The Pitt defense won the first three scrimmages of spring practice, and with the bright lights on, that trend continued on Saturday at Acrisure Stadium. The Blue (defense) defeated the Gold (offense) 33-32 in a come-from-behind victory in the team's annual Blue-Gold Game.
The Gold held a 23-7 halftime lead, but a pair of turnovers generated by the defense sparked the comeback in the fourth quarter. Junior safety PJ O'Brien stepped in front of a Ty Dieffenbach pass and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown. In Pitt's modified scoring system, a defensive touchdown was worth 12 points, making it a momentum swinging play and flipped the score in favor of the defense.
Later on in the fourth quarter, Pitt freshman defensive end Jimmy Scott fell on a fumbled snap from the offense. Generating a turnover was worth five points for the defense, and it helped them build a 36-24 lead.
The offense did have a little fight left in this one, however. Jake Frantl, Pitt's fifth quarterback used for the day, broke off a 17-yard fourth quarter touchdown scamper to pull the offense within a point of the defense.
The offense had a chance to go for the win, but some conservative play calling kept the ball on the ground, and the defense escaped with the narrow win.
Of course the Blue-Gold game took on a new format this season with the first team offense and first team defense staying together, rather than splitting the team over a draft format like it had been done in previous years under Pat Narduzzi.
The Pitt head coach said in the postgame press conference that his team got away relatively healthy from the game itself, but notable offensive players like Konata Mumpfield and Gavin Bartholomew did not participate, while defensive starters like Tyler Bentley and David Green did not suit up for the defense.
That opened the door for some younger players to emerge in this one. Jake Renda, Pitt's third year tight end, led the team in receptions and yards with three catches for 32 yards, all coming in the first half.
But while some younger guys stepped up on Saturday, the story mostly everyone followed was the play of the quarterbacks. Phil Jurkovec went 5-of-7 for 51 yards and had two nice completions to Bub Means. Christian Veilleux threw the only touchdown pass of the game with a dump off to Derrick Davis in the first quarter.
The Penn State transfer finished 6-of-9 for 74 yards and a score. Nate Yarnell started to work more in the second quarter and into the third. He posted a 7-of-10 stat line for 33 yards.
Pitt is set to replace all-ACC running back israel Abanikanda this season, and the running backs equated themselves well on Saturday. Rodney Hammond scored a 91-yard kickoff return, Daniel Carter had a five-yard touchdown run, and LSU transfer Derrick Davis hauled in the touchdown from Veilleux.
The defense flexed its muscles in the second half against the second and third team offenses. The Panthers received some strong play from some young defensive linemen. Sean FitzSimmons, a redshirt freshman from Central Valley, stood out and made a nice tackle for loss to open the third quarter and swatted a pass down in the first half.
In addition to recovering a fumble, Scott made a nice play behind the line of scrimmage on a reverse where he chased down receiver Mylse Alston to the sideline. Redshirt freshman end Samuel Okunlola also recorded a tackle for loss.
O'Brien's partner back there in the secondary, Javon McIntyre, finished with six tackles and two tackles for loss. Nick Lapi, a sophomore walk-on linebacker, led the team with nine tackles on Saturday.
Pitt has now concluded its spring football session for the year. The team will now enter a lengthy offseason over the summer as they gear up for fall training camp, which is slated to begin in early August as they prepare for the 2023 season.
