PITTSBURGH — Coach Mack Brown had dried off, but still dripped with rethinking the end of regulation and what might’ve been a special victory for his North Carolina team that instead evaporated into a loss.
The Tar Heels fell to No. 25 Pittsburgh 30-23 in overtime Thursday night at Heinz Field, a winding Atlantic Coast Conference football experience that swung North Carolina from the brink of becoming a blowout victim to the verge of winning in the final minute of regulation.
North Carolina put together 16 straight points during the second half, capped by Grayson Atkins’ short field goal from 20 yards that forced a 23-23 tie with 57 seconds remaining in regulation, and ultimately sent the game to overtime.
Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett’s 11-yard touchdown pass to tight end Lucas Krull in overtime proved to be the difference, as the host Panthers (8-2 overall, 5-1 ACC) maintained their standing as the league’s Coastal Division leader.
On a night when the visiting Tar Heels (5-5, 3-4) recovered and rallied after tumbling into deficits of 17-0 in the first quarter and 23-7 by halftime, Brown couldn’t help but reconsider the fourth-and-3 situation with Pitt clinging to a shrinking 23-20 lead and one minute left in regulation.
North Carolina had first- and second-and-goal from the Panthers’ 2-yard line, and couldn’t punch in what would’ve been the go-ahead touchdown. When fourth down arrived, the Tar Heels, having harnessed the game’s momentum at that juncture, turned to Atkins for the tying score, rather than rolling the dice and trying for perhaps an all-or-nothing touchdown attempt.
“I should’ve gone for the fourth-and-3 at the end,” Brown said. “Because the way it ended up, the rain was really hard and put us in an awful position in overtime. The reason I didn’t do it, I got talked out of it, but also we hadn’t made fourth down and 3 or 4 or 2. But still looking back I would’ve been better off going for the fourth down at that point.”
North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell and Co. got swamped in overtime, the rain intensifying into a monsoon after Pickett’s third touchdown pass of the night snapped the 23-23 tie and returned the lead to Pitt.
Howell threw for 296 yards and accounted for three touchdowns, but he couldn’t manage to navigate the impossibly drenching conditions with the Tar Heels needing to answer to extend the game to a second overtime period. He had second- and third-down passes fizzle and wobble, and not reach intended targets Kamari Morales and Josh Downs. On fourth down, he was intercepted by Pitt defensive back M.J. Devonshire on a desperation heave under pressure.
“We had a lot of opportunities,” Howell said. “No matter the circumstances, we’ve got to make a play there at the end, and we didn’t.”
Which allowed Brown, the College Football Hall of Famer, to second-guess himself on the fourth down at the goal line in the last minute of regulation.
“That’s my fault,” Brown said. “I can’t get talked out of it unless I don’t want to do it. I changed my mind. If I’d have known it was going to rain like that and put our kids in such a bad position, I sure wouldn’t have waited.”
Howell plowed for a 1-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal to cut Pitt’s lead to 23-20 with 5:34 to go in regulation. Then, North Carolina linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel intercepted Pickett and the Tar Heels eventually capitalized on Atkins’ game-tying field goal from chip-shot distance.
“I thought it was a great call to kick the ball when we were down near the goal line,” Gemmel said. “The defense had been playing so great in the second half, why would you not kick it and go into overtime with our defense playing so good in the second half? I thought it was the right call. I thought it was the smart play.”
Pickett threw for 346 yards and three scores. North Carolina remained winless on the road this season, dropping to 0-4 in away games. The loss eliminated the Tar Heels from the Coastal Division race in the ACC, an unlikelihood at any rate that faced long odds entering the night.
Here are more takeaways from Thursday night in Pittsburgh:
‘As bad as I’ve ever seen’
Pitt led 17-0 before North Carolina produced a first down on offense, and the Panthers sacked Howell on each of the Tar Heels’ first four possessions.
By halftime, Howell had been sacked five times and the unwanted pattern from North Carolina’s losses at Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech felt as if it might be resurfacing here. Howell was sacked a combined 14 times during those September wrecks on the road.
The Tar Heels’ 120 total yards in the first half Thursday night were dwarfed by Pitt’s 337 total yards by that juncture, and 76 of North Carolina’s first-half yardage output had come on Howell’s touchdown bomb to Antoine Green.
“The second half we played as good of defense as we’ve played all year long,” Brown said. “The defense gave us a chance. The offense was awful the first half, as bad as I’ve ever seen.”
Defense picks up on Kenny Pickett
From scouts to general managers, more than three dozen NFL evaluators were in attendance here Thursday night for an in-person look at Howell and Pickett, who rank among the top quarterback prospects in the next NFL Draft class.
Pickett looked as if he might steal the show with 244 passing yards and two touchdowns in the first half, and the Panthers rolling to a 23-7 halftime lead.
But the North Carolina defense shut out Pitt across the third and fourth quarters, while limiting Pickett to just 83 passing yards and sacking him three times. Gemmel picked off an interception in the fourth quarter, and Tar Heels defensive back Cam’Ron Kelly almost grabbed another in the final minute of regulation that could’ve proven crucial.
“The defense is the only reason we were in the game,” Brown said.
“Being with the guys on this team, playing ball with them for so long,” Gemmel said, “being down 17-0 in the first quarter, nobody bats an eye. Guys are ready to continue to fight, and you saw that with our guys. We fought to the very end.”
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Close calls, high drama
North Carolina’s comeback knack nearly delivered a second defeat of a Top 25 opponent in a span of six days.
The Tar Heels entered this game at Pitt having ridden a remarkable rally and ripped off 24 straight points in the fourth quarter last week to knock off previously unbeaten Wake Forest 58-55.
Add in a 44-34 loss at Notre Dame on Halloween weekend, and North Carolina faced three nationally ranked opponents across a 13-day stretch, with two of those matchups occurring on the road.
“Having a chance to win all three games,” Brown said, “it’s disappointing that we only won one.”
Adam Smith is a sports reporter for the Burlington Times-News and USA TODAY Network. You can reach him by email at asmith@thetimesnews.com or @adam_smithTN on Twitter.
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This article originally appeared on Times-News: UNC football takeaways: Mack Brown second-guesses OT loss at Pitt as comeback runs out
