Miami Throttles Pitt, #2 Clemson On Deck

Football purists will tell you the worst way to get beaten is by allowing your opponent to run down your throat. Its demoralizing and for some, puts your manhood in question. Ok, perhaps that’s going overboard but the gist of it is, if you can’t stop the run you will never win ball games.

For others, though, watching your opponent play pitch and catch with your secondary is no less demoralizing. After several years of watching Matt House misalign Pitt’s defense as Defensive Coordinator, Pitt has not seen much improvement in terms of yards allowed via the pass (aka defense against the pass). In fact the Panthers are currently ranked near the bottom (as they have been all season) in the FBS in pass defense under DC Josh Conklin.

This past Saturday it was no different as the Miami Hurricanes routed Pitt 51-28 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL.

Miami’s junior QB Brad Kaaya threw for 356 yards on 32 for 47 passing and 4 TDs en route to the easy victory.

The game started out exactly as most fans would expect. Kaaya threw 12 straight completions and was never pressured once. The Pitt defense looked lost and confused as the Canes completed simple patterns for big gains.

On the Canes first drive, Kaaya completed 4 easy passes that ended in a 12 yard scoring play to David Njoku. Miami 7 Pitt 0.

Pitt then exacted a small piece of revenge when superstar (and possibly impending All-American special teams player) Quadree Henderson returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards to paydirt and tied the score at 7-7.

On the Canes second drive, Kaaya completed 6 more easy passes that ended in a 1 yard scoring play to WR Stacy Coley. Miami 14 Pitt 7.

Pitt then punted on its first series of the game and forced a 46 yard Canes field goal by Michael Badgley. Miami 17 Pitt 7.

On Pitt’s second offensive series, the Panthers were able to move the ball.

Senior QB Nate Peterman first found junior tailback George Aston for 6 yards. This was followed by a small run by superstar junior tailback James Conner. After Aston tacked on another yard, Henderson then took a jet sweep 7 yards to the Pitt 42 yard line.

At the beginning of the 2nd Quarter, Peterman found junior WR Jester Weah for 7 yards. After Henderson added another Jet Sweep for 4 yards, Peterman threw a pass downfield to senior TE Scott Orndoff for 19 yards to the Miami 28 yard line.

Then junior WR Dontez Ford caught a 4 yard Peterman pass that was supplemented by a roughing the passer Miami penalty.

From there, it was all James Conner as the “Terminator” scored from 12 yards out. Miami 17 Pitt 14.

After the Canes kicked another Field Goal and led 20-14, Pitt actually took a brief lead on the ensuing series.

The scoring drive didn’t start very well. Peterman was sacked for a 4 yard loss and even had to recover his own fumble.

Conner then added 2 yards before Peterman found Tre Tipton wide-open for a 25 yard pass play. Henderson then took another Jet Sweep for 22 yards before Conner was stopped in the backfield for a 6 yard loss.

However, the Canes were flagged for a 15 yard personal foul penalty. This led to a terrific 23 yard scoring strike from Peterman to Aston. Pitt 21 Miami 20.

The lead was short-lived as the Canes simply threw and ran all over the Pitt defense with a series of passing completions including a 14 yard strike from Kaaya to WR Malcolm Lewis. Tailback Mark Walton ran for additional yardage on gains of 8 and 2 yards. Kaaya capped the drive with a 1 yard TD run. Miami 27 Pitt 21 at half.

The second half started in disaster for Pitt when Henderson fumbled on the Panthers first offensive series, which was recovered by the Canes Chad Thomas at the Pitt 8 yard line. The drive ended when Kaaya threw a simple 3 yard TD pass to Coley. Miami 34 Pitt 21.

The teams then traded punts that led to Pitt getting stopped just before they had a chance to make it interesting. Thwarting an 8 play, 79 yard drive, Peterman was intercepted in the end zone by Canes Rayshawn Jenkins.

The Canes tacked on another easy TD that included running gains by Joseph Yearby and Gus Edwards as well as passing plays to Ahmmon Richards (38 yards), Braxton Berrios (5 yards) and two passes to David Njoku (9 yards) and finally a 5 yard TD pass. Miami 41 Pitt 21.

Pitt did try to chip away at the commanding 20 point Miami lead when Peterman connected on a 75 yard TD passing play to Weah. The 1 play scoring drive pulled Pitt within 13 points. Miami 41 Pitt 28.

The Panthers would get no closer as Miami added 10 more points en route to the 51-28 victory.

Pitt fell to 5-4 overall (2-3 in the ACC) while the Canes improved to the same record.

Next up: Pitt at #2 Clemson, Sat 11/12 – 3:30pm EST kickoff – National ABC TV

Note: Pitt is 1-0 all-time versus Clemson after Pitt beat the Tigers 34-3 in the 1977 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, FL.