By Ray Porter Jr. for Urban Media Today
ATLANTA, GA–One week after getting defeated by one of College Football’s best (Notre Dame) The Pitt Panthers had another daunting test in facing one of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s (ACC) best in the 16th ranked Georgia Tech Yellowjackets, who are in the midst of their greatest start since 1966.
No one gave the Panthers a chance to win against the heavily favored Yellowjackets, who only needed to win to clinch a berth in the ACC Championship game Saturday, December 6. Well, the Panthers didn’t get the ‘memo’ of their predicted demise as they arrived at Bobby Dowd Stadium and upset the Yellowjackets 42-28.
“What a football game you guys got a chance to witness. Incredible job by our guys going on the road. It’s a really good football team, obviously the number one offense in the country,” said Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi. “Probably held them to probably the second best on the year as far as total yards. And I’ll go back; that’s a really good football team. (Haynes) King made some real plays again today in the second half, especially,”
Freshman QB Nate Heintschel and the Panthers came out swinging against the Yellowjackets as they took a 28-0 lead in the first half on TD passes to WR Kenny Johnson (6 rec, 91 yards) and TE Justin Holmes. Heintschel also ran for a score, as did RB Juelz Goff.
The Panthers QB Completed 20-of-27 passes for 226 yards, 2 passing touchdowns and one rushing score. The true freshman has now won six of his first seven starts He has thrown multiple touchdown passes in five of his first seven starts.
It is their second road win against a ranked opponent this season (No. 25 Florida State and No. 16 Georgia Tech)– their most in a season in the Pat Narduzzi Era. True freshman running back Ja’Kyrian Turner rushed for 201 yards and a touchdown in the win. He became the first Pitt running back to rush for 200 yards since Israel Abanikanda’s 320-yard and six-touchdown game against Virginia Tech in 2022.
“We’re a big running team, what are you talking about?” said Narduzzi “Boosie, Boosie, I mean that run at the end, well you talk about a gigantic play in the game because the tide was turning and I think our offensive line was PO’d with the series before, because we threw it a couple times and they wanted to run the ball. And they were ready for that next drive, so hey, we’re gonna run it, let’s go. And certainly, the O-block came out and did it,”
The Panther defense forced multiple interceptions for the third consecutive game. Kavir Bains Marquez and Braylan Lovelace (100-yard interception return) were the two recipients on Saturday night. Lovelace returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. It was Pitt’s fourth pick-six of the season and the 31st defensive touchdown under Pat Narduzzi.
“That was a gigantic play, I mean, you talk about momentum in there. That was a 14-point change right there, because they were going in. And never quit out of our guys. It’s a great call by Bates, what we called. And great job by Lovelace doing his job and being where he needs to be. And then scoring, scoring was huge,” Narduzzi remarked.
With the win, the Panthers are now 8-3 and 6-1 in the Conference. Their 6 wins are tied with SMU and Virginia, and they have a chance to clinch a berth in the ACC Championship Game for the first time since 2021 with a win vs.14 Miami and a Virginia or SMU loss.
“I thought our defense was dominant in the first half, our offense was dominant in the first half. And just couldn’t be happier for those guys in that room, the hard work they put in. It’s not easy on the road anywhere in the ACC, to come out and do that was great,” said Narduzzi.
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