams’ face mask. Switzer ran by safety Pat Amara for an easy throw and catch.
“The pass rush was awful,” said Narduzzi. “We haven’t gotten sacks in a couple of weeks now. We missed at least four sacks out there and he is completing balls after we missed sacks. We can’t hang our secondary out there like that. When you have them in third down and you run right by the quarterback and give them six seconds to throw then you are going to give up plays.”
Pitt moved the ball effectively on its next drive, but Blewitt missed a field goal. North Carolina kicker Nick Weiler knocked down a 31-yard field goal at the other end to give the Heels a 13-3 lead.
A fumble by Pitt wide receiver Dontez Ford on the Panthers next drive set UNC up with great field position and the Heels made it a 20-3 game when Williams hit Mack Hollis with a 32-yard scoring pass.
The dual-threat Williams finished the evening with 270 passing yards and a pair of touchdown passes to go along with 52 yards rushing.
Pitt came out and started the second half with some momentum when Quintin Wirginis blocked a punt that set the Panthers up at the North Carolina 15-yard line, but once again Pitt couldn’t convert as they had to settle for another Blewitt field goal.
“We have to score touchdowns,” Narduzzi said. “That was one of our keys to the game. We had to score touchdowns in the red zone. When you settle for field goals you are probably going to lose. It’s hard to get in a rhythm when you are kicking field goals all night.”
Weiler got those three points back for the Tar Heels with his third of four field goals of the game before the Panthers finally found the end zone when Qadree Ollison scored from four yards out to make it a 23-13 game heading to the fourth quarter.
The Pitt defense tightened up and only allowed six second-half points, but the offense couldn’t take advantage.
“We just came out too slow,” said Pitt linebacker Matt Galambos. “We picked things up in the second half but we have to start faster.”
Pitt had to punt on fourth and short a couple of times in the fourth quarter and did close the gap on the late Orndoff touchdown catch, but ultimately it was too little too late.
“Too many mistakes,” said Peterman, who finished the night 27-of-42 for 262 yards and a touchdown to go along with 64 rushing yards. “To win a tight game like that against a good team you have to be perfect and you can’t make as many mistakes as we did.”
The Panthers will be back in action Saturday November 7 when they host Notre Dame.
“I like the fact that we didn’t quit and we showed a lot of heart,” said Narduzzi. “We just have to execute better.”
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports
