Hurricanes fall flat, dent playoff hopes
PITTSBURGH — Miami’s perfect season is over. The Hurricanes can only hope their shot at a spot in the College Football Playoff isn’t gone, too.
Freshman quarterback Kenny Pickett ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as Pittsburgh stunned the second-ranked Hurricanes 24-14 in an Atlantic Coast Conference game on Friday afternoon.
Pickett bulled over from 6 yards in the first half, flipped a 5-yard shovel pass to Qadree Ollison in the third quarter to put the Panthers up 17-7 and gave Pitt (5-7, 3-5) all the cushion it would need with a 22-yard, fourth-down sprint to the end zone for a 24-7 advantage with 2:54 remaining.
Pickett completed 18 of 29 passes for 193 yards while adding 60 yards rushing in his first career start.
Malik Rosier completed 15 of 34 passes for 187 yards and two scores, but he was ineffective for most of the day. He even was replaced — albeit briefly — by backup Evan Schirreffs in the fourth quarter. The Hurricanes (10-1, 7-1) were held to a season-low 229 yards.
The Hurricanes still have only one loss and marquee wins over Virginia Tech and Notre Dame, but they have lived dangerously often this season. Their uninspired performance with a perfect season at stake — not the first time Miami has looked blah this season — could give the playoff committee an out on Miami if things get messy elsewhere.
But the ACC Coastal Division champions know that their meeting with No. 4 Clemson in the conference championship game next Saturday in Charlotte will serve as the ultimate arbiter on whether the Hurricanes are worthy of consideration for the College Football Playoff.
“I still think there’s an awful lot to play for,” Miami coach Mark Richt said. “We have no idea what’s going to happen in the big picture, how many teams lost a game on a Friday and came back and got in the top four? How many teams lost one game and won a conference championship and got right back in it? Who knows? So we don’t know.”
Flat at the start and flatter at the finish, the swagger the Hurricanes have played with during their rebirth under Richt evaporated against the Panthers, who were in control all the way.
Pitt took the lead for good when Pickett ran over Miami cornerback Jaquon Johnson and vaulted into the end zone with 35 seconds left in the first half for a 10-7 lead.