University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Host Pitt In ACC Opener
September 24, 2016 | Football
CHAPEL HILL --- North Carolina opens Atlantic Coast Conference play against Coastal Division rival Pitt on Saturday, Sept. 24. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPNU. Carolina has won three straight in the series, all under the direction of head coach Larry Fedora.
Carolina is coming off a 56-28 win over James Madison in which the Tar Heels gained 635 total yards of offense, including 462 passing yards. UNC scored touchdowns on eight of its 11 drives and all eight drives covered at least 72 yards. QB Mitch Trubisky completed 24 of 27 pass attempts for a careerhigh 432 yards and three touchdowns. He had a quarterback rating of 260 and set a school record for consecutive completions in a game (18). Trubisky has attempted a school-record 156 consecutive pass attempts without an interception.
Pitt lost at Oklahoma State last week, 45-38. Saturday's game will feature three of the top running backs in the league, including Pitt's James Connor and UNC's tandem of Elijah Hood and T.J. Logan. Connor and Hood are ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, in the ACC rushing rankings, while Logan is second in all-purpose yards.
AT A GLANCE
Records: North Carolina 2-1 (0-0 ACC), Pittsburgh 2-1 (0-0 ACC)
Rankings: Both teams are unranked.
TV: ESPNU. Clay Matvick (play-by-play) and Dusty Dvoracek (analyst) have the call.
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network (click to listen), a division of Learfield Communications. Jones Angell (play-by-play), Brian Simmons (analyst) and Lee Pace (sideline) have the call.
On The Web: GoHeels.com | UNC Notes | PittsburghPanthers.com | Pitt Notes
Twitter: @TarHeelFootball, @CoachFedora | @Pitt_FB
ACC OPENER
• North Carolina is looking to win its ACC opener for the second straight season. Last year, Carolina opened league play with a 38-31 come-from-behind victory at Georgia Tech. It was just the second time in the last 15 years that Carolina had won its ACC opener. In 2011, Carolina snapped a nine-game losing streak in ACC openers with a 28-17 win over Virginia in Chapel Hill.
WINNING STREAK AT KENAN
• North Carolina will look to extend its current eight-game home win streak Saturday. UNC won all seven games at Kenan Stadium last year and beat JMU last week in the home opener. UNC has not lost in Chapel Hill since the NC State game in 2014. The eight-game win streak is the longest at Kenan since Mack Brown's Tar Heels won 10 in a row from 1995-1997.
• Head coach Larry Fedora sports a sparkling 22-6 mark at Kenan Stadium in five seasons.
• In UNC's eight-game home winning streak, the Tar Heels have outscored their opponents, 399-149, with an average score of 49.9-18.6. Carolina has scored 40-or-more points in seven of the last eight home games, including five games with at least 50 points.
CAROLINA-PITT SERIES NOTES/CONNECTIONS
• Last season, Carolina won the Coastal Division with an 8-0 mark, while Pitt was second at 6-2.
• North Carolina leads the series with Pittsburgh, 7-3, and has won three straight. Eight of the 10 meetings have been decided by 10 points or less, including the five most recent games – a 26-19 UNC win last year at Pitt, a 40-35 UNC win in 2014, a 34-27 UNC victory in 2013, a 19-17 Pitt victory in the 2009 Meineke Car Care Bowl and a 20-17 UNC win in 2000.
• In one of the most memorable games in Carolina history, No. 5 UNC lost at No. 1 Pittsburgh, 7-6, in 1982. The game was played at Three Rivers Stadium in primetime on CBS. It was the network's first regular-season college football game in 19 years. Future Hall of Famer Dan Marino threw a 4-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to give the Panthers a 7-3 lead. Marino was 15 of 28 for 125 yards and four interceptions against the Tar Heel defense. Kelvin Bryant led the Tar Heels with 58 yards rushing and five receptions for 22 yards.
• Pittsburgh running backs coach Andre Powell spent six seasons at UNC from 2001-06 under head coach John Bunting as the team's running backs and special teams coach.
