Oklahoma St Drubs Pitt 59-21, Panther Defense Reaching 1996 Levels

34-0. 72-0. 45-0. 53-52 (Temple). 55-7. 60-6. Pitt fans remember those numbers. Except for the Temple game, all of those games resulted in sadistic losses in the John Majors Part 2 era during the 1996 season for the Pitt Panthers. A team that surrendered 430 points. Last year (2016), Pitt allowed 458 points against. Luckily, Pitt scored 532 points and managed to eek out an 8-5 record.

Pitt Head Coach Pat Narduzzi has always said “Stats are for losers”. Guess what, stats may not tell the whole story but they sure are as heck indicative of some certain truths. Its becoming ever apparent that the Pitt defense has reached new lows under Defensive Coordinator Josh Conklin not seen in Oakland since that fateful 1996 season.

On a day when the Panthers were honoring former Panther defensive end / rush backer legend #99 Hugh Green (1977-1980), today was no different for the 2017 Pitt Panthers versus the visiting #9 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys (Big 12) in a 59-21 drubbing at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

Ok State’s Senior QB Mason Rudolph, who shredded the Pitt defense last season (2016) when he completed 26 passes on 46 attempts for 540 yards and 2 TDs in the 45-38 Cowboy victory over Pitt, was brilliant again today. On his rematch with Pitt, Rudolph went 23 for 32 for 497 yards with 5 touches and 1 Int.

In other words, he hardly broke a sweat in a game that looked like a complete mismatch from the beginning.

After winning the coin toss, Narduzzi elected to defer and put the game in the hands of his struggling defense. Promptly, Rudolph drove the Cowboys the length of the field. The drive was capped when Ok St tailback Justice Hill ran it in 20 yards for the easy TD. Ok State 7 Pitt 0.

Pitt would promptly punt on its first series in which senior graduate transfer QB Max Browne struggled to run the Pitt offense. Rudolph would lead the Cowboys down the field and finish the drive with a 54 yard TD toss to WR Dillon Stoner. Ok State 14 Pitt 0.

After Pitt punted on its second series, Rudolph found WR Marcell Ateman for a 69 yard TD strike. Ok State 21 Pitt 0.

Pitt’s offense would fizzle out on its third series after a 7 play 29 yard drive went nowhere, Rudolph finished his fourth series with a soft 8 yard TD toss to WR Jalen McCleskey. Ok St 28 Pitt 0.

Pitt would give Browne one more series to move the ball but unfortunately went 3 and out on its fourth series. Rudolph then placed another dagger into the Pitt listless defense when he connected on a 40 yard TD bomb to McCleskey again. Ok State 35 Pitt 0.

Before Big Ben Roethlisberger arrived in 2004 in a Steelers uniform, they always said the most popular person in Pittsburgh has always been the back-up QB. Well at Pitt, its no different.

Pitt turned to its back-up QB sophomore Ben Dinucci on its fifth series. On his first pass, he found junior WR Quadree Henderson for a 74 yard sideline toss. He would then run it for 2 yards before handing the ball off to sophomore tailback Chawntez Moss for runs of 6 and 5 yards to finish off the quick Panther TD drive. Ok State 35 Pitt 7.

It was of no consequence to the unstoppable Cowboy offense. Rudolph promptly answered that score by driving Ok State down the field yet again. Hill would cap the drive with a 15 yard TD scamper. OK St 42 Pitt 7.

After Pitt naturally punted on the next series, Rudolph tossed an easy 48 yard TD pass McCleskey yet again. OK St 49 Pitt 7.

Pitt would score its final offensive TD of the day on its final drive of the first half. First, Moss would run for gains of 2, 7 and 3 yards before Dinucci found New Brunswick, NJ product Maurice Ffrench for 2 yards to the Pitt 34. After missing on his first attempt to junior WR Rafael Araujo-Lopes, Dinucci found him on his second try for 28 yards to the Cowboys 43 yard line.

Dinucci then connected with sophomore WR Aaron Mathews on consecutive passing plays of 5 and 11 yards before going back to Ffrench for 13 yards to the Ok State 14 yard line. Dinucci would finish the drive by finding Araujo-Lopes on a 14 yard TD toss. Ok State 49 Pitt 14 at half.

Pitt would punt after its opening drive of the second half that lasted 7 plays for 35 yards and almost yielded yet another Rudolph TD pass. But fortunately for Pitt DC Josh Conklin, Rudolph got a little greedy and tossed a ball into the hands of Pitt senior cornerback Avonte Maddox in the endzone.

Back on offense on its second series of the second half, Dinucci’s pass was deflected into the hands of Justin Phillips who returned 10 yards for the easy Cowboys TD. Ok State 56 Pitt 14.

Pitt would drive 9 plays for 39 yards on its next series, but Dinucci sailed a pass deep in Cowboys territory. The errant ball was intercepted by Ok State’s Tre Flowers who returned it 7 yards to the Cowboys 10 yard line.

After the teams traded punts, Ok State’s punter Zach Sinor (making his first and only appearance of the day) mishandled the errant snap on 4th down. Pitt freshman cornerback Jason Pinnock would recover the loose ball in the Cowboys end zone for a Pitt special teams TD. Ok St 56 Pitt 21.

Pitt would drive 11 plays for 51 yards on its last series of the day but the drive would end when kicker Alex Kessman missed a 49 yard field goal. His third miss of his brief Pitt career in 3 games this season.

The Cowboys finished the game’s scoring after kicker Matt Ammendola booted a 25 yard field goal through the uprights. Ok St 59 Pitt 21 FINAL.

Notes:

• If you add the Cowboys 572 passing yards (75 of which came from Ok State backup QB Taylor Cornelius) with the 104 yards rushing, the Pitt defense surrendered 676 total yards of offense today.

• Up next: Pitt travels to Ga Tech, Sat 9/23 at 12:20pm EST.