PITTSBURGH (EYT) — Pitt played well for nearly three quarters against No. 20 North Carolina State Saturday at Heinz Field.
(Photo: Jester Weah, Pitt. Photo by Paul Burdick. Check out more of Burdick’s work here)
Unfortunately for the Panthers, football games are four quarters long.
After forging a 14-all tie at halftime that lasted through the first 12-plus minutes of the third quarter, Pitt saw the Wolfpack strike twice in just over five minutes on its way to a 35-17 win.
Watch Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi’s postgame media conference. Video courtesy of UPMC Pitt LiveWire
A strong first half by Ben DiNucci melted away into the Pitt quarterback being benched in the second half for freshman Kenny Pickett, and the Panthers play calling was strange at times, to say the least, including a fourth-and-10 option call from the NC State 42-yard line with 3:27 left and Pitt trailing by 11, 28-17, that ended up being fumbled for a loss of two yards.
The second half of the second half meltdown for Pitt ruined a feel-good first half that saw the Panthers defense allow just one touchdown — a punt return was the other Wolfpack score.
Nyheim Hines scored both of the touchdowns for NC State in the first half and both were long scores.
Hines tied the game at seven on an 83-yard run two plays after Pitt had grabbed a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter on a 33-yard DiNucci to Jester Weah touchdown pass.
The junior running back then gave the Wolfpack the lead when he returned a punt 92 yards to the house with 55 seconds left in the first quarter.
Pitt was able to tie the game before halftime when Darrin Hall ended a 10-play, 69-yard drive with a 1-yard run with 2:38 left in the half.
The momentum seemed to be with the Panthers when Carson Wise missed a 34-yard field goal just before the first-half horn.
But Pitt’s offense struggled at the start of the second half with a pair of three-and-outs and another drive that stalled.
Then, after Jakobi Meyers gave NC State a 21-14 lead on a 3-yard touchdown catch from Ryan Finley with 2:32 left in the third quarter, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi went to Pickett, who had his redshirt burned on the last play of the loss at Syracuse last week after Max Browne was lost for the season with an injury, in place of DiNucci, who finished the day 19 of 32 for 170 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
The freshman’s first drive was a three-and-out, and NC State answered with a nine-play, 73-yard drive that ended on a Jaylen Samuels 1-yard run that made it 28-14 with 11:55 left in the game.
Pickett’s second drive was a bit more fruitful as he helped Pitt go 51 yards in nine plays. But after reaching the NC State 28-yard line, where the Panthers had a first-and-10, the drive only picked up two more yards and Narduzzi sent out Alex Kessman for a 43-yard field goal that cut the deficit to 11 but still left Pitt down two scores with 7:56 to play.
Pitt’s defense rewarded its coach by forcing a three-and-out, and the Panthers put together a drive that saw them pick up a first down at the Wolfpack 42-yard line. But after three straight incompletions by Pickett, the Panthers strangely called an option play on fourth-and-10, and the pitch was fumbled by Hall and recovered by Weah but for a 2-yard loss giving NC State the ball back.
The Wolfpack then put the game away with a 6-play, 59-yard drive that ended with a 40-yard touchdown run by Samuels with 2:01 to go.
At that points, DiNucci reentered the game for Pitt at quarterback but fumbled the ball on a third-and-22 play that NC State recovered to end the game.
Watch DiNucci’s postgame comments. Video courtesy of UPMC Pitt LiveWire.
Pickett was just 5 of 13 for 61 yards while rushing for 18 yards.
Pitt’s run game struggled again managing just 95 yards led by Pickett and Jordan Whitehead, who also had 18 yards.
Weah had a 100-yard receiving game with seven catches for 106 yards.
Hines rushed for 135 yards for NC State with Samuels adding 62 yards. Finley was 14 of 25 passing for 198 yards and a touchdown with Kelvin Harmon catching three balls for 113 yards.
Pitt falls to 2-5 overall and 0-3 in the ACC with NC State improving to 6-1, 4-0. Pitt is back in action at 12:20 p.m. Saturday at Duke.
Watch game highlights. Video courtesy of UPMC Pitt LiveWire
