After three, hard-fought wins against South Carolina, App State and Minnesota to open the season, the UNC football team is ready to take on the gauntlet of ACC play.
The Tar Heels are currently sitting in Pennsylvania, hours away from facing off against Pitt in the ACC opener for both teams. UNC and Pitt will clash at 8 p.m. ET under the bright lights of Acrisure Stadium.
Carolina holds the all-time series record with 11 wins and five losses, though the Panthers took two of the past three matchups. UNC won handily last year in Chapel Hill, 42-24, behind five Drake Maye touchdown passes.
Let’s take a look at the Tar Heel captains for today: Maye (offensive), Power Echols (defensive) and Bryson Nesbit (special teams).
It’s game day on the road 🗣️
Your captains for today:
O: Drake Maye
D: Power Echols
ST: Bryson Nesbit#CarolinaFootball 🏈 #UNCommon pic.twitter.com/J1GKYmd3EY— Carolina Football (@UNCFootball) September 23, 2023
Maye finally delivered the breakout game we’ve all been expecting last week, completing 29 passes for 414 yards and two touchdowns. He also found his true number one wide receiver in Nate McCollum, with the Georgia Tech transfer catching 15 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown.
It’ll be tough to deliver that same performance again, as Pitt is holding opponents to just 114 passing yards per game (third-best in FBS). Minnesota was limiting opponents to under 100 passing yards per game before last week, then Maye exploded, so don’t expect the Panther’s defense to play spoiler.
Will Maye go to McCollum? J.J. Jones? Kobe Paysour? Regardless of who, Maye’s due for another Heisman Trophy-esque performance.
One teammate Maye could be throwing to a lot is Nesbit, another Tar Heel captain. Nesbit carries grand expectations with him this year, as he was named to the Mackey Award Preseason Watch List. This award goes annually to the nation’s top tight end.
Nesbit’s only tallied 77 receiving yards to start his junior campaign, but he also caught one of Maye’s four touchdown passes.
Echols led UNC’s defense with nine tackles (seven solo) in the 31-13 triumph over Minnesota last week. Echols, the starting mike linebacker, is second among the Tar Heels with 24 total tackles.
Set aside the lackluster performance against App State – and Carolina’s defense has seemingly played better through three games than it did all last season, particularly in the second half. UNC has allowed just six second-half points between the South Carolina and Minnesota games.
As the Tar Heels prepare to face a lackluster offense, expect another huge game out of Echols.
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