Over the past 30 years, Pitt has shown a propensity for winning a game they shouldn’t and losing games they shouldn’t. Last year (2013), Pitt upset #24 Notre Dame but lost to Navy. The year before (2012), Pitt lost to Youngstown State and UCONN (and trailed 24-0 at half) but somehow beat #13 Virginia Tech at home. Yesterday was no different. Pitt looked weak and ineffective against a very below average Akron team and lost 21-10 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
Akron had a very simple game plan and that was to load the box and stop Pitt sophomore RB James Conner from gashing them on the ground. It worked. Conner finished the day with 29 carries, 92 yards and no touchdowns.
But once again, Pitt’s passing game was ineffective and led to yet another second half meltdown.
After a punt-fest first quarter in which both teams failed to move the ball, the Panthers finally broke through midway through the second quarter on a 10 play, 80 yard drive that resulted in a 8 yard TD pass from QB Chad Voytik to WR Manasseh Garner. Conner started the drive with a punishing 9 yard run, followed by a 10 yard jet-sweep run by Tyler Boyd and later a 10 yard draw play to RB Rachid Ibrahim. All told, Pitt led 7-0.
The Zips answered right back. First, RB Conor Hundley ran 12 yards for a first down. QB Kyle Pohl immediately found Zach D’Orazio for another 11 yards. Then, Pohl completed the drive with ease by hitting WR Mykel Traylor-Bennett for a 52 yard TD, a play in which Pitt corner Ryan Lewis slipped and failed to make the easy tackle. Just like that, 3 plays for 75 yards and a TD in a stunning 52 seconds. The game was tied 7-7 at half.
Like last week, Pitt led 17-7 and got outscored 17-3 in the second half against Iowa, the Panthers led 7-0 against Akron yesterday and got outscored 21-3 the rest of the way.
A big part of the problem has been the passing game. Voytik finished the day 20 for 34 for 220 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. However, the numbers alone don’t tell the entire story. Voytik continually stared down star WR Tyler Boyd, who faced double-coverage throughout the game. Boyd finished the day with only 6 catches for 72 yards. The net effect was a failure to move the ball in the air against a very poor Akron defense.
The Zips, conversely, were able to move the ball with relative ease. They dominated the line of scrimmage and this allowed RB Conor Hundley to run roughshod over Matt House’s porous defense on 19 carries for 148 yards.
Akron opened the second half with a 9 play, 75 yard drive that resulted in a RB Cody Rice 1 yard TD run to put Akron up 14-7, a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Rice finished the day with only 3 carries for 3 yards but he scored twice.
Pitt did try to make it interesting by answering the Zips with a 13 play, 47 yard drive that consumed 5:58 off the clock and ended with a 34 yard Chris Blewitt field goal. Voytik even hit WR Manasseh Garner twice for consecutive 12 yard passing plays. Akron led, though, 14-10 after 3 quarters.
However, the Zips sealed the game opening the 4th Quarter after a 10 play, 70 yard drive that ended with Rice’s second TD from 2 yards out to put Akron up for good, 21-10.
The loss for Pitt puts the football program into a major tailspin heading into the meat of the 2014 ACC schedule. Pitt will be huge underdogs at Virginia next Saturday.
Next up: Pitt at Virginia, 7:30pm EST – Root Sports TV Pittsburgh