As improbable as it seemed not too long ago, the Pitt football team will be playing Clemson in their first ACC Championship Game appearance in school history next Saturday. They did it with an emphatic second half showing last week against Wake Forest, beating the Demon Deacons 34-13 to run their conference record to 6-1 and clinch the Coastal division. Pitt has a great opportunity to cap off this roller coaster of a season with not just one, but two postseason games in the conference championship game and a to-be-determined bowl game. As much as Panther fans must be looking forward to these marquee contests, they run the risk of forgetting a key fact. That is that Pitt still has one other game remaining on their regular season schedule against the revenge-minded Miami Hurricanes. Though Miami are not as dangerous as last year’s division-winning squad, sitting at 6-5 this season, they can still “…[smack Pitt] in the mouth real hard”, to paraphrase Pat Narduzzi, if Pitt gets caught looking ahead. Regardless of what this year’s team has accomplished already, this weekend’s game is vital for several reasons.

Now obviously, we all want Pitt to win this weekend because as fans, we want them to win every game they play. This goes beyond simply preferring an 8-4 regular season to a 7-5 regular season. Firstly, the Panthers are on one heck of a roll right now, having won 5 of their last 6 and 4 in a row coming off of their bye week. In those 4 wins, Pitt beat their opposition by a 41-23 score on average and out-gained them by over 200 yards per game (518-316). This even includes the one defensive outlier of the group where Pitt gave up 45 points and 619 yards to Duke while triumphing 54-45. The fact is Pitt is one of the hottest teams in college football right now and they need to keep it going. With tests coming in the ACC Championship Game and whichever bowl game Pitt gets selected to appear in, they need to come out strong against Miami to keep this momentum going. One needs only look at this same Miami squad to get an example of the affect a let-down in a technically meaningless game can have. Last year, the Hurricanes came to Pittsburgh undefeated as one of the hottest teams in college football. We all know what happened next. After losing to Pitt, they laid an egg in the ACC Championship Game, losing 38-3 to Clemson. Then then followed that up with a 34-24 loss to Wisconsin in the Orange Bowl. Miami was already likely not as good as their undefeated record indicated last year, so maybe let-downs were in the cards regardless of what happened a year ago at Heinz Field. However, the fact is that Miami was on a roll and it seemed to all fall apart after they got tripped up by the Panthers.

Another reason to take this game seriously, is due to the unfortunate fact that Center Jimmy Morrissey is out for the season. Left Tackle Stefano Millin’s touchdown scamper in the closing minutes against Wake Forest brought back fond memories of Brian O’Neill doing the same against Georgia Tech a couple of seasons ago and may end up winning the Senior his own Piesman Trophy. However, Morrissey was also injured on the play and, though it initially appeared he would be good to go for the remaining games, it was later revealed that he would be forced to miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury. The loss of Morrissey hurts as, despite being a former walk-on, he is a two-year starter at Center and an argument could be made that he’s Pitt’s best Offensive Lineman. Just the previous week he had been named the ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week. The injury will require some shuffling on the line as, in all likelihood, Right Guard Connor Dintino, who has experience playing Center, will shift over to take over at the position. This means that Redshirt Freshman Bryce Hargrove, who has been utilized as a sixth lineman in certain formations this season, will slot in as the new Right Guard. It often takes time for an Offensive Line unit to gel, so with the new configuration in the interior, it’s important that they get game experience together before facing a monster Clemson Defensive Line.

When it all comes down to it though, the biggest reason for Pitt to not disappoint this weekend has to do with their potential bowl destination. Right now, the best case result for the Panthers is to win the ACC and earn a bid to one of the prestigious New Year’s Six bowl games, either the Peach or Fiesta. Unfortunately, regardless of this weekend’s outcome, Pitt will be heavy underdogs when they square off against Clemson. Luckily for Pitt, the Tigers are almost certain to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff, especially if they win the ACC Championship. In that case, the ACC still gets a team in a New Year’s Six bowl, to be filled by the next highest team in the College Football Playoff rankings. Currently, Pitt trails Syracuse as the 2nd highest ranked team, with the Orange checking in at #20 and the Panthers sitting at #24. Pitt will need help from Boston College, who plays Syracuse this weekend, but even that may not be enough for the Panthers to play themselves into position for a New Year’s Six bowl. Regardless of what happens between the Eagles and the Orange though, a loss to Miami would definitely keep them out should they also lose to Clemson.

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