With the 2014 Pitt season winding down and the Panthers bowl chances all but over, the program can look back on all the games the defense lost leads and ultimately lost games that led them home for the holidays.
Yesterday was no different as Matt House’s unit gave up another game-winning drive with less than a minute left and Pitt fell to North Carolina 40-35 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, NC.
The FCS level play of the Pitt defense also overshadowed what was another solid effort by the Pitt offense.
It started on the Panthers first possession of the first quarter when sophomore RB James Conner was once again fantastic. After a 7 yard gain by Conner, senior RB Isaac Bennett got into the act and added 10 yards of his own before Conner took his second carry 7 yards and then his third carry 56 yards into the end zone. It should be worth noting the excellent run blocking by the Panthers offensive line this season. Pitt led 7-0.
After forcing two North Carolina punts, mainly to due Tar Heels receivers dropping wide-open passes, Pitt got back to work. True freshman RB Chris James burst for 16 yards that was eventually followed up by the Panthers taking to the air. Pitt redshirt sophomore QB Chad Voytik found junior TE JP Holtz for 4 and 7 yards on consecutive plays before connecting with phenom sophomore WR Tyler Boyd for 34 yards on yet another highlight reel play.
Conner went right back to work from there and tote the rock 16 yards for the easy score and Pitt led 14-0 through the end of the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, the Panthers set up a long 45 FG attempt by Chris Blewitt that was easily blocked by the Tar Heels and Pitt failed to go up by 17.
With the Tar Heels in the hole after a false start penalty, Pitt tackled North Carolina RB Khris Francis for a 1 yard loss that eventually set-up a 3rd and 16 play. That’s when Panthers redshirt sophomore safety Reggie Mitchell was flagged for a 15 yard pass interference call and an automatic Tar Heels first down.
After a couple of errant passes by North Carolina junior QB Marquise Williams, the Tar Heels found themselves once again in 3rd and long. Williams would easily find sophomore Tar Heels sophomore WR Bug Howard wide-open for 16 yards and a first down.
Tar Heels sophomore RB TJ Logan then shredded the Panthers defense for runs of 5, 12 and 10 yards that eventually set up another read-option QB draw in which Williams would waltz into the endzone untouched from 23 yards out. Pitt led 14-7.
After trading punts on the next two series, Pitt went back to superstar Boyd. James first gained a yard to the 50 yard line to set-up Voytik, who found Boyd on a pretty slant pattern and took the rock to the house. Pitt led 21-7.
Boyd would finish the day with 5 grabs and 160 yards and 1 TD. He now has 57 catches for 951 yards and 6 TDs on the season.
As been the theme of the 2014 Pitt football season, the 14 point lead wouldn’t last long.
On the Tar Heels next series, Williams first lost 3 yards but then gained 8 yards before taking to the air. He found junior North Carolina WR Quinshad Davis for 7 yards then senior TE Jack Tabb open for 12 yards. After a few minor runs, Williams once again found Howard for 10 yards before getting sacked by Pitt freshman DE Rori Blair at the Pitt 33 yard line.
Williams then tossed a nice pass to Tar Heels junior WR Kendrick Singleton for 15 yards to the Pitt 23. Six plays later, Williams burst into the end zone. For some unknown reason, North Carolina Head Coach Jeff Fedora elected to go for 2 and the conversion failed. Pitt led 21-13 at half.
Despite an 8 point Pitt lead at half, the Tar Heels had the ball first in the second half. North Carolina wasted little time to score. Williams first connected with Logan (7 yards) and Howard (5 yards), before throwing the easy screen pass to sophomore WR Ryan Switzer who ran it untouched 63 yards into the endzone. The 2 point conversion once again failed and Pitt led 21-19.
The Panthers offense kept fighting despite knowing scoring was fruitless when the Panthers defense couldn’t stop the Tar Heels. Conner started the series with runs of 6 and 4 yards before Voytik found Boyd for 21 yards. Voytik then added a 9 yard run before connecting with Boyd again for 20 more yards.
After that, it became the James Conner show. Conner ate up the North Carolina defense with runs of 6, 1, 7, 3 and eventually scored on a 2 yard TD scamper to put Pitt up 28-19.
The Pitt lead wasn’t safe of course. Williams tossed a 17 yard pass to Logan, who then ran an additional 8 yards. Williams went back to the air and found Tar Heels sophomore WR Mack Hollins 10 yards and then true freshman WR Austin Proehl for 5 yards.
After Panthers DT Darryl Render was flagged 15 yards for roughing the passer penalty, Williams found Davis for 20 yards before handing the ball off to sophomore North Carolina RB Charles Brunson 17 yards untouched and easy score. The Pitt lead was cut to 28-26 and ended that way after 3 quarters.
To begin the 4th Quarter, Williams and the Tar Heels needed little time to score. After a 3 yard run, Williams took yet another read-option play 45 yards to the house. He then converted the 2 point conversion to Jack Tabb and North Carolina led 34-28.
Williams finished the day 23 for 40 and 276 yards passing and 1 TD. On the ground, the North Carolina QB shredded the Pitt defense for 19 carries and 122 yards and 3 TDs. TJ Logan also had 18 carries for 92 yards and 1 TD for the Tar Heels.
The Pitt offense had one last scoring drive left in the tank. Conner ran 8 and 3 yards before Voytik found junior TE JP Holtz 7 yards. Conner tacked on runs of 11 and 7 yards and was aided by Bennett for 2 yards and Voytik for 2 more yards before taking another handoff 22 yards to the endzone. Pitt led 35-34.
Conner finished the day with 30 carries and 220 yards and 4 TDs. He now has 250 carries for 1562 yards and 21 TDs on the season, a few shy of the ACC rushing TD record in a season.
Voytik finished the day 11 for 16 for 218 yards and 1 TD and also added 10 carries for 41 yards.
Despite the 1 point deficit, North Carolina had 3:33 left on the clock and had no trouble salting the game. Logan had two runs of 6 yards each before Williams found Mack Hollins open on 3rd and 10 to keep the drive alive. Logan ran 14 yards and Williams tacked on runs of 2, 6 and 6 yards. Then Williams threw the easy slant to Davis for 23 yards which set up Logan for the winning score 1 yard out to put the Tar Heels up for good 40-35.
The Pitt defense surrendered 6 TDs on the Tar Heels last 8 possessions including 276 yards passing and 226 yards rushing yesterday. The Panthers are second to last in total tackles in the ACC, have no defensive TDs and only 8 INTs and 3 fumble recoveries on the season. They have also yielded 315 total points and could approach the 1996 Panthers who surrendered 430 points, the worst Pitt defense in over 40 years.
Next up: Syracuse at Pitt, Sat 11/22 at 3:30pm EST – ESPN3