Pitt rallies with 22 unanswered points in 2nd half to defeat Cincinnati, 28-27

Perhaps the belief that helped Pitt crawl purposefully out of a huge deficit to record a 28-27 victory against Cincinnati started when the embarrassment of 3-9 started to settle into players’ brains.

The belief appeared to grow over the winter and spring months and throughout summer training camp until it manifested itself Saturday inside Nippert Stadium — after help Friday night from coach Pat Narduzzi — into a historic comeback victory for the 2-0 Panthers. Pitt’s rally after trailing 27-6 less than one minute from the end of the third quarter is the program’s largest comeback victory in the second half in the past 53 years.

“I told them (Saturday) night before they went to bed, I couldn’t be more confident about what we can do,” said Pitt’s 10th-year coach whose postgame smile was wider than it was the night Pitt won the ACC championship in 2021.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the effort they gave. We came up in the fourth quarter and said we’re going to win this thing. It shows true character. There was never a time on the sideline where our guys didn’t think we could get it done.”

Pitt struggled so badly for the first 40 minutes of game time that quarterback Eli Holstein found it necessary to apologize to his head coach.

“First thing he said to me after the game (was) ‘That will never happen again.’ That’s kind of who he is,” Narduzzi said.

Narduzzi said Holstein, whose scrambling ability kept several plays alive, remained steady throughout the game, even in the first half when he threw an interception in the end zone and missed on 13 of his first 21 attempts.

“I was thinking too much, trying to do too much,” Holstein said. “That whole (first) half is on me. I take responsibility for that.”

Holstein finished with good statistics, completing 20 of 35 passes for 302 yards and three touchdowns while leading consecutive scoring drives of 75, 82, 94 and 63 yards. Ben Sauls won it with 17 seconds left by kicking a 35-yard field goal. It was Sauls’ third of the day, including a career-high 53-yarder on the last play of the first half.

Those two players had plenty of help.

Two of Holstein’s touchdown passes of 11 and 38 yards went to wide receiver Konata Mumpfield, who also caught a 34-yarder to bring Sauls comfortably in range for the game-winner. Mumpfield finished with five receptions for 123 yards.

Another touchdown went to transfer running back Desmond Reid, who also was smiling after the game after he had been limping through much of the fourth quarter. Of his 56-yard catch-and-run, Reid said, “I knew it was going to be a touchdown before the play. Man-to-man coverage, one on one with the linebacker. I just had to beat him. I did.”

Reid (5-foot-8, 175 pounds) made good use of his 25 touches, catching six passes for 106 yards and carrying 19 times for 148. Add it up, and the sum is more than half of Pitt’s total of 498 yards. If Narduzzi said, “Thank you, NCAA transfer rules,” after the game, who could blame him?

“Can’t say enough (about Reid’s effort),” the coach said. “I’m sure he’ll be player of the week in the ACC. If he’s not, something’s wrong.”

The comeback appeared to hit a dead end, however, when Pitt still trailed 27-25 with 5:40 left after failing to convert 2-point conversions after its final two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Narduzzi said listening to analytics made him decide to go for two.

“Recommendation when we were down 21 was to go for two (after the first touchdown),” he said. “I didn’t think momentum-wise that was the smart decision.”

Later, he felt the need avoid overtime.

“All the analytics tell you you need to go for it,” he said. “If you get one of those, you’re possibly playing for the win. We’re not playing to tie. We’re playing to win.”

The 22 unanswered points in 15:29 would not have been possible without Pitt’s defense finding itself. The Panthers finally put pressure on Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who completed 22 of 38 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns.

The Bearcats’ managing only four first downs and no touchdowns in the game’s last quarter-and-a-half was as responsible for the outcome as anything that occurred throughout the afternoon.

Pitt recorded six quarterback hurries and three sacks, but Cincinnati’s 449 yards of total offense won’t be especially popular in Sunday’s video review.

“We weren’t dialed into our keys,” linebacker Rasheem Biles said.

“I don’t know how many sacks we had,” Narduzzi said, “but we didn’t get enough.”

In the end, Narduzzi likes how his team got better as the game progressed. But Sorsby victimizing Pitt’s secondary early and running back Corey Kiner rushing for 149 yards on 20 carries will keep the defense humble this week.

“They have a good football team,” Narduzzi said of the Bearcats. “But we had a better football team today.”