Pitt junior linebacker Sir’Vocea Dennis made a game-changing play in the third quarter of Pitt's 27-17 win over Clemson at Heinz Field. Dennis came roaring through the Clemson offensive line on a called blitz and picked off a shovel pass from DJ Uiagalelei and had a wide open field in front of him.
Dennis had only one thing on his mind during his race to the end zone: do not fall. He recalled back to training camp where he had a similar scenario, but tripped before he reached the goal line.
“My main thought was don’t fall,” Dennis told reporters after Pitt’s 27-17 over Clemson at Heinz Field.
The Pitt linebacker did not, but rather he scored from 50 yards out to give Pitt a 21-7 lead with 11:30 remaining in the third quarter, and the Panthers never allowed for Clemson to get within ten points from there.
“I’m just going to set it straight here: I was just in the right place at the right time,” Dennis admitted to reporters with a laugh after the game. "It was a great play call by Coach Bates and that play put me in position to be in that spot.”
Pat Narduzzi saw the interception from Dennis as the turning point in the game.
“I would say when Sir’Vocea intercepted that shovel pass for a touchdown, there was a little momentum there, a big-time play,” Narduzzi said of the third quarter touchdown. “Put their quarterback on the bench. That was a turning point, I think.”
The struggling Uiagalelei was pulled from the game after that, as Clemson turned to reserve Taisun Phommachanh on the next drive. The Tigers offense posted one final touchdown to cut into the Pitt lead in the fourth quarter, but the Pitt offense ran out the game’s final 7:56 on the ground to preserve the home victory.
Dennis finished the game a pair tackles as well. The Pitt defense held Clemson to just 4-of-11 on third down attempts and limited the Tigers to just 126 yards of offense after halftime.
The interception is the play everyone will remember from Dennis in this critical win for the Pitt program. The New York native found it especially gratifying, as it was a play he struggled with earlier this season.
“Every week we go through plays we have trouble with like defending and that was actually a play I missed in Tennessee a couple of times,” he said of the shovel pass. "Just being able to defend that play very well this time, it just felt good.”
The Pitt defense has been on a bit of a revenge tour since the team’s loss against Western Michigan. In the four games since that defeat, the Panthers are allowing just 13 points per game after allowing 28.3 in the first three contests of the season.
Improving from that loss to the Broncos has been a rallying cry for the entire team, but especially to the defense. The Panthers have seemingly used that game as a turning point in the season.
“I think we just looked at film and made multiple changes that benefits us, whether that gives relief to the DBs or give relief to the linebackers in the run game,” Dennis said of the team’s improved defensive efforts. “It’s a lot of things that we had to change and a lot of things that we had to feel out a couple games to make sure our corrections were doing the right thing.”
The corrections appear to be working. Pitt is now 6-1 on the year and 3-0 in the ACC. The Panthers will take on Miami next week in another pivotal home game at Heinz Field.
