Pitt tops No. 2 Miami
Stunning upset puts Hurricanes’ playoff chances on shaky ground
Panthers end Hurricanes’ 15-game winning streak.
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 secondranked Hurricanes 24-14 on Friday. 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 10 and gave Pitt (5-7, 3-5 ACC) all the cushion it would need with a 22yard fourth-down sprint to the end zone with 2:54 remaining.
Pickett completed 18 of 29 passes for 193 yards and the one score while adding 60 yards rushing in his first career start as the Panthers finished a disappointing year with a stunner that could put a dent in the Hurricanes’ national title hopes.
Malik Rosier completed 15 of 34 for 187 yards and two scores but was ineffective for most of the day, even briefly getting replaced by backup Evan Schirreffs in the fourth quarter. The Hurricanes (10-1, 7-1) were held to a season-low 229 yards.
The Hurricanes stressed they’d learned their lesson after spotting Virginia a two-touchdown lead last week before recovering to extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 15 games. Yet Miami walked onto the Heinz Field turf in a weird spot.
The ACC Coastal Division champions are well aware their meeting with No. 4 Clemson in the conference championship game Dec. 2 will serve as the ultimate arbiter on whether the Hurricanes are worthy of consideration for the College Football Playoff, making the visit to Pittsburgh possibly irrelevant regardless of the outcome if the Hurricanes beat the defending national champions in Charlotte.
CENTRAL FLORIDA 49 SOUTH FLORIDA 42
Mike Hughes returned a kickoff 95 yards for the final touchdown with 1:28 remaining as the No. 15 Knights completed the first unbeaten regular season in program history with a wild victory over the Bulls in Orlando, Fla., to clinch the American Athletic Conference’s East Division title.
Central Florida (11-0, 8-0) will host Memphis in the conference title game Dec. 2.
Hughes’ touchdown capped a crazy 53-second span where the Knights took an eight-point lead, South Florida tied it and then the Knights took the lead for good. The Bulls (9-2, 6-2) tied it at 42 when Quinton Flowers connected with Darnel Salomon for an 83-yard score, and then found D’Ernest Johnson for a 2-point play. Flowers finished with 605 yards of total offense.
On the ensuing kickoff, Hughes found an opening on the right side and scored.
South Florida drove to midfield late, but Mitchell Wilcox fumbled and it was recovered by Chequan Burkett.
IOWA 56, NEBRASKA 14
Akrum Wadley ran for 159 yards and three touchdowns, and the Hawkeyes scored 28 points in less than a seven-minute span over the halves on its way to a rout of the Cornhuskers at Lincoln, Neb., in what could have been coach Mike Riley’s last game with Nebraska.
Tight end Noah Fant returned to his home state and caught three passes for a career-high 116 yards and two scores, and Iowa (7-5, 4-5 Big Ten) won for the first time in three games since its upset of Ohio State on Nov. 4.
Nebraska (4-8, 3-6) lost four straight to end the season, finished with its fewest wins since 1961 and lost five home games for the first time since 1957. Riley is 19-19 in three seasons, with last year’s loss at Iowa starting a 10-losses-in-14-games slide.
VIRGINIA TECH 10 VIRGINIA 0
Josh Jackson threw a touchdown pass, and the No. 24 Hokies blanked the Cavaliers in Charlottesville, Va., for their 14th consecutive win in the series.
Virginia Tech (9-3, 5-3 ACC) limited Virginia to 5 rushing yards and 191 overall in posting their third shutout of the season.
The Cavaliers (6-6, 3-5) had two golden opportunities for touchdowns, but Juan Thornhill slipped after intercepting a pass with nothing but grass in front of him, and speedy wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus caught a slant pattern that looked like it might go 89 yards, but he was caught from behind by Deon Newsome after just 28.
TROY 62, TEXAS ST. 9
Brandon Silvers threw for 380 yards and four touchdowns, and the Trojans rolled to a win over the Bobcats in Troy, Ala.
Silvers completed 22 of 30 passes and is second in Troy history having accounted for 80 touchdowns and fifth in conference history with 10,133 passing yards. Jordan Chunn picked up 80 yards on 10 carries and set the school record with his 46th touchdown.
Troy (9-2, 6-1 Sun Belt) finished with 641 yards and limited Texas State (2-10, 1-7) to 300. The Trojans turned four Bobcats turnovers into 24 points.