“And here comes the Hammer,” proclaimed Brent Musburger last season when 250 lb Pitt running back James Connor entered the game in a red zone possession last season against Notre Dame. Tonight, Boston College heard the same tune as Connor ran wild on the Eagles defense on 36 carries for 214 yards and a touchdown as Pitt rushed for a 30-20 victory.
Pitt drove deep into BC territory on its first possession but only settled for a long 49 yard field goal from PK Chris Blewitt, who was a perfect 3 for 3 from long distance.
Boston College responded on the subsequent drive that was largely aided by a read-option QB draw for 51 yards by 5th year Senior QB Tyler Murphy, who also finished the game 10 for 28 passing and 134 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs. RB Tyler Rouse scored shortly thereafter from a yard out to give BC its only lead of the game 7-3.
The Eagles later picked off an errant pass by redshirt sophomore Pitt QB Chad Voytik to the Pitt 29 yard line. The resulting series stalled and then BC placekicker Alex Howell missed a 46 yard field goal.
In the second quarter though, it was all Pitt. The Panthers offensive line started to block and opened holes for “The Hammer” James Connor as well as true freshman RB Chris James, who finished with the game with 5 carries for 20 yards.
Connor would eventually drive Pitt down to the BC 15 yard line on a series of power and counter running plays. Then, on 3rd and 10, Voytik hit superstar true sophomore WR Tyler Boyd on a corner route for a 15 yard TD pass to put Pitt back up 10-7 at the 13:08 mark of the 2nd Quarter.
Boyd was once again spectacular. He finished the night with 5 receptions for 72 yards and 2 TDs.
After Blewitt tacked on another 42 yard field goal to give Pitt a 13-7 lead, Voytik hit junior Tight End JP Holtz for a 9 yard gain and followed that up with a 22 yard strike to senior WR Manasseh Gardner at the BC 5 yard line.
Voytik then found Tyler Boyd on a crossing route for his second TD of the game to give Pitt the 20-7 lead, a score that the Panthers would take into halftime.
The song of the second half sounded very similar to the one in the first as “The Hammer” James Connor bruised his way to another 9 yard TD run to put Pitt up 27-7 at 5:15 mark of the 3rd Quarter.
Boston College quickly responded on a 4 play drive that resulted in a Tyler Murphy pretty 49 yard TD pass to a wide-open WR Shakim Phillips to pull the Eagles within striking range at 27-14.
Pitt later tacked on another 41 yard field goal by Blewitt and led 30-14 at the 9:53 mark of the 4th Quarter.
Tyler Murphy eventually rushed for a 2 yard BC score at the 1:12 mark late in the 4th but the Eagles missed the 2 point conversion and the game ultimately ended in a 30-20 Pitt victory.
Next up: at Florida International at 12pm EST on the FOX Sports 1 network.
Now this is Pitt football that I remember from many years ago…..Smash mouth, run and pass, everyone on the same page and great game planning by an excellent coach. Very good summation…hope you will be writing many more like this about Pitt over the next few months….the Bear