Pitt Not Good Enough in 27-21 Home Loss Against Cincinnati

PITTSBURGH — Pitt didn’t deserve to have a chance to drive the length of the field to take the lead. Not the first time. Not the second time. But damn, Pitt was right there with the chance to do so.

And both drives, fittingly, ended in failure.

Pitt deserved its 27-21 loss to Cincinnati Saturday night at Acrisure Stadium, looking lifeless for 45 minutes and failing to convert when it mattered in the fourth quarter. And after 4,020 days, the Paddlewheel Trophy (if it’s still out there somewhere) remains in Cincinnati’s possession.

Phil Jurkovec completed 10-of-32 pass attempts for 179 yards and three touchdowns, and despite the touchdowns, he left throws on the field all night — and a ball on the field with a third quarter fumble.

Cincinnati gashed Pitt’s run defense to the tune of 216 yards, with 153 coming from an unstoppable Corey Kiner, and despite a clamp-down in the second half, Pitt wasn’t able to capitalize on its chances in the second half.

Gavin Bartholomew led the way with three catches for 80 yards and a touchdown, Konata Mumpfield caught four balls for 53 yards and two touchdowns and Pitt mustered just 83 yards on the ground.

The Pitt offense started slowly against Wofford last week, but unlike last week against an FCS opponent, the Pitt defense did, too. And the offensive unit was unable to get back up to speed.

After Pitt traded three-and-outs with Cincinnati’s scoring drives, an effortless opening drive that resulted in a 12-yard receiving touchdown from Cincy’s Payten Singletary and a 22-yard field goal set up by a 68-yard scamper from Cincy’s Corey Kiner, Pitt stared down a 10-0 deficit.

And as the Cincinnati defensive line bore down upon Jurkovec, he tossed up a prayer that Mumpfield happened to double back on, hauling it in for a 30-yard gain — with 15 more from a personal foul. And he finished the drive with a 5-yard jump ball touchdown a couple of plays later to cut the deficit to three.

It looked like Pitt would be able to continue its momentum after the defense forced a three-and-out, and C’Bo Flemister ripped off a career-long 38-yard rush to get Pitt inside Cincy territory. But the drive stalled out, and Ben Sauls’ 42-yard field goal sailed wide.

A Nate Temple false start turned a 3rd-and-10 into a 3rd-and-5 that Cincy converted on the ground, setting up a double pass trick play that picked up 30 yards and set up the Bearcats inside the 10. Kiner scored his second touchdown of the night on the next play.

Pitt was unable to answer, but the coverage unit showed its progression as it downed the Caleb Junko 41-yard punt right inside the 1-yard line.

But Cincinnati sat on its first half lead by executing a 17-play, 69-yard drive that burned eight minutes off the clock and set up a walk-off 47-yard field goal to end the half with a 20-7 lead.

The Pitt defense did respond to start the second half, giving the offense a chance at the Pitt 30, but Jurkovec was stripped on a designed run on Pitt’s first play of the half. Cincy didn’t take long to make Pitt pay for its mistake, taking four plays to score another touchdown — a beautiful 21-yard, diving catch from Braden Smith along the sideline.

The offense couldn’t answer on its ensuing drive.

Gavin Bartholomew was wide open as he streaked over the middle of the field in plus territory, and if Phil Jurkovec leads him with a pass, there’s a good chance he walks into the end zone.

Instead, Jurkovec’s ball whistled in behind Bartholomew, fell incomplete and Jurkovec was sacked on the next play to force a punt from inside Cincinnati territory. It kind of summed up the entire night for Pitt football.

Pitt did capitalize on a shanked punt, starting position on the plus side of the field and a couple of defensive pass interferences. Mumpfield hauled in his second touchdown of the night, a nice over-the-shoulder snag from nine yards out.

And what do you know? After missing Bartholomew earlier in the night, Jurkovec put a ball right on the money to a streaking Bartholomew in the seam — a 60-yard catch and run to flip the field and give Pitt a chance inside the Cincy 30. And he finished it off himself with a 16-yard touchdown catch up the seam, fending off a couple of Bearcats defenders for the score.

All of a sudden, Pitt trailed by just six points. The Pitt offense needed a stop, got it and found itself with an opportunity to go down and take the lead with 7:18 left in the game.

But Pitt failed to convert the first opportunity, and after a Marquis Williams interception, Pitt failed to convert the second opportunity. It was a night of failure for Pitt football.

Pitt falls to 1-1 with the loss, and it will travel to Morgantown, W.Va. next weekend for the Backyard Brawl at Milan-Puskar Stadium.