UNC Star Omarion Hampton is Toughest Test Yet for Pitt Defense

Pitt has played a lot of good running backs through four games this season, and Omarion Hampton is no different. In fact, the North Carolina star may be the best yet.

Hampton wasn’t an unknown in last season’s matchup, not after a 234-yard outburst against Appalachian State a couple of weeks before, but he didn’t ascend to the national stage until later in the season. Drake Maye, the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, attracted the headlines last season.

Hampton dominates the headlines these days — at least when it comes to the UNC offense.

UNC goes as Hampton goes, which is to say, early and often. He leads the country with 114 carries, 11 more than the next-highest rusher, and he’s the Heels’ third-leading receiver. If UNC wants to get anything going offensively, Hampton has to lead the way. And he has.

“They’re going to get Omarion downhill and let him go,” Pat Narduzzi said Monday at his weekly press conference. “We’ve just got to stop the run, like our intent is every Saturday, but it will be a little harder. This guy reminds you a lot of (Cory) Kiner, at Cincinnati, a big, physical guy, and you have to get him on the ground. He breaks a lot of tackles.”

Hampton is a load, measuring in at 6-foot, 220 pounds, and his powerful frame — as Narduzzi mentioned — is adept at throwing off would-be tacklers. He’s one of the hardest running backs to bring down in college football, as evidenced by 519 yards after contact this season (4.55 yards after contact/attempt) — good for the second-most yards after contact and 11th-most yards after contact/attempt in the country.

But he’s not just hard to bring down; he’s hard to catch, too. There are only a couple of players in the country who can match Hampton’s blend of elusiveness (37 missed tackles forced) and breakaway speed (20 runs of at least 10 yards and 12 runs of at least 15 yards).

Hampton is a legit difference-maker.

“He’s a good running back, and we’ve faced a few throughout the years, but seeing him last year, he’s 6-foot, 220,” Cory Sanders said Tuesday after practice. “And you gotta step all the way on his toes and run your feet on those tackles. Shoot those arms and bring those hips with you, because if you start diving, he’s gonna run right through your tackles. You tackle too high, he’s gonna run through your tackles. He’s very physical with his stiff arm.”

Hampton has been a workhorse for UNC, racking up at least 25 carries in three of the Tar Heels’ five games this season. He had just three such games all of last season — and likely the only reason he didn’t hit the 25-carry mark against Charlotte earlier this season is because the Heels didn’t need him.

Pittsburgh Panthers linebacker Kyle Louis (9) September 21. 2024 Photo by David Hague/PSN

Sanders respects Hampton’s patience and vision, along with his ability to get vertical, and he knows that Pitt will have to be relentless.

There was an emphasis in practice this week, especially from the safeties, to be relentless in pursuit. If a tackle is missed, and it’s inevitable with a running back like Hampton, there need to be two, three or four more defenders flying in to make a play.

“We just go back to our fundamentals, tackle how we’re supposed to tackle,” Rasheem Biles said Tuesday after practice. “We know he’s a bigger back, for sure, but it comes down to fundamentals, putting our chest on the guy, hat across, little things like that are going to be big to be able to tackle this guy.”

Hampton is a hard runner, but Pitt won’t just be responsible for his rushing — he’s going to catch the ball out of the backfield, too. Making those tackles in space will be crucial.

“They do a great job in the screen with their tailbacks, as well as getting it on the edge, and I don’t feel like we’ve been great on the screen,” Narduzzi said. “We focused on that last night in practice, and it will be a focus tomorrow as well as the screen game and the run game. They’re a heavy double team up front with their guys. A lot of what I would call insert plays and isos and just trying to get moving our D tackles.”

Hampton isn’t a prolific pass catcher, but he’s more than capable coming out of the backfield — especially this season. He’s averaging 0.91 yards per route run this season, hauling in 13-of-15 targets for 107 yards.

And when he finds himself in space, catching a screen from whoever is under center, he’s a threat to convert an explosive play.

The defensive line push is obviously important, closing the holes upfront, but it’s the play of the linebacking corps that will make the difference. Biles and Kyle Louis fly around off the edge, and Brandon George is a steadying presence inside, but the safeties (Donovan McMillon and Cruce Brookins at the boundary spot) will need to be active.

It will be a team effort to stop a running back like Hampton — as was the case in limiting him to 3.7 yards per carry in last season’s matchup.

UNC hasn’t had the easiest season, offensively or defensively, but Hampton is on the way to another dominant season. He could choose to enter the 2025 NFL Draft or come back for another season in Chapel Hill. Regardless, Pitt has a very tough test this weekend at Kenan Memorial Stadium.