PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It wasn't pretty, outgained, allowed critical third and fourth down conversions, but found a way to honor the 19 seniors honored before the start of the game with a 28-26 win over Duke.
"Well, a win is a win is a win," quipped Pitt Head Coach Pat Narduzzi. "Happy for our seniors, a lot of them played the best game they had played. Our guys found a way to win. They did it the hard way."
An intriguing call by first-year Duke Head Coach Mike Elko after Riley Leonard hit Jordan Moore for a wide-open 49-yard touchdown with 9:28 to go in the fourth quarter, he decided to go for two. Pitt held to make the score 28-20.
Comes into play late as Leonard found Jaylen Coleman for a 19-yard touchdown on a fourth and 18 with 47 seconds left.
It's now 28-26. Duke tried a reverse pass, but Deslin Alexandre blew up the play with his penetration and SirVocea Dennis made the tackle to seal Pitt's seventh win.
"Every Friday we start off with trick plays they ran in the past," said Pitt DL David Green. "Really just seeing it was a reverse, all of our minds went to it being a trickery play. Instead of looking all crazy, we knew where they were going to be at and made the stop."
Izzy 8
Israel Abanikanda rushed 17 times for 113 yards and a six-yard touchdown as Pitt took advantage of a muffed punt for a one-play scoring drive. Abanikanda passed 100-yards for the eighth time, the most since Dion Lewis did it 10 times in 2009. The junior was not available late in the game with no other information given.
D-score
Panthers grabbed a two-touchdown lead early in the fourth quarter as defensive lineman David Green forced a Jordan Waters fumble and Brandon Hill picked it up and ran 30-yards for a touchdown to make it 28-14 after an Abanikanda two-point conversation run.
"I saw the outside zone play going away from me," Green said. "I decided to go over the trash and just make a play. I saw the running back and laid out like I always do to make sure I finished the play. I didn't know the ball came out and I saw Brandon Hill running down the sideline."
"I was just pursuing to the ball like Coach Bates always teaches us," Hill said. "David Green hit the ball out and I saw it on the floor. We always practice scoop and score in practice. I just remembered what we did in practice, saw my blockers and got in the end zone.
Made a play."
It was the fifth defensive touchdown this season tying a program season-high also accomplished last year and in 1986.
"Coach Randy Bates harps on turnovers create game-changing plays and you never know when you are going to need those," Hill said. "It's fun to do that, 11 hats flying around. It's a great site to see."
"It's all in the preparation," said Pitt safety Erick Hallett. "We do turnover circuit every Wednesday. Every time you get an interception in practice it's going to the house. Every time you get a fumble recovery, it's going to the house. Coach Bates, they stay in your ear about it."
1 drive
There were a couple of drops, Kedon Slovis also made his own mistakes. The Panthers QB, who hasn't decided if it will be his final year at Pitt, threw a pair of interceptions and finished 15-32 for 190 yards.
Slovis said he should have checked it down on the first interception. On the second, he was trying to make a play and trying to do too much on third down. He said he has to be better than that.
Slovis also threw a 15-yard touchdown pass, scrambling for eight yards on a third and six to keep that possession alive right before halftime. He accounted for 78 yards in the drive.
"It was a good drive," Slovis said. "We just called some explosive pass plays and connected on them. Played smart and being decisive and Jared made a great play being decisive in the middle of the field."
"That was a big-time drive," Narduzzi said. "The ball came out quick, he was decisive with it."
Sauls record
A career-long 51-yard field goal, into the open end, for Ben Saults on a 29-degree day with 18-degree wind chills.
The lefty made a 47-yarder for the first score of the game. He lost the starting job out of camp, but came on to hit 15 of 19 field goals so far this season.
"He's done an outstanding job," Narduzzi said. "Those are two long ones and the 51-yarder was into the wind. They had a returner back there, but he drove that thing through the uprights. We have a lot of confidence with him right now and he has a lot of confidence in himself."
Stats
· Wayne finished with 4 catches for 93 yards
· Panthers allowed 7 of 18 third down conversions, 3 of 5 on fourth down
· Panthers had a dropped punt snap and a blocked punt. Narduzzi said they can't have that happen, they tried to give them the game.
Senior Day
The following were named for Senior Day before the game. In today's world of extended eligibility, several still could play another season if they desire.
DL-Deslin Alexandre
OL-Carter Warren
DB Judson Tallandier
DL-John Morgan
LB-Tylar Wiltz
QB-Nick Patti
QB-Derek Kyler
RB-Vincent Davis
DB-Erick Hallett, II
LB-Myles Canton
OL-Jake Kradel
OL-Marcus Minor
OL-Gabe Houy
OL-Owen Drexel
OL-Dakota Peters
OL-Blake Zubovic
DL-Haba Baldonado
K-Sam Scarton
DL-Chris Maloney
Slovis, Wayne and Green all could have been recognized and said they will decide at a later date what their future holds.
Honoring Virginia
Panthers ran out of the tunnel before kickoff with a University of Virginia flag. It was the idea of Pitt Associate Athletic Director Amy Anderson, they had the flag made in a day and displayed it to honor the death of three of its football players this week.
"We stick with our brothers in Virginia," Narduzzi said. "Marquez took it out. I can't imagine what they are going through down there. Prayers continue, it's not easy and it's not over."
"That's a terrible situation," Wayne said. "Our hearts and our prayers go out to everybody affected to that situation. It was a fitting thing to do."
"We do have a heavy heart," Hill said.
"Throughout the week we were praying for the University of Virginia. You never know when it's your last day. We wanted to tell them we loved them."
Up Next
Panthers travel to Miami for the final ACC game of the year, 8p kickoff with
