Pitt maintains late-season surge, beats Miami, 42-16, for 4th consecutive victory
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With little at stake but personal pride and an eighth victory, Pitt rolled over Miami, 42-16, on Saturday night to end the regular season on a four-game winning streak.
There will be no conference championship this season for the Panthers (8-4, 5-3 ACC), but their 19 victories in back-to-back seasons represent the most since 2008-2009 (19). Miami (5-7, 3-5) ended its season one victory short of bowl eligibility.
Also, the victory was coach Pat Narduzzi’s 61st in eight seasons, moving him into second place past Pop Warner among all-time Pitt coaches.
A Pitt victory against Miami anywhere is rare. This one was only Narduzzi’s second in eight games, but Pitt’s largest all-time margin of victory in the series. Pitt most recently won at Miami in 2014, but had not won there before that since 1963.
“Guys really locked in over this month,” senior linebacker SirVocea Dennis said. “We wanted to be bowl eligible. We wanted to finish out with a winning streak. We got that done. What else can you ask for?”
“We go 4-o in November. It’s a November to remember,” coach Pat Narduzzi said after the game on the ACC Network.
Playing without injured defensive linemen Calijah Kancey and Habukkuk Baldonado, Pitt opened the game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., with interceptions on its first two defensive series. The Panthers opened their previous road game — Nov. 12 at Virginia — in the same manner.
On the first interception, Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke was pressured by linebacker Tylar Wiltz, landed on his previously injured shoulder, left the game and did not return.
The pass was intercepted by Dennis, who caught the football at the Pitt 3-yard line and returned it to the Miami 30 to set up Pitt’s first touchdown, a 2-yard burst by Izzy Abanikanda.
Kedon Slovis’ completions of 19 and 8 yards to Jared Wayne and tight end Gavin Bartholomew set up the touchdown.
Jacurri Brown replaced Van Dyke, and his second pass was picked off by Pitt safety Javon McIntyre, a redshirt freshman who was recently hospitalized with an illness and lost 15 pounds. He fell down while catching the football. “If I had stayed up, it would have been a pick 6,” he said.
Overall, Miami used three quarterbacks before the end of the first quarter. After the interception, Brown quickly was pulled from the game for Jake Garcia.
Despite the big lead, Pitt wasn’t perfect in the first half and lost a prime touchdown opportunity when Abanikanda was stopped twice for no gain from the 1 on third and fourth downs. Abanikanda, the ACC’s leading rusher, was close on the third-down run and appeared to reach the football over the goal line, but the play was not reviewed.
The Hurricanes committed three turnovers in the first half, and the only one that didn’t result in a Pitt touchdown was Miami’s goal-line stand.
It didn’t matter to the big picture. Pitt held a 14-0 lead at the end the first quarter and 28-0 at halftime, the second time in three games the Panthers have scored 28 points in the first half. Abanikanda recovered to finish the game with 111 yards on 15 carries, his ninth time over the century mark this season. C’Bo Flemister added 89 on seven carries, including a 26-yard touchdown.
Overall, Pitt ran for 248 yards, a nice total, but only the Panthers’ third-best this season.
“Might be their best game of the year since West Virginia,” Narduzzi said of his offensive players. “We connected on everything.”
Pitt seized a 14-0 lead on Jared Wayne’s 66-yard catch-and-run touchdown. The Hurricanes had several opportunities to tackle Wayne on his first score, but he slipped several attempts and gained 53 yards after the catch.
Wayne also caught a two more touchdown passes from Slovis: a 26-yarder with 31 seconds left in the first half and 7-yarder late in the third quarter.
Slovis and Wayne continued their late-season connection. Pitt’s quarterback completed 18 of 28 passes for 256 yards with Wayne catching 11 for 199. In the past five games, Wayne has 30 receptions for 595 yards and four touchdowns.
“Still not a perfect game,” Wayne said. “Just a glimpse of it.”
Abanikanda added an 11-yard touchdown in the second quarter, two plays after safety Erick Hallett II forced and recovered a fumble by Miami tight end Will Mallory at the Hurricanes’ 19.