Pitt rallies past Syracuse in OT
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh's Darrin Hall ran for 107 yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score in overtime, as the Panthers rallied past Syracuse 44-37 on Saturday.
Hall's 3-yard burst on the opening possession of the extra period put the Panthers up and Pitt sophomore defensive back Therran Coleman picked off Syracuse's Eric Dungey in the end zone on the Orange's first offensive snap to give the Panthers a stirring victory.
"Our kids needed that one," Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said after his team ended a two-game losing streak.
Qadree Ollison ran for 192 yards and a score for the Panthers (3-3, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who weathered a 75-minute lightning delay and a late surge by the Orange to beat Syracuse (4-2, 1-2) for the eighth straight time at Heinz Field.
The Orange trailed by 10 in the third quarter but pushed in front 37-34 with 5:53 left in regulation only to let it slip away while losing late for the second consecutive week.
Pitt's Alex Kessman hit a 45-yard field goal to tie it with 8 seconds to go and Hall, Ollison and the offensive line did the rest in overtime.
"The line said, 'Coach, keep running it, we got you,'" Narduzzi said.
Dungey completed 18 of 38 passes for 195 yards with a touchdown and two picks during an erratic day in which he also ran for a team-high 70 yards and a touchdown.
Syracuse head coach Dino Babers pointed to the game as a test of his team's maturity following a draining loss to ACC-power Clemson last week. Early on it looked like Syracuse had finally grown up. The Orange raced to a quick 14-0 lead less than 10 minutes in.
The Panthers, however, found their footing behind a defense that kept Dungey off balance and occasionally off his feet.
Pitt ripped off 27 of the game's next 30 points — including Ollison's long touchdown sprint, Dane Jackson's fumble return following a Dungey fumble and a 68-yard catchand-run by Rafael AraujoLopes — to go up 27-17 just 48 seconds into the third quarter.
Then the deluge hit, sending the teams retreating to the locker rooms for more than an hour. Pitt's momentum vanished when the game resumed and the Orange responded.
Just not enough for Syracuse to get it together on the road. The Orange are just 4-18 away from the Carrier Dome in conference play since joining the ACC in 2013, including a 1-8 mark under Babers.
"We didn't give it away," Babers said.
Maybe, but the Orange didn't do much late to stop the Panthers from taking it either.