North Carolina’s struggles after a 3-0 start continued on Saturday.
Fresh off a disappointing loss on the road to Duke last week, the Tar Heels were hoping to rebound against a 4-0 Pitt team. And while the Tar Heels kept it close for most of the game, they left way too many points on the board in the 34-24 loss.
The Tar Heels had two drives stall inside the Pitt 10 yard-line in the game, including on their second-to-last drive. Trailing 24-17, the Tar Heels faced a fourth-and-one. They operated out of the shotgun and Omarion Hampton was stopped short, losing a yard on the play.
Pitt marched down the field and taking 7:07 off the clock using 18 plays to get a field goal and ice the game. On that drive, UNC even had a chance at an INT but couldn’t pull it down.
That’s just how it went for UNC.
After Pitt marched down the field to take a 3-0 lead, the Tar Heels got on the board with a Kaleb Cost 84-yard interception return for a touchdown to give UNC the 7-3 lead. But that was the only lead they would have.
Pitt punted on the next drive and UNC then went 81 yards on 19 plays with the chance to extend the lead. They fell short as they couldn’t convert on fourth down. Five plays later, Pitt scored a touchdown to grab the 10-7 lead.
The two teams battled back-and-forth with UNC tying the game at 17 right before halftime. But after another drive stalled due to downs in Pitt territory, they couldn’t get over the hump.
Pitt added a touchdown by quarterback Eli Holstein to make it 31-24 and essentially seal it up. Holstein threw for 381 yards, three touchdowns and added a rushing touchdown as well.
For North Carolina, they had their chances. Despite the defense struggling to contain Holstein and Desmond Reid, the Tar Heels offense was moving the football. Criswell threw for 269 yards and a touchdown but missed two more touchdowns.
Hampton had 106 yards and a touchdown on the game.
UNC falls to 3-3 and 0-2 in the ACC. They will host Georgia Tech next week looking to end this losing streak.
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