Pitt upsets No. 2 Miami
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 host Pittsburgh stunned the second-ranked Hurricanes, 24-14, on Friday.
Pittsburgh’s victory sent shock waves through the College Football Playoff rankings.
The Panthers opened the door for No. 5 Wisconsin (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) to move into the top four with a victory over Minnesota (5-6, 2-6) on Saturday.
“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.”
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 22-yard 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 Pitt finished a disappointing season 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 ACC) were held to a season-low 229 yards.
“I guess I got complacent,” Rosier said. “I was just out there to be out there. I was going through my reads instead of dialing in and focusing in on every snap. After that it put this football game in perspective that at any moment I could get pulled. It hurts.”
(12) UCF 49, (19) South Florida 42: Mike Hughes returned a kickoff 95 yards for the final touchdown with 1:28 remaining as the Knights completed the first unbeaten regular season in program history with a wild victory over the Bulls in Orlando, Fla.
The Knights (11-0, 8-0 American Athletic) will host Memphis in the conference title game on Dec. 2.
The Bulls (9-2, 6-2) tied it at 42 when Quinton Flowers connected with Darnel Salomon for an 83-yard touchdown 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.
(13) TCU 45, Baylor 22: Kenny Hill threw touchdown passes to three receivers and ran 3 yards for another score as the Horned Frogs clinched a spot in the Big 12 championship game with a victory over the Bears in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Horned Frogs (10-2, 7-2 Big 12) will play No. 3 Oklahoma for the Big 12 title on Dec. 2.