Coming off the second bye week of the season, all eyes are on North Carolina's primetime matchup with Pittsburgh on Saturday night. In his fourth year back in Chapel Hill, Mack Brown will lead the Tar Heels into Kenan Stadium for what is arguably North Carolina's biggest home game since his return.
The visiting Pittsburgh Panthers enter at 4-3 on the season with a 1-2 record in ACC play, making the week nine contest crucial in deciding the Coastal division.
North Carolina will attempt to snap a two game losing streak against Pat Narduzzi and the Panthers, as Pittsburgh returns to Chapel Hill for the first time since 2018.
At 3-0 in conference play, the Tar Heels are in position to all but clinch their berth to the ACC Championship Game with a victory on Saturday.
As North Carolina enters their first home game in almost a month, we bring you the keys to the game ahead of the nighttime tilt.
Run Defense
Surprise, surprise. Once again, the UNC run defense is a crucial factor for the Tar Heels. For the third week in a row, containing the ground game will help lead to a victory.
The issue heading into Saturday is that the Tar Heels have yet to face a running back as good as Pitt's Israel Abanikanda.
Abanikanda ranks fourth in all of college football with 959 rushing yards, averaging 6.1 yards per carry. With 13 scores on the ground, he is tied for first in the country and has reached the endzone in five of the last six games.
Avoiding missed tackles and bringing physicality to the table will help the North Carolina linebackers and secondary bring down Abanikanda. If the Tar Heels can prevent the Pittsburgh back from turning what should be 2-3 yards runs into 6-7 yards, they will be in good shape against the reigning ACC Champions.
Make Kedon Slovis Throw
Replacing Kenny Pickett's production from his Heisman finalist campaign was always going to be difficult for Pittsburgh and Kedon Slovis has sustained his fair share of struggles.
Whether it's due to a successful run defense, a dynamic offense, or the gameplan of Gene Chizik, North Carolina needs to force Slovis to throw the football.
Excluding an overtime defeat to Tennessee in which Slovis left in the first half due to injury, Pittsburgh has won all three games he has thrown 28 times or fewer.
Slovis recorded 29 passing attempts against Louisville and 45 against Georgia Tech, the two conference losses for the Panthers.
He has completed more than 59 percent of his passes in just two games this season, resulting in victories over subpar teams in West Virginia and Rhode Island.
If Gene Chizik's group forces Slovis to use his arm, it bodes well for a group that has stepped up over the last three games.
Ignore the Hype
The last key to victory for the Tar Heels isn't necessarily a gameplan emphasis or tactic, but it is something that can help North Carolina focus.
Yes, North Carolina is ranked once again and could find themselves within the top 20 with a victory, but this means nothing.
Being the better team and being ranked does not guarantee a win and that has been the case since Mack Brown has returned.
North Carolina began the 2021 season at No. 10 in the country and finished unranked. A year before, the Tar Heels started at No. 18 and earned an Orange Bowl berth, but all four losses on the season came with a number beside North Carolina's name.
Mack Brown and company have absolutely seen success while ranked, but ignoring their ranking can help the Tar Heels play with the chip on their shoulder that has them on a three-game winning streak.
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