Pitt shocks No. 2 Miami
“We had nothing but absolute faith and absolute belief we were gonna win this game,” junior running back Qadree Ollison said, “and it showed out there today.”
Led by Pickett — calmly, coolly and at times spectacularly starting at quarterback for the first time — Pitt’s victory might just keep previously unbeaten Miami (10-1, 7-1) out of the College Football Playoff when all is said and done. Pickett, who finished 18 of 29 for 193 yards passing and a touchdown with two rushing scores, guided Pitt past a top-two team at home for the first time in program history.
But his performance wasn’t the only gutsy one.
His defense came out hot and mostly stayed stingy, hurrying Miami quarterback Malik Rosier all game and holding the Hurricanes playmakers almost entirely in check. The Panthers defense also bided time until the most sensational play of Pickett’s burgeoning career, keeping and rushing for a 6-yard touchdown with 35 seconds left in the first half that gave Pitt a 10-7 lead at the break. He got hit on the play and bounced up into the air, but he crossed the goal line anyway and held onto the ball.
That was essentially a tone-setter for the second half, and coach Pat Narduzzi could feel it all going Pitt’s way ib his halftime interview onthe television broadcast.
“It happened in West Virginia when we knocked off No. 2, it happened in South Carolina and it’s happening in Pittsburgh today,” Narduzzi toldthe sideline reporter.
Miami had a chance to get back on track and seize the momentum in the second half, but the opening series went nowhere. In fact, neither side could get much going offensively after the break until Pickett’s 5-yard flip to Ollison with 1:47 left made it 17-7.
“At that point, I kind of figured we could establish our will against these guys and kick ‘em while they’re down,” said left tackle Brian O’Neill.
Indeed, Pitt again continued to clamp down as the defensive line generated pressure, the linebackers peppered in blitzes and the secondary covered star wideouts Ahmmon Richards and Braxton Berrios.
By that point, the Panthers were wildly cheering just about every stop, the crowd was frothing and Rosier was missing on seemingly every throw. Led by Ollison, Pitt’s ground game chewed up Miami’s front seven as the clock wound down, setting up Pickett’s final charge into the end zone.
Miami provided enough fireworks late to make things interesting, with a long touchdown pass and a recovered onside kick, but getting the ball back accomplished nothing. Senior Avonte Maddox couldn’t have closed his Pitt career in a better way, flying in off the corner and strip-sacking Rosier, recovered by Dewayne Hendrix to ice it.
“That was a big-time win and a big-time sack,” Narduzzi said of Maddox, who afterward proudly sported a makeshift Pitt version of Miami’s famed turnover chain given to him by a fan.
Pitt managed to go ahead early even with the real thing showing up twice in the first half, on two wonky giveaways by the Panthers. But in the end, Miami’s jewelry wasn’t enough to overcome Pitt’s belief, and Narduzzi’s halftime statement — call it a premonition, call it a guarantee, call it what you want — came true.
“I felt pretty good,” he said postgame. “I wouldn’t have said that if I didn’t feel pretty good. … Our guys believed, and that kind of just tells you what we have in that locker room.”
A team that won’t go to a bowl and finished 5-7, but couldn’t have done so in a better way.