CINCINNATI — Another year, another failed, late-game come — no, wait, here comes Ben Sauls.
Sauls trotted out for a 35-yard field goal attempt with 23 seconds left, and unlike last season, his conversion allowed Pitt to complete a miraculous second half comeback to knock off Cincinnati, 28-27, at Nippert Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Holstein was cool and composed against Kent State; he was any but against Cincinnati — through the large part of three quarters.
Holstein threw for 211 yards and three touchdowns in the second half, Reid was an all-around monster in dragging Pitt back from the brink and Konata Mumpfield hauled in two touchdown passes of his own. Pitt did just enough to secure a huge, come-from-behind win. But it was oh so close.
A 26-yard field goal from Cincinnati kicker Carter Brown pushed the Bearcats’ lead to 21 points late in the third quarter, and the Panthers appeared to be fading.
Holstein was struggling mightily. The defense was having a hard time stopping Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby through the air — and the Bearcats on the run. It looked bleak.
But Holstein, to his credit, battled. And it’s a damn good thing that Desmond Reid got off the bus Saturday morning.
Reid was electric on two Pitt touchdown drives as the Panthers drove 75 yards to cut the deficit to 14 at the end of the third quarter (a 5-yard Konata Mumpfield touchdown catch) and 82 yards to cut the lead to eight points (a 38-yard Mumpfield touchdown catch). A defensive stop gave Pitt the ball back with 7:44 remaining in the game, trailing by a touchdown and a two-point conversion.
And there went Reid again, racing 56 yards to the end zone on a quick crosser over the middle. But, once again, the two-point conversion failed.
So, Pitt trailed 27-25 with 5:40 left in the game. Another defensive stop. Pitt received the ball at its own 20 with 2:38 on the clock. All three timeouts and the two-minute warning at its disposal — and Pitt delivered, driving the length of the field to set up the game-winning kick.
But it certainly wasn’t easy-going. It was clear that Holstein didn’t have early.
If there’s one thing you can’t do on a team led by Pat Narduzzi, it’s turn the ball over. And when Holstein took a deep shot to Kenny Johnson in the end zone early in the first quarter, overlooking Cincinnati safety Josh Minkins Jr. as the corner’s deep help, his ball was hauled in by Minkins.
And Cincinnati cashed in on the mistake.
A beautiful rainbow throw down the sideline from Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby was hauled in by wideout Jamoi Mayes, who tight-roped down the sideline for a 52-yard touchdown.
As the pass rush continued to get stone-walled inside and out, Sorbsy stood in the pocket and delivered another deep strike down the sideline — hitting wideout Xzavier Henderson for a 33-yard gain. Sorsby hit wideout Tony Johnson in the back of the end zone a couple of plays later. 14-3, Cincy.
An overturned Ryland Gandy interception could’ve spelled the end for Pitt, staring down a potential 21-3 deficit, but the defense held. A 49-yard field goal from Cincy kicker Carter Brown pushed the Bearcats’ lead to just 14 points. The Panthers’ defense held again at the end of the first half, turning a 1st-and-10 at the Pitt 11 into a missed 25-yard field goal.
And Pitt finally gained some momentum of its own, driving 45 yards to set up a 53-yard field goal attempt. Sauls knocked it through to end the half.
It didn’t last the halftime break.
Pitt turned the ball over on its first possession of the second half; Cincinnati drove down the field for a touchdown on its next possession. And while the Bearcats didn’t score on their next offensive possession, they did nail another field goal. With a 27-6 deficit, Pitt needed a spark.
It got the spark it needed. And the Panthers left the field at Nippert Stadium with a huge non-conference win.
Pitt returns home next weekend to host West Virginia in the 107th Backyard Brawl. The Brawl is scheduled to kick off at Acrisure Stadium at 3:30 p.m.
I realize you’re trying to rush to post this for some reason, but proofreading would be helpful, H2P
If you know anything about the English Grammer don’t read anything on this site or you will get the chills
Who cares about grammar? I’m here for pitt news and analysis, and they do a great job with that. Sorry if that wasn’t perfect grammar?
Karl starts three paragraphs with the word And. Ugly wins are better than should coulda woulda losses.
Not gonna lie, I doubted Pitt when I was watching Holstein in the 3rd Quarter, really didn’t think they would come back. I am pleasantly surprised! Hopefully we can carry the momentum and beat West Virginia! H2P!
A performance like today and WVU will hammer them by 30.
Is WVU better than Cincinnati?
Yes. Significantly
You should be pleasantly breathing a sigh of relief.
great win … could have easily given up. regroup and get ready for WVU. H2P !
Ben Sauls have a GAME in front of his hometown friends and family!!!!
Nice comeback.
But Pat still refusing to change up that defense at all, is concerning.
Junko still sucks.
Going for 2? I get the reasoning, but it was a bad decision.
I think analytics say to
Cincinnati has a very good squad. Eli looked frustrated against that defensive formation. I guess it’s learn on the job for him. Obviously, Nate is not competing for the QB job, as we were told. Missed tackles were the worst part of our game. WVU does not look nearly as good as Cincinnati. A win is a win, but we must play better each week. H2P.
Agreed on the poor tackling. Pitt is fundamentally unsound. However, for as much as they struggled, I thought Mumfeld did some really nice things with the top of his routes.
Pitt has the potential to be a good team, but can’t beat themselves or get out of the blocks slow.
Yes, not getting off blocks, that’s problematic. We must improve next week.
Not to burst your bubble, but Cincinnati is terrible and will finish last in the Big 12.
WVU beats Cincy by 14-17 points.
Pitt’s defense not being able to get off the field will cost them against the better teams.
We will know a lot more about Pitt next week.
Amen to all of this. Doesn’t help that our coach is a total doofus going for two while mounting a comeback. F the analytics. Put added pressure on a struggling defense to make an extra stop. He’s a moron.
What’s the difference between being down 1 or 2? I don’t see why you don’t go for 2 there. Am I missing something? Get 2 you’re tied. Miss it and you’re down 2, which is effectively the same as being down 1. Still need a field goal.
I am not in a bubble. Clearly, Cincinnati is not terrible. They have a much improved team with this transfer QB. West Virginia beats Cincinnati by 17 with what? We already know, if you know football, that Pitt is reloading on defense, but wvu is trash. Bet me even for a grand, or shhhhhh…….
Bottom line. Comeback road win against a rival and power 5 team. We came up short in these types of games last year. Reid looks stuffy and Eli is promising. Great day H2P!
It felt so good to see this comeback win. Hail to Pitt!
If Cignetti were still here this is a loss.
Nice comeback win…..Cincy is not a good team, though.
2-0 is a good start.
How do you know? Maybe they should have you pick the college football playoff teams at the beginning of the year. What’s the point of playing a whole season
How many games did Pitt win last year or in 2022 when they were down 3 touchdowns? How many times did they have over 500 or 400 yards offense the last two years? Cignetti’s offensive scheme was antiquated and was not set up to score quickly. Daniel Carter up the middle 10 times a game got pretty old. I am surprised with you being a football genius you can not see the difference so far.
I meant the cincy is a bad team part. I agree about the cignetti part. Thanks for calling me a genius though, I appreciate that.
lol. Yes you are… quite the genius!
Wasn’t it nice to see the Cinncy fans have to eat their own words after hearing their obscene chants baiting us.