Pitt Can't Contain Drake Maye In Loss To North Carolina

The Pitt Panthers had no answer for North Carolina's offense as they lost their third-straight game.

PITTSBURGH -- On a rainy night at Acrisure Stadium, the Pitt Panthers showed little improvement on either side of the ball. In their ACC opener, the Panthers fell to the North Carolina Tar Heels 41-24 in a game they had little control of. Drake Maye and the Tar Heel offense tallied 373 yards of total offense as the passing offense operated with little resistance from Pitt's defense. The Panthers hurt themselves far too often as well with 11 penalties for 83 yards, leaving them with no margin for error. 

After losing the open coin toss, the Panthers opened with possession and gashed the Tar Heels on the ground. They ran the ball 10 times for 62 yards and used 7:59 of game time, culminating in a seven-yard touchdown run by Rodney Hammond Jr. After a fumble recovery by Pitt was overturned on North Carolina's first play of the game, the Tar Heels formulated a 75-yard drive that was capped off by a three-yard touchdown run by Omarion Hampton to make it 7-7. 

The Panthers found their groove in the passing game on the ensuing drive as they picked up 50 yards through the air, most of which came on a 30-yard reception by Gavin Bartholomew that set Pitt up at North Carolina's one-yard line. Daniel Carter punched it in on the next play to give the Panthers a 14-7 lead. Pitt went on to force a three-and-out after a sack, setting the Panthers up with possession at their own 30-yard line after the punt. 

Pitt found no luck on its next series either, leading to a punt return that granted the Tar Heels the ball at midfield. A successful flea flicker and roughing the passer penalty on the first play advanced North Carolina to the Panthers' five-yard line, which produced a rushing touchdown by Maye that tied things up at 14-14 with 9:09 left in the second quarter. 

Pitt followed with its second-consecutive three-and-out, which was accentuated by a 20-yard sack that forced the Panthers to punt from their own two-yard line. That mistake came back to haunt them, as Alijah Huzzie returned it 52 yards for a touchdown to give North Carolina their first lead of the game at 21-14. 

A pair of long completions by Jurkovec to Mumpfield and Bartholomew positioned the Panthers inside the Tar Heels' 25-yard line to open the ensuing series. They weren't able to finish the job from there, however, and settled for a 44-yard field goal by Ben Sauls to make it 21-17 with under four minutes remaining in the first half. A sack on the first play of North Carolina's next drive pinned them at their own two-yard line, but a pair of penalties helped bail them out as Maye orchestrated a 91-yard touchdown drive that he rounded off with a touchdown pass with his opposite hand to make it 28-17 right before halftime. 

The Panthers moved the ball into North Carolina territory after a targeting call against Jurkovec on the final possession of the half, which ultimately held him out of the rest of the game. Sauls missed a 58-yard field goal to keep the score at 28-17 going into halftime. 

The Tar Heels opened the second half with an 8-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that Maye finished off on a quarterback sneak from the one-yard line to make it 35-17. Pitt couldn't answer and was forced to punt after another three and out. 

North Carolina drove down the field with little issue on its following drive as well, but the Panthers were able to hold them to a field goal that made it 38-17. Pitt found the spark it was looking for on the kickoff, though, as Kenny Johnson went 100 yards for a touchdown on the return to cut the Tar Heels lead to 38-24. 

North Carolina had its way in the passing game once again on its next possession but had to settle for another field goal to make it 41-24 with 3:58 left in the third quarter. A pair of explosive runs by Hammond Jr. and Johnson pushed Pitt into Tar Heel territory, but a deep throw by Veilleux down the middle was picked off by Huzzie at North Carolina's two-yard line with 1:31 left in the third quarter. 

The Tar Heels, deep in their own territory, couldn't muster anything up and were forced to punt. The Panthers' special team unit showed up once again, however, and blocked it to gift themselves possession at North Carolina's 20-yard line. Pitt wasted no time returning the favor, though, as Veilluex fumbled after trying to pull the ball back from Johnson and the Tar Heels fell on it.

North Carolina, with time in its favor, chewed 3:25 off the clock on its next series before ultimately punting the ball back to Pitt. Veilleux showed some promise with a couple of completions on the following drive, but the Panthers couldn't sustain that momentum and turned the ball over on downs at their own 45-yard line with 8:06 left in the game. 

The Tar Heels were content to run the ball and drain the clock once they got the ball back and punted it back to Pitt with 6:29 left. The Panthers tried to get their downfield passing game working and let Veilleux take some shots with nothing to lose but ended up turning the ball over on downs on their second-straight series.

Veilleux's second interception of the day came with 1:55 left, which added insult to injury to yet another disappointing performance by Pitt. 

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