Pitt Cruises Past Cuse, 30-7
Pitt’s defense. Syracuse’s offense. Two units really struggling right now. Who would win the battle? That question was answered in convincing fashion as Pitt defeated the Orange 30-7 in the final home game of the football season at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh this afternoon.
The game went off with a bang when Pitt superstar sophomore WR Tyler Boyd took the opening kickoff nearly 100 yards for a touchdown but was called back on a pair of holding penalties. However 7 minutes later, a turnover would make things interesting early.
After punting on their first series, Syracuse junior RB Prince-Tyson Gulley fumbled at the Orange 24 yard line on their second possession. It was only fitting that Pitt senior safety Ray Vinopal caused the fumble on senior day.
The Panthers then went to work on offense. Pitt junior QB Chad Voytik first found senior WR Kevin Weatherspoon for 12 yards and then freshman RB Chris James tacked on 9 yard run. James would finish the day with 19 carries for 122 yards, his first 100+ yard performance at Pitt.
Enter sophomore James Conner. First he ran off-tackle 6 yards to the Syracuse 1 yard line and then a play later, set the all-time ACC rushing TD (in a season) record with his 22nd rushing TD on the year. The score also tied the all-time school rushing TD record at Pitt, tying the record by Pitt legend Tony Dorsett in 1976. Pitt led 7-0. Conner would finish the day with only 11 carries for 38 yards but had to leave the game in the second quarter with a hip injury and would not return.
By the middle of the second quarter, Pitt sophomore PK Chris Blewitt would eventually tack on a 46 field goal at the 5:10 mark. Pitt led 10-0.
The Panthers would continue to force several Syracuse punts and with a little over 3.5 minutes left, they looked to score more points before the half.
Pitt’s offensive series started when sophomore Orange cornerback Brandon Reddish was called for a 15 yard defensive pass interference while covering Boyd. A play later, Voytik connected with Boyd again for 28 yards and then Weatherspoon for 7 yards to the Orange 30 yard line.
That’s when the Panthers looked to the bench. First, senior tailback Isaac Bennett ran hard for 9 yards and was aided by a 10 yard facemask penalty by Orange sophomore LB Dyshawn Davis. Two plays later, Voytik found Pitt sophomore and Syracuse transfer WR Dontez Ford for 11 yards for the score. Pitt led 17-0 at half.
In the first half the Orange played musical chairs at QB, rotating signal callers Mitch Kimble and AJ Long. After Kimble was ineffective, Syracuse head coach Scott Shafer decided to stick with Long for the second half.
On the opening drive of the 3rd Quarter, the move paid dividends.
Orange junior RB Devante McFarlane started things off with a 1 yard run. Then Long went to his favorite target, freshman sensation WR Steve Ishmael.
Ishmael first made a pro-caliber catch along the sidelines on 3rd and long for 11 yards to the Syracuse 37 yard line. Then, Long went deep to Ishmael for 46 yards to the Pitt 17 yard line.
Long then added runs of 3, 1 and 11 yards to the Pitt 2 yard line. The Panthers defense struggled greatly again versus the read-option play. After being stopped on the first two tries, Syracuse eventually got on the scoreboard when freshman DE Ron Thompson ran it in from a yard out. Pitt led 17-7 at the 11:04 mark.
Blewitt would counter for Pitt on the very next series by booting a 31 yard field goal and Pitt led 20-7.
After the Orange punted again, Voytik and Boyd went back to work on offense with a little help from outstanding Pitt reserve RB Rachid Ibrahim.
Ibrahim tote the rock 6 yards and then burst 21 yards on consecutive plays to set up more Boyd heroics at the Orange 45 yard line.
On the very first play of the 4th quarter, Voytik threw a simple slip screen to Boyd, who went 49 yards untouched into the endzone. Boyd would finish the day with 7 grabs for 126 yards and 1 TD. Pitt led 27-7.
Boyd now has 64 receptions with 1,077 receiving yards on the season and is only the second Pitt player to achieve two 1,000-yard receiving seasons in his career. Pitt WR legend Larry Fitzgerald, who had 1,005 as a freshman in 2002 and a school-record 1,672 as a sophomore in 2003, was the other. Boyd also has ten 100-yard receiving games in his Pitt career.
Voytik, by the way, had another solid day at the office completing 14 of 20 passes for 189 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT (that should have been caught).
Later, Blewitt would add on a nice 46 field goal to salt the game for Pitt, 30-7, at the 9:42 mark of the 3rd Quarter. It was a bit of redemption for Blewitt who missed 2 field goals earlier in the game and finished the day kicking 3 for 5 field goals.
Next Up: Pitt at Miami, Sat 11/29 – 7pm EST, ESPN2
Note: Pitt hasn’t won at Miami since November 1963, a string of 7 straight losses and 1 tie over 50 years:
’64 (tie), ’84, ’90, ’94, ’96, ’98, ’00, and ’02.
