2016 Pitt Football Game Notes Heinz Field
• Saturday, November 26, 2016
Game No. 12: Pitt 76, Syracuse 61 Team
• Pitt capped the 2016 regular season with an historic shootout victory over Syracuse, 76-61, in the highest-scoring game in FBS history. Pitt finished the regular season at 8-4 overall, 5-3 in the ACC. The Orange finished 4-8 and 2-6. • The 137 combined points in the game broke the previous FBS record of 136, which was set twice in 2007 as Navy defeated North Texas, 74-62, on Nov. 10 and Boise State beat Nevada, 69-67, on Oct. 14 in four overtimes. • The previous record for the highest-scoring Pitt game was 113 in a 58-55 victory over Duke on Sept. 21, 2013. • Pitt’s 76 points were its most since a 76-0 win at Temple on Sept. 24, 1977. • Pitt followed up its 56-point performance against Duke last Saturday with a 76-point outburst against the Orange. It marked the first time since 1975 that Pitt scored 50+ points in consecutive games. • Pitt added to its school record for total points in a season. The Panthers have scored a school-record 508 points this year for an average of 41.83 points per game. With a bowl game to go, Pitt’s current points per game average would surpass the record of 40.7 set in 1904 over 10 games. • Pitt won eight regular-season games for the second straight year, the first time that has happened since 2008-09. • The Panthers finished the season with a 6-1 record at Heinz Field, matching 2009 for their best record in the venue. Offense • Pitt finished with 644 yards of total offense on 393 yards rushing and 251 yards passing. • It was the highest offensive yardage output for Pitt since it posted 648 yards vs. Eastern Michigan on Sept. 9, 1995. • It was Pitt’s highest rushing total since the Panthers had 409 vs. Delaware on Aug. 30, 2014. • Five different Panthers scored rushing touchdowns: George Aston, James Conner, Nathan Peterman, Quadree Henderson and Maurice Ffrench. It is the first time in at least 20 years five different Pitt players scored rushing TDs. Defense • Pitt totaled seven tackles for loss and three sacks vs. the Orange. • The Panthers also had their fourth defensive TD of the season on a 20-yard interception return for a score by redshirt freshman cornerback Dane Jackson in the third quarter. Pitt now has seven defensive touchdowns in two seasons under Coach Pat Narduzzi. James Conner • Junior running back James Conner had his 17th career 100-yard rushing game, tallying 115 yards on 19 carries. • Conner topped 1,000 yards rushing for the second time in his career. Conner is the fifth Pitt player to achieve multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons, following Tony Dorsett (4, 1973-76), Curvin Richards (2, 1988-89), LeSean McCoy (2, 2007-08) and Dion Lewis (2, 2009-10). • With three total TDs (two rushing and one receiving), Conner also tallied his 18th career multi-TD game and sixth this year. He has 20 touchdowns in 2016 to extend his ACC-record career totals to 56 total TDs and 52 rushing TDs. Ejuan Price • Senior defensive end Ejuan Price boosted his All-America and ACC Defensive Player of the Year credentials with a disruptive outing as he tallied six total tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss and a seven-yard sack. • Price now has 21 tackles for loss and 12 sacks this season. His 12 sacks are the most by a Pitt player since Ricardo McDonald also had 12 during the 1991 season. • Price also blocked a Syracuse extra point, the second of his career. He had a PAT block vs. Virginia on Oct. 10, 2015. It was Pitt’s first blocked PAT since Avonte Maddox had one against Navy in the Military Bowl on Dec. 28, 2015. Quadree Henderson • Sophomore wide receiver and return specialist Quadree Henderson tallied a career-high 257 all-purpose yards. • Aided by his second career 100-yard rushing game, Henderson amassed his career-best all-purpose total on 103 yards rushing, 98 yards on kickoff returns and 56 yards on punt returns. Chris Blewitt • Senior kicker Chris Blewitt set the Pitt school record in the game with 10 extra points successfully converted, breaking the previous Panther record of nine set by Eric Schubert vs. Louisville on Oct. 30, 1982 in a 63-14 win.MORE