‘We didn’t do anything right.’ Why UNC’s defense struggled early against Pitt
There are times when North Carolina’s defense has looked dominant this season. Like against Clemson, when the Tar Heels held the Tigers to a season-low 21 points and 331 total yards.
Then there are times when it appears the Tar Heels just doesn’t have it, like against Virginia two weeks ago.
Thursday night against Pitt was another one of those bad times.
Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett gained 412 total yards and scored three total touchdowns in Pitt’s 34-27 overtime win over UNC. He gained 359 yards in the air and 53 yards on the ground.
The Tar Heels forced only one three-and-out and that didn’t occur until the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t do anything right,” UNC coach Mack Brown said. “We weren’t stopping the run, we weren’t stopping any passes.”
“We didn’t contain, we didn’t tackle. That’s it. I was really disappointed in the first half defensively.”
The Tar Heels’ biggest issues have occurred in the secondary where they’ve been decimated by serious injuries. UNC has lost four defensive backs to season-ending injuries and was down to its third-, fourth- and fifth-string cornerbacks on Thursday.
Starting cornerback Trey Morrison, who is coming off an arm injury, did not make the trip to Pittsburgh and neither did starting safety Myles Wolfolk, who recently suffered a season-ending upper body injury.
Pitt took advantage.
The Panthers had five plays that gained 28 yards or more, including a 74-yard touchdown pass from Pickett to receiver Shocky Jacques-Louis in the second quarter. Jacques-Louis ran a go-route and got a step on backup cornerback Greg Ross for the touchdown, which put the Panthers up 17-7 in the second quarter.
The Tar Heels have not been good at stopping chunk plays this season. Entering Thursday’s game, UNC’s defense had given up 21 plays that gained 30 yards or more, which was ranked 79th in the country, and five plays that gained 50 yards or more.
But none were longer than the 74-yard pass Pickett threw.
It didn’t get much better until the fourth quarter when the Tar Heels were finally able to get a few stops. But by then, Pitt had a 24-10 lead.
“We had a little bit of a lack of energy,” senior defensive tackle Jason Strowbridge said of the first three quarters. “After a big play, having a short memory of it, I think that kind of played into it.”
Senior safety Myles Dorn said the same.
“We did a bad job of keeping our morale up when those big plays happened early in the game,” he said.
Brown said they tried to play zone to compensate for the struggles in their secondary, but that didn’t work either. Nine receivers caught passes for Pitt and five finished with 30 yards receiving or more.
“I felt like if you’re going to go zone, you’ve got to stop the pass, and we still let them get behind us twice,” Brown said.
Pitt was 8-for-15 on third down conversions. Pitt’s biggest third down conversion came on third-and-14 in overtime. Pickett found wide receiver Taysir Mack for a 15-yard pass and catch. Three plays later, Pickett ran it in for what ended up being the game-winning touchdown and his third score of the game.
Pickett did not struggle much. He broke a number of ankles on some of his runs and the Tar Heels had a lot of trouble wrapping him up.
It was the second consecutive game that UNC’s defense has allowed a quarterback to gain over 400 yards and convert a 60-yard play.
Against Virginia two weeks ago, UVA quarterback Bryce Perkins scrambled for a 65-yard touchdown. He finished with five total touchdowns and gained 490 total yards.
For most of this season, UNC’s defense has been its backbone. But over the last two games, that just hasn’t been the case.
With two games left for the Tar Heels (4-6, 3-4 ACC), and two wins from bowl eligibility, there is no room for error. The Tar Heels are in a must-win situation as they have to beat both Mercer and N.C. State to make it to their first bowl game since 2016.
But in order to do that, the defense has to get back to how its looked when it was at its best. Like against Clemson.
This story was originally published November 15, 2019 at 9:27 AM.
