UNC offense has smaller margin of error against Pitt

North Carolina overcame the barrage of mistakes it made in a 26-13 win over Virginia this past Saturday. But now the margin of error, especially on offense, becomes narrower for the Tar Heels when they play on Thursday night at No. 23 Pittsburgh.

For UNC, there can be no repeat of the errors it made last Saturday. No onslaught of penalties – there were a season-high 13 against Virginia – and no missed opportunities that erase scoring chances, the kind that plagued the Tar Heels against the Cavaliers.

“You can’t have the mistakes, the sloppiness – (the) sloppy mistakes that you had last week,” UNC coach Larry Fedora said Tuesday, repeating some of what he had said after Saturday’s game.

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Fedora was happy with the win over Virginia but none too pleased, necessarily, with how his team won: in ugly, haggard fashion, amid the kind of rash mistakes that UNC hadn’t experienced since its season-opening loss to South Carolina.

Asked on Tuesday what bothered him about his offense against Virginia, Fedora spoke in broad terms.

“Just the overall offensive execution,” he said. “I mean, not to take anything away from Virginia, but when you have the penalties that we had on a lot of the big plays and just the – I don’t know – I would (attribute) it to focus. We just weren’t as sharp and as focused as we needed to be.”

Or as sharp as they’ll need to be Thursday in Pittsburgh. The Tar Heels, statistically, at least, have played against some sound defenses. Georgia Tech, which UNC beat 38-31 on the road on Oct. 3, ranks 41st in the NCAA in total defense. The Tar Heels handled Wake Forest, ranked 35th, 50-14 on Oct. 17.

The defense at Pittsburgh, though, is something different. And better. The Panthers are allowing an average of 308.3 yards per game, which ranks 16th nationally.

More than once this week, Fedora has described the Panthers’ defense as “exotic” while praising their ability to blitz, and to confuse an offense. Those are things on which Pat Narduzzi, the Pitt head coach who is the former defensive coordinator at Michigan State, has built his reputation.

“Pat’s a great defensive coach, there’s no doubt,” Fedora said, “and he’s got a team that’s playing really well on defense. So our margin of error is always small when you play a good defense. So you’ve got to execute.”

The Tar Heels did that well enough against Virginia to win relatively comfortably. Even so, their 26 points were their second-lowest of the season.

And UNC averaged 6.59 yards per play in the win over Virginia, which was its lowest of the season against a Bowl Subdivision opponent.

Penalties in the Virginia game hindered the Tar Heels in a way they hadn’t all season. There were two turnovers, too. And now comes a challenge against a Pitt defense that’s known for creating pressure and forcing quarterbacks into quick decisions.

The Panthers, with all of those “exotic” blitzes, as Fedora likes to call them, are tied for 14th nationally in sacks (3.14 per game). Marquise Williams, UNC’s fifth-year quarterback who at times has struggled with his decision-making, said he has been studying more film than usual this week in hopes that the preparation will help him avoid becoming rattled.

“Can’t miss (any) opportunities,” Williams said. “And you’ve got to go out, we’ve got to execute, you know, move the chains on third downs. That team is good, man – that’s a great football team, and I respect them. And a lot of the guys around here respect them.”

Some more than others, perhaps. UNC junior receiver Ryan Switzer has a different kind of respect for Pitt – one that comes with growing up a fan of a fierce rival.

Switzer, a West Virginia native, grew up rooting for the Mountaineers – and rooting especially hard whenever they’d play the school to the north. Pitt and West Virginia played annually when they were members of the Big East, and they’ve played 104 times overall but not since 2011.

In 2013, Switzer returned two punts for touchdowns during UNC’s 34-27 victory at Pitt. Last year, he caught three passes for 68 yards and one touchdown in a 40-35 victory against Pitt.

If UNC’s offense is to play to its potential Thursday night, if it’s to clean things up after a sloppy performance against Virginia, Switzer again could play a significant role.

“Obviously, I’m excited to go back and play in front of a lot of friends and family,” he said. “I’m excited that it’s such a big prime-time game against a ranked opponent. So the excitement is there for a lot of reasons, not just because I had success the past two years against them.”

But it probably doesn’t hurt.

This story was originally published October 27, 2015 at 9:06 PM with the headline "UNC offense has smaller margin of error against Pitt."