Pitt offense explodes early in 45-34 win over Louisville

PITTSBURGH -- In their four games prior to Saturday afternoon's contest against Louisville, the Pitt offense combined for just 29 points in the first half.

On Saturday, it took the Panthers just 30 minutes to hang up 42, which spearheaded a 45-34 win over the Cardinals at Heinz Field.

Pitt (8-3, 6-1) scored 28 points in the 2nd quarter alone, including a stellar 35-yard pass and catch score from Nate Peterman to the electric Tyler Boyd, which opened the barrage of scoring in the quarter.

Peterman tossed all four of his touchdowns in the 2nd quarter, finishing his day with 232 yards on 22 of 34 passing.

Boyd caught 11 of Peterman’s tosses for 103 yards on the day, as well as tallying up 4 carries for 50 yards.

The Panthers offense racked up 476 total yards, which was facilitated in large part by the tough running of Ollison, who posted 152 yards with one touchdown. 

Ollison became just the fifth running back in Pitt history to eclipse the 1,000 yard plateau in a freshman season, as the rookie back brought his season total to 1,018 yards.

“He just becomes more and more confident and he’s a powerful runner,” said coach Pat Narduzzi.  “We still got three more years of him, and he’s going to get better and better.”

Both Peterman and Ollison helped as catalysts to 8 of 16 on 3rd down, and scoring on all four red zone chances.

As successful as Pitt’s offense was in the first half, the opposite end of the spectrum appeared in the latter 30 minutes of play, where the Panthers achieved just three points—a Chris Blewitt 18-yard field goal with 5:25 left in the game—yet would surprisingly be all that they would need to escape.

Including a Lamar Jackson to Jamari Staples 49-yard touchdown pass play with just three seconds left in the first half, Louisville posted 17 unanswered points to bring the Panthers lead to just 8 points after Jackson called his own number on a two-yard rush to cap an 8-play, 61-yard drive with 12:55 left in the 4th quarter.

“We talked about it at the half, I said ‘hey, we aren’t worried about winning this game, it’s just by how many points are we going to win this game,” a confident Narduzzi said.  “That’s kind of the attitude.  We knew we weren’t going to lose the game.”

Louisville’s offense made sure of Narduzzi’s prophecy, as they finished with 354 total yards, including 141 yards on 9 of 17 from Jackson, the backup quarterback who replaced starter Kyle Bolin in the first half, but never answered the bell on the Panthers’ bend-don’t-break defense that shined its brightest when forcing a turnover on downs at their own 41-yard line, forcing an arid incomplete pass. 

Ejuan Price, who helped create pressure on the 4th down and three play, finished with 10 tackles and five sacks, a feat not accomplished since Bryan Knight did so in 2000.

“When you get five sacks you’re doing something special,” Narduzzi said of Price’s explosive performance.  “Early in that first quarter I was like, ‘they can’t block Ejuan.’  I mean he was just staying low, coming around the corner with the speed rush.  He’s fast.  He’s feeling it.  I’m proud of him.”

Price and the Panthers’ defense allowed just 10 points in the second half, including holding Louisville’s offense to just 3 of 13 on third down conversions, and getting to the quarterback seven times.

“Defensively we played pretty good,” Narduzzi said.  “Give Louisville credit, they got themselves back into play game and made some plays, but we made more than them.”

The Panthers will look to stay hot and chase consecutive win number three as they host Miami to close the season this Friday. Game time is set for noon.

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