It almost feels lazy to write an article stating that both UNC and Pitt will need their quarterbacks to step up to give them a shot at winning the game. After all, QB is generally the most important position on the field, and poor play at the position will usually doom most teams. However, how each team’s QB rises to the occasion on Saturday will be the X-Factor for who has the edge in this game.
Pittsburgh’s situation is pretty clear-cut. The Panthers are rolling, off to a 5-0 start and have entered
the AP Top 25 this week after a solid road win over Virginia Tech. Unfortunately for the Panthers, their starting quarterback is out for the season after tearing his ACL early in the second half of the Virginia Tech game. Backup QB Holden Geriner came in and led the Panthers to two touchdowns as Pitt held on for the win. Geriner finished with a stat line of 8/12 for 78 yards and a TD pass.
The challenge will be whether he can put together those kinds of a numbers for a complete game (and for the rest of the season). Geriner is a career college backup QB; he spent three years at Auburn, where he only attempted a total of 20 passes. Last year, he was a backup at Texas State and threw just one pass. He seemed content to spend his fifth (and probably final) year of college football as a backup as well, even stating thathe was coming to Pitt to mentor their QB room. How he will respond to being the starter is a very open question. He will face a UNC team that allowa a middling 200 yards per game on average in passing but is actually among the better teams in the country in yards per completion. While it’s likely Pitt will lean heavily on its ground game, Geriner will have to make some completions downfield to keep UNC from loading the box and daring him to throw.
UNC QB Billy Edwards, Jr. has looked every bit like the QB he’s been most of his career: a slightly below average P4 starting QB. He had some good moments against Notre Dame interspersed with his usual misfires and missed reads. His three touchdown passes actually tied his career high, but so did his two interceptions. His play wasn’t the primary reason UNC lost, but he also didn’t make plays the Heels would have needed to pull off a monumental upset.
Edwards will almost certainly have to step up for Carolina to notch a win in Pittsburgh. The UNC rushing attack was almost nonexistent against the Irish; the running back trio of Benjamin Hall, Demon June, and Jaylen McGill only managed a combined line of 20 carries for 64 yards. Granted, Notre Dame has one of the best rushing defenses in the country, clocking in as the fourth best in the nation in rushing yards allowed per game. Unfortunately for the Heels, Pitt actually ranks as the second-best rushing defense in the country in the same category. The Panthers pass defense is much softer by comparison. If UNC is going to move the ball effectively, Edwards and the passing game will have to spearhead the offense.
Both UNC and Pitt’s ability to win this game will be heavily tied to how their respective QBs perform on Saturday, making the QB position the X-factor in this game.
