CHARLOTTE — Pitt claimed its first ever ACC Championship with a 45-21 blowout win over Wake Forest at Bank of America Stadium. The Panthers improved to 11-2 on the season and will play in a New Year’s Six Bowl game in a few weeks. The win over the Demon Deacons had plenty of storylines, here are five things that stood out in this game.

11 wins
Pitt got it done on Saturday. It was a back-and-forth first quarter, but the Panthers settled down in the second quarter and took control from there. The dream season, the one Pitt fans have been waiting on forever, finally happened. The team won 11 games and won the ACC Championship.

Let that sink in for a bit.

Pitt fans have long clamored for this type of season, and the team delivered. Was it a perfect season? No. Was it a perfect game on Saturday? No, but as Pickett said in an interview earlier this year, ‘There’s beauty in the struggle’ and that sort of sums up this Pitt season and perhaps makes the victory more gratifying. This team overcame adversity: mounting injuries, losing to Western Michigan - there were certainly hurdles to cross and the cleared them more often than not. This team showed resiliency throughout the season, and in this game. Wake Forest threw some good haymakers in the first quarter, but this team wore them and punched back, much like they have all season.

Defense wins championships
Saturday night was supposed to be the Kenny Pickett-Sam Hartman showdown, and through one quarter of play the much-anticipated quarterback matchup lived up to the hype. It was 21-14 Wake Forest after the first, and Hartman appeared to be a roll, but the Pitt defense answered the call.

Wake Forest totaled 109 yards of offense in the final three quarters of play, and scored 0 points. The Pitt defense pitched a gem in the final three quarters with constant pressure on Hartman, as he was sacked five times. Pitt turned Wake Forest over four times, all interceptions by Hartman, with the final one going for a touchdown by Erick Hallett. The Demon Deacons finished the game 7-of-19 on third down conversions, and just 3-of-11 in the second half.

It was pure dominance by the Panthers defense, and there were contributions at every level. Sir’Vocea Dennis played like a man possessed with 12 tackles and two sacks. Haba Baldonado, Keyshon Camp, and Dayon Hayes each registered a sack, and of course the Panthers secondary came down with four picks of Hartman, with two coming from Hallett.

Every level of the defense affected the game. Pitt’s won so much this year with its offense, but on Saturday it was the defense that made the difference and their play from the second quarter on was the reason Pitt will wake up Sunday morning as champions.

An unlikely hero
Pitt has had a lot of players step up throughout the 11-win season. The Panthers have been led by its offense most of the year with Pickett and Jordan Addison stealing the headlines. The defense has had its moments, and of course guys like Calijah Kacey, Haba Baldonado and Sir’Vocea Dennis are the featured players on that side of the ball.

So of course, in Pitt’s biggest game of the season Erick Hallett wins the MVP of the game. He picked off two passes, and took one back for a touchdown. He also recorded two tackles and played solid in coverage and helped Pitt shut down the high-powered Wake Forest offense for three quarters.

Playing free safety in Pitt’s defense comes with a territory. This defense gives up yards and big plays: it’s a scheme built on pressure from its front seven and when the defensive line doesn’t get home on the quarterback, then it opens up plays on the back end and opponents can have success. Naturally, the secondary takes the brunt of the blame from the fans, but again it's part of the nature of the position, you aren’t always put in great situations.

Not on Saturday.

Hallett had perhaps his best game in a Pitt uniform and played the position masterfully. Pitt gave up some big plays and scoring drives early, but they buckled down on Wake Forest to claim a championship. Hallett answered the call on Saturday. It may not have been the star everyone expected before the game, but you don’t win 11 games without contributions from everywhere. On a unselfish team, it was Hallett who got the recognition on Saturday, and rightfully so.

Pickett can take a bow
Kenny Pickett got to have his moment. As the clock ticked down on Pitt’s championship victory, Pat Narduzzi called for his star quarterback to come off the field. The thousands of Pitt fans in Charlotte chanted his name as he ran off the field. He came back to Pitt to win a championship and he delivered.

Pickett has been brilliant all season, knocking off school and ACC records left and right along the way. He wanted to improve his draft stock for sure, but he has maintained all season long that the real reason he returned to Pitt this season was to bring a championship back to Oakland.

Well, he did it.

Pickett threw for 253 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for a 58-yard score in the opening minutes of the game. He directed the Pitt offense with efficiency all game. The Pitt quarterback didn’t put up his usual gaudy numbers, but delivered a win in workmanlike fashion.

As Pitt's starting quarterback, Pickett has seen ups and downs and big wins and crushing losses. He has been criticized and celebrated, sometimes even in the same game. Pickett has always handled it well, and in his final year truly put on a special season. He will go down as a legend for this football program, and Saturday night in Charlotte will always be his defining moment as a player in a Pitt uniform. Quite the way to go out.

An opportunity for 12
OK, take a break. The Pitt football team is likely headed for Atlanta to play in the Peach Bowl on December 30th. The game is not for a few weeks, and like Narduzzi and Pickett said after the game the typical ’24-hour rule’ may be extended for this win. Pitt players, coaches, and the fans can all bask in this victory for a little while. I think they’ve earned it.

The dream season finally happened.

Pitt won its conference. They had the big breakthrough campaign and did it with a special player directing the show. This is what everyone that has followed this program has been asking to see for decades, and it finally got done.

Now, there is another story that can be told from this season - a 12th win. There has only be one 12-win season in Pitt history, and that’s the 1976 National Championship team. The 2021 Panthers have a chance to tie that win total in a bowl game.

The dream can live on for another month with the bowl game on the horizon, and the Panthers can join rare company if they were to win that game. The Pitt mantra since the loss to Western Michigan, even the loss to Miami was: ‘All of our goals are still in front of us’ and slowly, but surely this team started to knock them off one by one: 10 win season, Coastal Championship, ACC Championship.

There’s still one more to play for: 12 wins...and who expected that at the start of the season?