In his first season at the helm of the team, North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye hadn’t seen a team quite so physical as Pitt was in Sunday night’s 42-24 homecoming victory.
The Panthers stacked the box against the redshirt first-year quarterback and ramped up the pressure, sacking Maye twice in the first quarter and nullifying UNC’s run game. It seemed effective in the first half, as the Panthers led the Tar Heels 17-14, but there was a clear issue with that strategy, and Maye recognized it.
“When they got seven in the box you know it’s four on four outside,” Maye said. “So that’s not a good plan for the defense.”
In one-on-one situations, UNC receivers Antoine Green and Josh Downs were given the space to make big plays through the air. The duo combined for 282 receiving yards on 21 receptions and four touchdowns, as the Panthers’ defensive backs struggled to contain either player.
In a season-defining performance, Maye accounted for 95 percent of his team’s total offense, throwing for 388 yards and five touchdowns and leading the team in rushing with 61 net yards on his feet.
Green sparked the Tar Heels’ offense in the first half with a one-handed, 16-yard touchdown catch to open up the scoring for UNC. The senior, who has struggled with injury throughout his college career, recorded 109 first-half yards in his best game as a Tar Heel yet.
The emergence of Green has been key in drawing attention away from Downs, who didn’t see much work over the first two quarters.
“People just got to key (on) to both of us now,” Green said. “Just down in the locker room (Downs) was talking about it, he was like, ‘Bro, you’re helping me out.’”
Lining up out wide, Green made several explosive plays to march the Tar Heels downfield and put them in scoring range. In UNC’s final scoring drive of the second quarter, he hauled in consecutive 18- and 50-yard catches to flip the field and set up Maye to find redshirt first-year receiver Kobe Paysour in the end zone, cutting UNC’s deficit to three points.
