North Carolina Tar Heels vs Pittsburgh Panthers

Thursday night in ACC college football action the North Carolina Tar Heels travel to Pittsburgh to play the Panthers who enter with a 7-2 record and are coming off a blow-out win over Duke. North Carolina comes into this match-up having just beat a top-10 team in Wake Forest and took Notre Dame down to the wire the week before that. The Tar Heels are 12-4 ATS after failing to cover the spread in 4 or 5 out of their last 6 games over the last 5 seasons. Pitt HC Narduzzi is 0-7 ATS in home games and hosting a team that completes a minimum of 62% of their passing attempts as the coach of Pitt. The Tar Heels are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 meetings. I like North Carolina +6.5

Unranked UNC will face the University of Pittsburgh in the only NCAAF Division I game of the night. UNC is coming off a surprising 58-55 win against the number-13 ranked Wake Forest. UNC quarterback Sam Howell only threw for one touchdown, but he rushed for two on 104 yards. Running back, Ty Chandler ran for 213 yards on the ground and four touchdowns.

The Pittsburgh Panthers lost their last game to unranked Miami 38-34. Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett threw for 519 yards and three touchdowns but also threw two interceptions.

This Pitt defense is typically solid and will be very instrumental in Pitt beating UNC and covering the -6.5-point spread. Bet on Pitt.

I like Pitt to win by at least a TD and cover in this game. Pittsburgh is 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games. UNC has struggled defensively and I think Pitt will be able to exploit this weakness. When facing strong passing teams averaging more than 7.90 yards per attempt, UNC is just 1-6 ATS. UNC on the road over the past two years is just 2-5 ATS.

Pittsburgh -6.5

Get your popcorn ready, this one should be fun to watch. North Carolina has played in the highest-scoring game of the week twice this season (98 points vs. Virginia in Week 3; 113 points vs. Wake Forest in Week 10), and there's a good chance it happens again against a potent Pittsburgh offense.

Pittsburgh is the highest-scoring team in the nation at 45.0 points per game. Kenny Pickett refuses to cool off, racking up 935 passing yards and six touchdowns in the past two weeks against Miami and Duke.

Goodness knows North Carolina's defense isn't liable to provide much resistance. Wake's Sam Hartman threw for 398 yards and five touchdowns against the Tar Heels, who also gave up 554 yards and four touchdowns to UVA's Brennan Armstrong in the aforementioned Week 3 game.

The big difference from those games, though, is that Pitt appears able to play a little defense. The Panthers' numbers might be inflated by games played against the woeful offenses of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Virginia Tech and Clemson, but they rank second in the ACC in sacks as well as in rush yards allowed per game.

I'm confident Pitt will get a few stops on defense. Can't say the same for UNC. I've got Pitt by double digits here in a shootout.

North Carolina is coming off a dramatic win against Wake Forest, and barely before a week is ended, they are supposed to face a Panthers team that is undoubtedly more superior than Wake Forest. Against the Panthers, every team has to work off its socks to get a win from them. Combine this with the fact that the Tar Heels are yet to win a road game and you'll get a picture of the huge battle that lays ahead for the Tar Heels in this match. I don't think North Carolina can replicate their showings against Wake Forest to collect a win against a Panthers' team that has been a nightmare for most teams this season. Pittsburgh should cover.

UNC will be riding high into this matchup after ruining Wake’s playoff hopes. They will look to turn down the other ACC “giant” on the road. Pitt had over 600 yards on offense last week but also struggled to stop a weak Duke offense from putting points on the board. Look for Pickett to once again put-up great numbers against this weak UNC secondary. Expect Pitt to show out in this one after watching Wake fall, by limiting Ty Chandlers impact in this one. Pitt -6

The Heels had a huge comeback against Wake Forest and scored 58 pts the bad news they gave up 55,They will also give up points to a good Panthers team.Howell is a good quarterback and will help keep this game close.The key to the game is running back Chandler he will get some long runs!

TAKE NORTH CAROLINA+6

The Tar Heels pulled off their annual 14-point comeback over Wake Forest to hand the Demon Deacons their first loss. The offense has been on a roll lately, averaging 45.7 points per game against good teams. The running game has been leading the way behind running back Ty Chandler and quarterback Sam Howell.

Pitt bounced back from a loss with a 54-29 win at Duke. The team has been a pleasant surprise this year, led by Heisman candidate Kenny Pickett. He has 29 touchdowns to just 3 interceptions on the year so far. The defense is 15th in the nation against the run, allowing just 107.1 points per game.

Pick: I think the over hits here unless the UNC offense has a repeat of their other non-Saturday game against VT. Pitt has the more reliable defense so, I think they end up taking the game.

If we follow rules of deduction, then we can hastily conclude that the Tar Heels can beat the Panthers because North Carolina defeated the Miami Hurricanes, a team that Pittsburgh lost to. But that’s not the case because the Panthers had a four-game win streak before that heartbreak. Even in their loss, quarterback Kenny Pickett threw for 513 yards and three touchdowns while Jordan Addison had 145 receiving yards. On the other hand, North Carolina lost to Notre Dame despite Sam Howell’s 341 passing and 101 rushing yards. Pittsburgh’s offense is more consistent and that’s the foremost reason for their victory over the Tar Heels.