PITTSBURGH — It was a perfect day for some spring football at Acrisure Stadium.
The offense and the defense squared off directly, with all of the quarterbacks alternating through drives, and in true Pitt fashion, the game came down to the final moments.
But some tackles for loss, some sacks, a turnover and — most importantly — a defensive touchdown from P.J. O’Brien secured a 33-32 win for the defense, as the offense couldn’t find the end zone to end the game.
Phil Jurkovec completed 5-of-7 pass attempts for 51 yards, Christian Veilleux completed 6-of-9 pass attempts for 74 yards and a touchdown and Nate Yarnell completed 7-of-10 pass attempts for 31 yards.
The offense started off with an initial jet sweep to Bub Means but fizzled out as a poor snap and a Samuel Okunlola sack forced the game’s first punt, but the offense recovered early.
Christian Veilleux moved the offense very nicely on the second offensive possession, going 6-of-7 and capping it with a 12-yard dump to Derrick Davis for a touchdown.
Davis looked good on the touchdown, too, wriggling out of a Bangally Kamara tackle attempt and tight roping down the sideline to break the plain.
The defense cracked down on the offense over the next two drives, forcing three and outs for Jurkovec and Nate Yarnell-led drives, coupled with a tackle for loss from Javon McIntyre and a swat by Sean FitzSimmons.
A booming 59-yard concluded the first quarter at 8-6, with the offense in the lead.
Jurkovec bounced back on his third drive of the afternoon, going 3-for-3 for 40 yards (a couple of completions to Means) to set up a five-yard touchdown dive from Daniel Carter. The offense led 16-7 with just a few minutes left in the first half.
Rodney Hammond quickly followed up with a 91-yard kick return touchdown on the ensuing kickoff, but to be fair to the defense, not a single person actually tried to tackle him. But Narduzzi counted it, and the deficit rose to 23-7.
McIntyre racked up a couple of tackles for loss, Bam Brima and Deandre Jules shared a sack and the defense forced a 51-yard field goal miss from Ben Sauls at the end of the half — but there were no points awarded for it.
The defense made Ty Dieffenbach’s first appearance end in a three and out, capped by a Nate Temple sack, and Yarnell didn’t have much success on his following drive — which was cut short by a Drew Foster sack.
It was slow building for the defense, but it took the lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter as O’Brien jumped a Ty Dieffenbach pass and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown. It capped a 16-point run to give the defense a 31-24 lead.
Jake Frantl fumbled his first snap of the game on the next possession, with Jimmy Scott jumping on it and giving the defense five more points.
But Frantl made up for his mistake, capitalizing on a Luke DelGaudio face mask, to dash into the end zone untouched for a 14-yard touchdown. An extra point made it a 33-32 game with 2:31 left in the game.
All the offense needed was a first down to tie the game up, but a false start made it a 33-31 game. A Davis first down made it a 33-32 game, but the offense wasn’t able to find the end zone for either a field goal or a touchdown.
Pitt will not be back in action until the start of the 2023 season against Wofford on Sept. 2.
