Panthers stave off upset bid
debut.
The debuts of quarterback Max Browne and offensive coordinator Shawn Watson weren’t quite as stellar, with Pitt’s offense faltering throughout the second half after a run-heavy game plan to start.
Browne was 17 of 24 for 140 yards and a touchdown in the Southern California graduate transfer’s first game with the Panthers, but with plenty of chances to slam the door on a Football Championship Subdivision opponent, Pitt instead limped into overtime after redshirt freshman Alex Kessman pushed a 38-yard field goal wide right as time expired.
“I think, obviously, everyone wants to have that first game be a blowout, but we were forced to stand in there and have a fistfight,” Browne said. “A lot of teams may have to wait till Week 3 or 4 to have their first test; we got it Week 1, right away.”
It’s not exactly supposed to come from an FCS foe — albeit one of the best programs the second tier of Division I football has to offer — and for a while, everything played out according to script. Pitt’s will was imposed, its defensive concerns briefly assuaged, and all that was left to settle was the final score.
The Panthers gashed the Penguins for 146 yards in the first half and allowed just one single, solitary rushing yard on seven futile attempts. Qadree Ollison, who started at running back, finished with 91 yards on the ground and 35 more through the air, but most of that damage was done in the first 30 minutes when he rushed for two touchdowns. The lone score in the second quarter came not from a veteran back, but from freshman A.J. Davis, from a yard out.
But for all that worked early on, just as much went awry later. Youngstown State’s rally started with a 1yard touchdown run by New Castle alumnus Tevin McCaster inside of five minutes to play in the third quarter.
It took almost 15 minutes more, but the Penguins struck again, on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Hunter Wells to tailback Christian Turner with 6:10 left, making it 21-14. On Pitt’s next possession, Justus Reed found Browne near midfield for a strip-sack, forcing and recovering the fumble to set up the Penguins at Pitt’s 42.
Two plays later, Wells found Turner out of the backfield like deja vu for a 42-yard touchdown pass to tie the score with 3:35 to go.
“At halftime, I told our guys, ‘Hey, this is too easy. Let’s try to slow it down a bit. I want to have a little adversity in the game,’ ” Narduzzi joked. “They listened to me, I guess.”
Browne managed to bring the offense to the Penguins 20 on the ensuing drive, but that’s when Kessman missed the mark for the second time.
And though overtime wasn’t in the plan, Pitt escaped with a 1-0 record to take to Beaver Stadium in six days.
“A win is a win, but at the end of the day, we can always do better,” defensive end Dewayne Hendrix said. “I’ll leave it at that.”