Winless in Chapel Hill, Pitt goes there to go 5-0

PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – 0-7 all-time in Chapel Hill, this time though, Pitt doesn’t face quarterbacks Mitch Trubisky, Sam Howell or Drake Maye. It’s a North Carolina tailback the Panthers have to worry about on Saturday at noon.

The Panthers are off to a 4-0 start including a win over rival West Virginia. The Tar Heels are 3-2, losing the last two, 70-50 to James Madison and 21-20 at Duke. But again, the trio of Pitt-killing quarterbacks are all now in the NFL.

The times those quarterbacks have tortured Pitt fans.

The game in 2022 in Chapel Hill might be the best quarterback performance ever against a Narduzzi defense, one of the touchdown passes was thrown left-handed. Pitt assistant head coach Cory Sanders points out they’ve had five or six receivers drafted including Josh Downs who helped Indy beat the Steelers on Sunday.

This year’s Carolina team looks like an old-school Pitt team in that they’ve got a pair of tight ends and a lead tailback as the key to their offense. Their quarterback isn’t on draft boards this time, it’s graduate-student Jacolby Criswell, who did throw for 251 yards against Duke with a pair of touchdowns. Criswell started his career at UNC, but transferred to Arkansas, where he played sparingly and returned to the Tar Heels. He is the third different starting quarterback this year having completed 57% of his passes for 889 yards with six touchdowns, three interceptions and six sacks.

Omarion Hampton is the lead for this offense. Averaging 5.8 yards per carry already with 658 yards on 114 carries with six touchdowns.

“He’s a good running back,” Sanders said. “We’ve faced a few over the years. Seeing him last year, he’s 6’, 220, you got to step all the way on his toes and run your feet on those tackles. You shoot those arms and bring those hips with you. You start diving, he’s going to run right through your tackles. You tackle too high, he’s going to run through your tackles. He’s very physical with his stiff arm. He’s a good running back. He’s patient with good vision and can get vertical when that hole opens up.”

“Go back to our fundamentals, tackle how we are supposed to tackle,” said Pitt linebacker Rasheem Biles of defending him. “We know he’s a bigger back. He’s a good back.”

He’s coming off a 15-hundred-yard season and his worst per-carry average of the year (29-103, 3.6 avg) vs. Duke.

Pitt’s defense has focused on stopping Hampton all week, They are coming off a bye and a first-ever 4-0 non-conference start.

“I feel like our confidence as a team,” said center Lyndon Cooper. “After Kent State our confidence grew, after Cincinnati, our confidence grew. After West Virginia and even after Youngstown, even though they are a FCS school. Our confidence keeps growing. We aren’t getting complacent, we are ready to play.”

North Carolina has won the last two in the series by a total of 35 points after every ACC matchup previously was a one-possession game. Tar Heels lead the all-time series 12-5.

“I ain’t a big fan of Tar Heels, we just got to go to work on these boys,” center Lyndon Cooper said. “All the teams in the ACC we got to hate because we are trying to win this thing this year.”