Comeback Cats: Pitt Secures Largest Comeback Win Since 1971

When Cincinnati kicker Carter Brown connected on a 26-yard field goal with 4:50 left in the third quarter to put the Bearcats ahead 27-6, it seemed unlikely that Pitt would win its second game of the season and first in the River City Rivalry since 2010.

ESPN’s win probability meter gave Pitt less than a two percent chance to come out on top at Nippert Stadium late in the third quarter.

Trailing by 21 points, the Panthers stormed back and recorded one of the most exhilarating Pitt comebacks in the program’s history, winning 28-27.

“That’s a gutsy win by our guys,” Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said following the game. “Couldn’t be prouder of the effort they gave. We came up in the fourth quarter and said, ‘We’re going to win this thing.’ Broke down on ‘Win.’ Our guys believed and it shows you true character coming back from 21 down.”

You’d have to go back to October of 1971 for the last time Pitt pulled off a feat like it did on Saturday.

On Oct. 9, Pitt overcame a 25-point halftime deficit against Navy. Down 35-10 at half, the Pitt comeback was solidified when quarterback Dave Havern connected with tight end Leslie Block for a 6-yard touchdown with 27 seconds left to make it 36-35.

Pitt went into that matchup in ’71 with a record of 1-2 after losing the previous two weeks to Oklahoma, 55-29, and West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl, 20-9. The Panthers finished the 1971 season 3-8.

Fifty-three years later, with a 1-0 record, it took Pitt 10 seconds longer for the Panthers to score its game-winning points, this time coming on a 35-yard field goal off the foot of Ben Sauls.

It took nearly three quarters for Pitt’s offense to ignite in both historic comebacks. The most recent come-from-behind victory saw redshirt freshman quarterback Eli Holstein throw for three touchdowns in the final 16 minutes of action.

Holstein found Konata Mumpfield twice on touchdown receptions of 11 and 38 yards. That dream of completing the comeback got within reach of reality when Holstein hit running back Desmond Reid out of the backfield for a 58-yard catch and run to make it 27-25 with 5:40 to go.

Pitt’s defense stepped up with a key third-down stop that forced the Bearcats to punt with 2:50 remaining. Pitt’s offense moved 63 yards on nine plays to set up the Sauls field goal to officially overcome the 21-point deficit.

In a season that brings a lot of uncertainty with young and unproven talent, Pitt found a way to pull out a gutsy victory that will go down in the record books and become an all-important confidence-building win.