For Pitt, too many mistakes in State College

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Pitt’s margin for error when facing No. 4 Penn State was already pretty slim; the Panthers didn’t need to do anything to increase the level of difficulty.

But that’s exactly what they did, time and again, en route to Saturday’s 33-14 loss to the Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium on Saturday. From the first drive of the game to the last one, Pitt’s offense made mistake after mistake.

Which was exactly what the Panthers couldn’t afford to do.

“Self-inflicted wounds, really,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said after the game.

Right from the start, the Panthers were their own worst enemies. After a few short gains moved the sticks on the game-opening possession, Max Browne threw a pass to Quadree Henderson that, either due to Henderson getting out of his break or Browne misreading the cornerback, ended up in the arms of Penn State corner Grant Haley.

Two drives later, Pitt’s hopes of sustaining some offense were shot down when Jester Weah dropped a pass on second down and Chawntez Moss failed to get a hand on a blitzing defender on third down.

The next possession went the same way. Alex Officer got beat to allow a sack on first-and-10 from the Penn State 32 and then hit the daily double by being called for a false start prior to the next snap. And on third-and-22, a deep pass to Chris Clark that might have actually moved the chains fell short of that goal when Clark dropped it.

The pattern continued. Pitt’s fifth drive ended with another Browne interception. The sixth drive got points, but a field goal wasn’t very satisfying for the offense when it had driven to the Penn State 10. In the second half, Browne seemed to misread Penn State’s defense after the snap on a key third down, and the Lions scored on the next play after the punt when Saleem Brightwell neglected to impede running back Saquon Barkley, who ran past Brightwell in the middle of the field and kept on rolling to the end zone for a 46-yard touchdown.

Pitt drove deep into Penn State territory after Barkley’s touchdown, but the drive stalled again and the Panthers had to kick a field goal. Another false start turned a makeable third-and-6 into third-and-11 on Pitt’s next drive - that led to a sack and a punt - and the errors kept piling up.

Blown assignments, dropped passes, penalties (Pitt was charged with six in the game) and poor decisions on special teams (Quadree Henderson had zero net yards on three punt returns, lost yards on two of those returns and called for a fair catch at the 5) dogged Pitt throughout the afternoon on Saturday.

And these Panthers, in their current shape, aren’t good enough to overcome that many mistakes against average teams; against the No. 4 team in the country, on the road and in front of 109, 898 people, Pitt didn’t have a chance, despite some better-than-average play from some players and units on the team.

Now Pitt (1-1) has to regroup and prepare for a different challenge with Oklahoma State’s high-powered passing offense coming to Heinz Field next weekend, when the margin for error will be slim - perhaps even slimmer than it was on Saturday in State College.