UNC Football: Tar Heels mount comeback but fall short in OT

Going into Thursday’s game at Pitt, the UNC Football team had slim chances to win the Coastal Division. They needed a win and some chaos to ensue. But leaving Thursday’s game, the Tar Heels are now eliminated from the race after their comeback fell short.

Pitt jumped out to a quick 17-0 in the first quarter on Thursday as UNC’s offense really struggled to move the football. Quarterback Kenny Pickett and the Panthers took advantage and appeared to be in cruise control.

With UNC’s offense managing just one first down on their first six drives, the Panthers had to feel good about where they were in the game. But then UNC’s defense rose to the ocassion.

Howell and the offense got on the board before halftime but Pitt took a 23-17 advantage into the break. From there, however, UNC’s defense answered the call and gave the Tar Heels a shot in the second half.

Jay Bateman’s unit held Pitt scoreless in the third and fourth quarters, stalling Panthers’ drives and making life difficult for Pickett. The Panthers had no answer for what UNC was doing on defense and it allowed the Tar Heels to crawl back into the game.

Receiver Antoine Green caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Sam Howell to cut the score to 23-13 in the third. Then late in the fourth, UNC got a 1 yard touchdown run from Howell on fourth down to cut it to three at 23-20. A few plays later Jeremiah Gemmel picked off Pickett on a tipped pass and suddenly UNC had the chance to take the lead late.

The Tar Heels marched down the field and got to the Pitt two-yard line with over a minute to go threatening to score. But after a mistimed snap led to an incompletion, UNC was called for a false start that pushed them back. The Tar Heels settled for a game-tying field goal and that squandered opportunity would haunt them in overtime.

Pitt scored on their first possession of overtime as Pickett found Lucas Krol for a touchdown and then four sloppy UNC plays later, Pitt ended the Tar Heels slim chances at the coastal.

Howell finished the game 22-of-33 for 296 yards, two touchdowns and one interception with that blemish coming on the final play were he threw the ball up out of desperation. He led the team to the comeback with that bad mis-snap and penalty doomed UNC.

UNC committed 12 penalties on the game, pushing drives back with their self-inflicting mistakes and it’s something we have seen a lot this year. That reared its ugly head again on Thursday.

The Tar Heels return to action next week as they host Wofford, needing one win to become bowl eligible. They close out the season the Friday after Thanksgiving against N.C. State.

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