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GREENVILLE (AP) — Skip Holtz isn't too encouraged by No. 24 North Carolina's knack for starting slowly. Not when his East Carolina team has had even more trouble finishing.

Two games into the season, and the Pirates (1-1) have wasted quick starts in both with stumbling finishes.

Outscored by a combined 31-2 after halftime against Appalachian State and West Virginia, questions have popped up about everything from the execution of the offense to what's being said in the locker room at halftime.

"We're not clicking," Holtz said. "Right now, there's a little something missing, whatever that ingredient is. The first half of both games, I felt pretty pleased with how we played as an offense. ... Talked (Sunday) as a staff about evaluating what we're doing at halftime. We're not doing anything different than we've done in the last four years. But for some reason, we just haven't been able to gel."

A sweat-it-out victory over Appalachian State and a loss at West Virginia certainly weren't what many expected from a veteran-laden program. The Pirates entered the year riding the upswing of a Conference USA title, the return of quarterback Patrick Pinkney for a sixth season and plenty of bust-the-BCS buzz generated by a pair of high-profile upsets in 2008.

But one thing is clear: If the Pirates expect to knock off another nationally ranked team this week in Chapel Hill, they'll need to put two halves together.

That didn't happen in the opener, when they led Appalachian State 29-7 before the Mountaineers made it a five-point game and the defense sealed the win with a critical stop. And that definitely didn't happen last week in Morgantown, W.Va., where the defense allowed two touchdown passes of at least 45 yards while giving up three 80-yard scoring drives in a 35-20 loss.

"This is a team game, and you can have nine guys who are playing their tails off and two guys that make mistakes, and you don't look very good" on defense, Holtz said. "Ten guys look like they're not playing very well when really 10 guys are doing exactly what they're supposed to do. And it's the same on offense. ... We've got to keep practicing, we've got to keep getting better. I don't know any other way to do it, other than (to) keep our nose to the grindstone and stay persistent with what we have to get done."

The Tar Heels pose an interesting challenge for Holtz's team. With third-year starting quarterback T.J. Yates distributing the ball to a group of unproven receivers, North Carolina also has struggled to find consistency, and was shut out in the first quarters by both The Citadel and Connecticut.

"I think there's two good defensive football teams playing — two offensive football teams right now, probably, both are struggling a little bit," Holtz said. "Probably neither one of our passing games are where we want them to be. ... I don't think this game is going to be 42-41."

The player considered the cornerstone of the team — Pinkney — instead has been part of the problem.

He hasn't been able to replicate the form that led to last year's upsets of Virginia Tech and West Virginia, instead completing just 42 percent of his passes with more interceptions (three) than touchdowns (two).

"I don't think this is all Patrick," Holtz said. "Patrick's going to take a lot of the brunt of when your offense is not doing well, and he'll take a lot of the credit when it is. ... It is something that we have considered, and something that we've talked about, what we have to do after two games to make sure we're getting the play at not only quarterback but tight end, tackle and some of the other positions.

"Do you play a couple of the young quarterbacks? ... Do you move (former starter and current tight end Rob Kass) back to the quarterback position?" he added. "There's a lot of things we have to look at right now. We don't have all the answers at this point. That's what this week's practice is going to be all about."