I've been waiting for this game all year. For the first time in the 2015 Calendar year and the first time in over a year I get to see my Tar Heel Football team play in person. The Tar Heels currently sit at the 6-1 prediction I placed them at heading into tonight's game while Pittsburgh's had a better season than I originally predicted. Both teams come in as two of the hottest in the ACC Coastal and sit currently as the favorites. These teams, however, have very different make ups.
Pittsburgh's been road warriors with a majority of their wins currently coming from away from Heinz Field, while Carolina's only played one game out of the state of North Carolina so far. Pittsburgh, just like the town, bring a clue collar, physical style of play meant to wear opposing teams down as the game plays while Carolina tries to run you out of the stadium with the high octane offense and very opportunistic defense. Similarly, tho, Carolina and Pittsburgh have shown very dramatic improvements on the defensive side of the ball so I do not expect to see a repeat of the shootout we saw in Chapel Hill this past November. On offensive, both teams have quality depth at running back (Pitt currently lacking the Elite Comparable, James Conner, to Carolina's Elijah Hood), have tremendous offensive lines, and multiple options at Quarterback (Carolina's duo of Marquise Williams and Mitch Trubisky vs Pitt's Nate Peterman and Chad Voytik). I've broken this game to come down to 3 separate matchups:
Carolina's Front Seven vs Pitt's Power Rushing Attack
- Pitt's Offensive Line mauls opposing front sevens. Coming in at 6-4 ad 315 lbs across the board this will be the biggest offensive line Carolina plays all season (even bigger than Sakerlina's). Pitt like to run off tackle, pull guards, run counters and dives. They run north and south and try to punish you with big back, Qadree Ollison (6-2 235 lbs). Carolina's front seven MUST play sound gap control and wrap up at the first level or this could be a long day for Carolina's defense.
Carolina's Secondary vs Pitt's Play Action
- Tyler Boyd is easily the best receiver Carolina's faced since Pharoah Cooper of Sakerlina. You could argue that Boyd will be the best receiver Carolina's faced all year, ad will be the sole focus of Pitt's aerial assault. Building off their power run game Pitt likes to go play action to Boyd over the top and underneath to Tight End JP Holtz. Carolina will have to get after passer and not let Peterman sit pretty in the pocket and heave to Boyd over the top.
Getting Ahead of the Chains
- Carolina can not afford to face 2nd and longs and 3rd and longs tonight. We must chew up yardage this evening and keep the ball away from Pitt. 3 and outs will not get the job done. Carolina cannot also afford to throw a pair of interceptions early like we've seen in a few games this year. Pitt, while a quick striking offense, is very efficient when they get the ball, punting not as often as you'd expect with a game control team. Take care of the ball and finish drives.
Prior to this season I didn't think Carolina had much of shot heading into this game. I knew Pitt would be decent, but didn't realize how much their defense would improve in year one under Pat Narduzzi. But there's another group that's been much better than anticipated in 2015: Carolina's defense. I think Carolina's DEFENSE is the difference in the game tonight with Jeff Schoettmer and Co forcing a couple of second half turnovers, the Offense converts into points. Carolina continues their streak of dominance at away Thursday Night Thrillers.
UNC 34 Pitt 28
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