PITTSBURGH — Kenny Pickett had the best game in the history of Pitt football on Saturday, but it was an uncharacteristic error that sealed the upset victory for Miami in a 38-34 loss to the unranked Hurricanes.
Pickett had already thrown for 519 yards and three touchdowns and was leading the team on what looked to be a game-winning scoring drive late in the fourth quarter when he unleashed a pass over the middle toward an open Jordan Addison inside the five-yard line.
Addison did not appear ready for the pass, which sailed behind him into the arms of Miami safety James Williams for an interception.
The Pitt defense, which yielded 38 points and 492 yards of total offense to a Hurricanes unit led by freshman backup Tyler Van Dyke, had one more chance to get a stop, and came close, as linebacker Phil Campbell III tackled Miami running back Jalyan Knighton near the goal line on the first play after the interception.
The play was reviewed to see if Knighton got out of the end zone, but the play stood as called, with Knighton getting exactly one ball-length out of the end zone.
Pitt got off to a strong start, scoring a touchdown on its opening drive, but the rest of the first quarter belonged to the Hurricanes, who scored touchdowns on each of their first three drives to put the Panthers into a 14-point hole.
The game turned back into Pitt’s favor after getting back-to-back defensive stops in the third quarter and Pickett connecting with Jared Wayne and Jaylon Barton on touchdown passes to tie the score.
But a 13-yard pass from Van Dyke to Keyshawn Smith, two plays after a penalty wiped out a potential Pitt interception, gave the Hurricanes the lead back for good.
Penalties were a consistent theme for the Panthers, who were flagged nine times for 108 yards.
Pitt (6-2, 3-1) suffered its first loss in ACC play. The Panthers remain in first place in the Coastal Division and will visit Duke next week.
Stunned?
No, surprised regarding the sloppy play of the defense.
Missed tackles and the secondary played horribly, Hallet seemed to be out of position all day.
Pitt should have ran the ball a little more today but they were caught up in the shoot out, catch up mentality.
The pass defense has struggled consistently under Narduzzi.
Again we were relevant but SOP showed up today.
Not surprised at all… The defense has been the problem in both loses, We all knew going into the game that Miami could score points. Pitt needed to confuse Van Dyke as often as possible. Pre-snap motion and different looks. However, I didn’t see much of that. The secondary was awful and the tackling was even worse… Not sure we can beat NC or Virginia…If Pitt doesn’t win 9-10 games this season, the head coach needs to move on…
I thought the ceiling for them was 8 wins. I’m sticking by that with a low of 7 and a high of 9 games.. But honestly I said this after Western Michigan loss. Why fire Narduzzi? After almost 40 years only having 3 sessions with 9+ wins what makes you think the next coach is the one to take them to the next step? Best case scenario is maybe that coach gets 1 maybe 2 seasons with 9+ wins but then it’s back to 6-8 wins with a meaningless bowl game against North Eastern Southern MAC U on a Thursday… Read more »
Defense sucked. Play calling sucked. No running game. Too much pressure on picket. Kicking a field goal when needing a touchdown with a defense that can’t stop a powderpuff team was a head scratcher. It will be another 30 years before we ever get a QB with the quality of Picket. ACC officials need to call a fair game and not show bias towards certain teams or they need to have those officials checked for some sort of mental illness.
Unfortunately, Pickett’s Heisman hopes are over, no fault of his. Pitt was beaten badly on both lines of scrimmage all afternoon. Pickett was under heavy pressure the entire game. Van Dyke, not so much. The defense played poorly, umpteen missed tackles, multiple stupid penalties and no up front pressure. This is why Pitt lost the game. However, it doesn’t excuse the horrible officiating that took place. ACC officiating is beyond bad. It’s a young mans game and it should be officiated by young men.
I hate that we as fans say oh good teams find a way to overcome bad calls. No this isn’t high school this is division I athletics. Do your job right, so you don’t change the course of a season for a team. And that’s what happened the whole course of their season is now changed. We are complaining about the defense BUT the defense came up with a safety against a team that has way better athletes than them.
But yeah it’s crazy Kenny through for over 500 yards and still lost his heisman trophy. Pitt needs to find a way out of the southern conference.
Shame on Bates and Narduzzi. This game should have been won by 10. Between the terrible play call for a balanced offense, awful repeat of the WM game on defense, and terrible officiating, Pitt just does what it ALWAYS does, they PITTED.
Narduzzi can’t handle success.
This team shouldn’t wonder when nobody goes to the next home game.
Maybe this team need to spend a little less time on Instagram and a bit more time on focusing for their next opponent.
They underestimated Miami and got punched in the face today.
I agree with everyone, but, you have to give some blame to Pickett. Both INT’s were on him. Now, if Pitt does not scrap this defense we will continue to struggle. Pickett did not have his best game and I still Love the kid, he is the best we have had in a while. Someone tell Whipple quit throwing the ball 50 times a game and allow the running game take some pressure off Pickett so he does not feel he has to win games by himself. I still say fire Narduzzi and take that trash defense with him.
Seriously? Did you even watch this game?
Stunned, no. Not even surprised. Pitt had a chance to show they weren’t SOP by beating a respectable but beatable team after a big emotional win and again fell flat. To be honest Pitt fans knew a let down game was only a matter of time, and it was either going to be Miami or UNC. And today proved why no matter how well they are doing no matter the hype they are receiving you can never get too excited about Pitt. The just are who they are, the same old Pitt. 10 wins is still a possibility but so… Read more »