UNC outmuscles Pitt in 42-24 come-from-behind win to remain undefeated in ACC play

Pitt tried following the formula Notre Dame used to win at Kenan Stadium earlier this season. No. 21 North Carolina proved it’s not the same team it was a month ago.

The Tar Heels (7-1, 4-0 ACC) endured the physical play from the Panthers and twice rallied back from 10-point deficits before landing a few blows of their own en route to a 42-24 win Saturday to stay unbeaten in ACC Coastal Division play.

“Ain’t no question, man, I feel like we see it and I feel like everybody else sees that we are definitely a more physical team than we were when we played Notre Dame,” UNC linebacker Kaimon Rucker said. “I feel like we are a more sound team than when we played Notre Dame. And I feel like we are a better team than when we played Notre Dame and I feel like it just shows on every level.”

All the indicators were there of how physical a game it was with a number of players going down.

UNC’s starting running back Caleb Hood suffered an upper body injury in the first quarter after catching a flat pass and missed the remainder of the game.

Linebacker Noah Taylor, who started every game this season in the Heels’ ‘Jack’ position, appeared to suffer a right knee injury late in the first quarter and he, too, missed the rest of the game.

Even UNC quarterback Drake Maye spent time in the injury tent after he was bleeding from his right hand in the second quarter.

Maye said the Panthers brought a pressure similar to what the Tar Heels saw from Notre Dame’s defense.

“I feel like that game helped us here,” Maye said. “And we learned from it, we grew from it.”

The Heels showed their moxie on what UNC coach Mack Brown called the biggest play of the game. On Pitt’s opening drive of the fourth quarter, trailing for the first time all game at 28-24, it faced a third and 1 from midfield.

Carolina read the play correctly and appeared to be stopping running back Israel Abanikanda short of the first. But linebacker Cedric Gray, who made a similar play on a fourth down in the win over Miami, knocked the ball loose from Abanikanda and recovered it too. It was the game’s only turnover.

“Not only did we stop them, but we rip the ball out and then go down and score immediately,” Brown said. “I thought that was just kind of a backbreaker for them. And that’s when there was a point made that we were tough, confident and gonna finish at home.”

Brown noted that Pitt, down 35-24, is not the type that plays hurry-up on offense and can easily erase deficits. The Panthers reliance on their run game makes them much more deliberate than that.

Pitt (4-4, 1-3) appeared to be on its way to duplicating Notre Dame’s dominance of the line of scrimmage in the Fighting Irish’s 45-32 win over the Heels on Sept. 24. Abanikanda had three touchdowns and rushed for 127 yards, allowing quarterback Kedon Slovis to make big plays passing through play action passes. Slovis had 214 yards on his first 10 completions.

“We were slowed down, I just felt like our energy just had to pick up and we had to get our momentum,” UNC defensive tackle Jahvaree Ritzie said. “So I felt like going into the third quarter we really stepped that up and that’s what changed the game.”

The offense did its part by scoring on the last four possessions before taking a knee to end the game. Maye led a 75-yard drive in the third quarter, and followed with an 84-yard touchdown drive to start the fourth to give the Heels their first lead of the game. It was the longest UNC has trailed in any game this season before having a lead.

Maye shook off a bloody hand to go 34 for 44 passing for 388 yards and five touchdowns. Receivers Antoine Green (180 yards, two touchdowns) and Josh Downs (102 yards, two touchdowns) each surpassed 100 yards for the second straight game.

“They’re phenomenal playmakers, the definition of a dynamic duo, those two,” Maye said. “My job is getting them ball and just watch them do their thing.”

Carolina made more of a concerted effort to get Downs the ball in the second half. He had three catches on just seven targets in the first half. He finished with 11 receptions thanks to catching eight of 10 targets in the second half.

Green had career-highs in both yards and with 10 catches. It also marked the second straight year he had two touchdowns against the Panthers.

Pitt defenders spoke during the week about getting pressure on Maye and getting their licks in, too. Starting defensive tackle Calijah Kancey took it a little too far late in the second quarter.

Maye was running a draw with Kancey trailing on the play. As he dove in to make the tackle, he led with the crown of his helmet and hit Maye in the head. Kancey was disqualified from the game.

Brown called the game, the “toughest” that they’ve had and the “most physical” that UNC has won since his return to Chapel Hill in 2019.

But their fortitude wasn’t just from taking hits. It was from not being shaken while it trailed.

Carolina totaled just 93 yards on its first four drives of the game. But down 17-7 in the second quarter, the Heels pieced together a drive based on big plays their offense has become known for.

Green started things off with an 18-yard reception — which at that point was their longest play from scrimmage —and he followed it by taking a pass from a scrambling Maye 50 yards down to the Pitt 7. Kobe Paysour scored on a 1-yard catch, his first touchdown reception since the Georgia State game, to pull UNC within three with 3:33 left in the half.

“A lot of staffs would have panicked and gone in the tank and started yelling and cussing at kids and then they would have quit,” Brown said. “So I’m really proud of the — culture is probably an overused word, but I’m proud of the mentality that this team has that they don’t quit. They’re very resilient. They’re very positive with each other.”