CHAPEL HILL, N.C. –– North Carolina’s homecoming celebration turned sour as the Tar Heels stumbled to a 34-24 defeat, their third consecutive loss.
The game highlighted a crucial aspect of football: red zone efficiency. For UNC, two pivotal drives deep into Pitt’s territory yielded zero points, a decisive failure in the game’s final outcome.
This loss drops the Tar Heels to 0-2 in conference games, exacerbating their mid-season struggles. As the team grapples with an identity crisis, the pressure mounts to reverse course in the latter half of the season.
Despite the recent setbacks, UNC remains determined to improve its standing and salvage what began as a promising campaign.
In the sport of football, redzone efficiency is often the difference between a win and a loss and it was the latter for the Tar Heels.
Jacolby Criswell looked cleaner in the pocket throwing for 269 yards (25-of-45) with one touchdown, but Pitt’s play caller Eli Holstein, despite being three years younger than Criswell, ended up being the more skillful one.
“The difference in their team was their quarterback,” head coach Mack Brown said, praising Holstein’s production after the loss. “He’s really good and he’s a guy that came in and made all the difference in the world. He threw the ball well.”
Holstein’s journey from Alabama to Pittsburgh has proven transformative. After redshirting his lone season at the Crimson Tide without seeing game action, he unleashed his potential with a striking performance against the Tar Heels. He amassed a staggering 457 yards of total offense, including a Pitt freshman record of 381 passing yards (25-of-42) and a team-leading 76 rushing yards.
Meanwhile, his former team Alabama faced an unexpected setback. The perennial powerhouse suffered its first loss to an unranked Vanderbilt.
“That was the biggest thing for him — using his legs and making a play when there was nothing to make,” defensive back Alijiah Huzzie said.
Holstein’s only interception Holstein was a pick six, picked up by sophomore defensive back Kaleb Cost who ran 84 yards to give the Heels the advantage 7-3 in the closing minutes of the first quarter. But just one turnover wasn’t enough.
“We’ve still got to force more turnovers,” Brown emphasized to reporters during Monday’s presser. The two teams traded scores all the way to the fourth quarter, until the Panthers picked up another touchdown and the Tar Heels began to desperately seek an equalizer.
The Panthers’ defensive line relentlessly pressured running back Omarion Hampton all afternoon. While he managed to squeeze in a 3-yard rush before halftime, the fourth quarter proved insurmountable. And their unyielding defense, coupled with a timely field goal, ultimately put the game out of reach for the Tar Heels.
Brown still emphasizes the effort put forth by his group, calling this Pitt team the most difficult they’ve faced all season. While that might be true, football is a sport where one or two drives can completely shift the narrative of a game. And it did. A dismal two-for-six conversion rate on fourth down attempts cost them dearly.
“We gave up four or five explosive plays that we can’t continue to give up and that was the difference in the game,” Brown said. “We’ve got to do better in certain plays.”
North Carolina will face Georgia Tech on Saturday at 12pm, a team they haven’t beaten since 2019.