What We Learned In Pitt’s 35-17 Loss At Georgia Tech

Well, it’s not just the Pitt defense that can’t compete with the ACC. It’s the Pitt offense too. A week after the Pitt defense got shredded for 572 passing yards by Big12 power Oklahoma State at Heinz Field, Pitt traveled to Atlanta this past Saturday to open the ACC season and proceeded to get Ramblin Wrecked by Georgia Tech. The Pitt defense surrendered 436 yards on the ground, most of which came from Yellow Jackets tailback KirVonte Benson who rolled over Pitt 29 times for 196 yards. Even Yellow Jacket QB TaQuon Marshall ran it 18 times for 112 yards despite only passing for 48 yards on 4 of 8 passing.

The Pitt offense, nonetheless, fared hardly any better by mustering only a measly 198 passing yards along with 37 rushing yards in the 35-17 blow-out loss. Pitt fell to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the ACC in the process.

In sum, Pitt’s offense looked confused, disorganized and completely inept. This was the third week that new Panther Offensive Coordinator Shawn Watson failed to deliver any semblance of an offensive game plan.

You wouldn’t know it, though, by the way the game started off. After Pitt junior All American kick-returner / Wide Receiver Quadree Henderson returned the opening kick for 22 yards, fellow Pitt junior tailback Qadree Ollison ran the ball 9 yards to the Pitt 31.

Redshirt sophomore Panther QB Ben Dinucci then completed an 8 yard pass to senior Tight End graduate transfer (Rutgers) Matt Flanagan to the Pitt 39 yard line. That set up Pitt junior two-way superstar Safety / split-end Jordan Whitehead’s run for 30 yards to the Yellow Jackets 31. Whitehead hadn’t played since last November’s huge upset Pitt win at eventual national champion Clemson and also completed a 3 game suspension to start the 2017 season.

For some odd reason, Whitehead would rarely be seen again on offense for the remainder of the game.

Ollison would then finish the drive. He first ran it 3 yards and then caught a pretty 28 yard seam route pass for an uncontested TD from DiNucci. Pitt 7 Georgia Tech 0.

Georgia Tech would fumble its first of 4 turnovers on the day on the next series but Pitt failed to capitalize by getting stopped on 3 downs and then watched sophomore placekicker Alex Kessman miss a 50 yard field goal.

Pitt then traded Georgia Tech two TDs for two punts before Henderson would even the score on an exhilarating 80 yard punt return TD which was aided by a massive bone-crunching block by Panther sophomore safety Damar Hamlin on special teams. The game was tied at 14.

After the Yellow Jackets scored a final time on its last series of the half, Kessman redeemed himself by booting an impressive 55 yard field goal. Georgia Tech 21 Pitt 17 at the end of the second quarter.

In the second half, the Pitt offense went into total meltdown mode with a series of 3 and outs, fumbles and poorly designed offensive plays. The Yellow Jackets continued to eat clock and ran in for 2 more scores to seal the victory. Georgia Tech 35 Pitt 17 Final.

Next Up: Rice at Pitt, 12:30pm EST Sat 9/30 – TV: AT&T SportsNet

Notes: Pitt senior QB graduate transfer and former starter Max Browne threw for 88 yards on 10 of 15 passing in mop-up duty. It looks as though DiNucci will remain the starter.

• Pitt senior WR Jester Weah continued to struggle with a few drops and only caught 1 ball for 8 yards.

• Redshirt junior fullback George Aston dressed but did not play.

• Pitt’s current bowl streak of 6 straight seasons is in jeopardy after the 1-3 start.