By Ray Porter Jr. for Urban Media Today
PITTSBURGH, PA–After pulling off a stunning Upset over then-ACC-leading Georgia Tech, the #22nd-ranked Pitt Panthers Football team welcomed the #12th ranked Miami Hurricanes to Acrisure Stadium with hopes of getting the win and having a chance to clinch a spot in the ACC Championship Game December 4th.
Unfortunately, the game didn’t go the Panthers way as they were beaten by the Hurricanes 38-7, ending their regular season and eliminating them from ACC Championship contention.
“Obviously not the outcome that we wanted here as we started the kickoff at 12:07 or whatever it was. I’ll take those guys in the locker room,” said Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi. “We’ve got a good football team. Of course, nothing good happened in that game. They’ve got a good football team as well, and they outplayed us today, they out coached us today, and it falls on my shoulders.”
The Panthers showed lots of promise of competing with the Hurricanes in the first quarter after taking a 7-3 lead when QB Mason Heintschel ( 22/32, 199 yards, TD, INT) found TE Justin Holmes for a 6-yard TD, but unfortunately that was short-lived as Hurricanes QB Carson Beck would find WR Elijah Toney for a 9-yard TD, giving them a 10-7 lead (They opened with a 3-0 lead on a Carter Davis FG) Beck (23/29, 267 yards, 3 TDs, INT) would then lead the Hurricanes as they scored 28 unanswered points for the victory, with hopes of clinching their own ACC Championship berth.
“They put you — we knew one of the goals was we had to stay ahead of the sticks. After the first two series — I think the third series we looked pretty good moving down the field, but we didn’t make enough plays.” Said Narduzzi. “We didn’t do a good enough job getting them open and blocking up front and getting first downs, period. When we lost time of possession by over ten minutes, so our defense is on the field, you know, that’s what it is.”
Toney has a huge game, finishing with 13 catches for 126 yards and a TD for the Hurricanes (10-2, 6-2, ACC)
“I saw everything I expected, one of the most dynamic players in college football. Obviously, we’ve seen that the last eight weeks. He’s really come on. For him to throw a fade, he’s throwing the ball well. He’s a special player. He’s hard to stop. We shoulda, coulda done a better job of stopping him,” said Narduzzi.
“On the one touchdown pass he had down there, we didn’t get the right coverage check when he motioned out of the backfield. Things happened fast. That was disappointing because he was Waldo this week and we had to know where he was at all times. It’s an execution mistake there.”
Despite the loss, the Panthers (8-4, 6-2 ACC) are Bowl-Bound for the 2nd consecutive year. Their six ACC wins are tied for the second most in the Pat Narduzzi era and their highest total since 2021. The Panthers’ 53 ACC victories since 2015 are the third most in the conference over that span.
They also benefited from making a bold move by switching from Starting QB Eli Holstein to True-Freshman Heintschel, who led the Panthers to a 6-2 record. He is also a candidate for ACC Rookie and Offensive Rookie of the Year awards.
“We’ve got to learn. We’ve got a lot of young guys out there, but there’s no excuses. Boosie was young last week when he rushed for 201 yards. We’ll learn from it. That’s a good football team. Malachi Toney, he’s a young guy, too,” said Narduzzi.
Notes: Twenty student-athletes participated in pregame Senior Day ceremonies: Rashad Battle, Nico Crawford, Luke DelGaudio, Drew Foster, Justin Holmes, Caleb Junko, Nick Lapi, Tamon Lynum, Kavir Bains-Marquez, Javon McIntyre, Jake Overman, Jeff Persi, Desmond Reid, Deuce Spann, Blaine Spires, Nate Temple, Nilay Upadhyayula, Jalynn Williams, Raphael “Poppi” Williams, and Joey Zelinsky.
“Again, our seniors were great. I wish the field was clear at the end, but our seniors are great. Love those guys and appreciate everything they’ve done here for this football team. We get one more opportunity to go out as a football team,” said Narduzzi.
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