Nine games into a season, coincidences become trends and trends become defining.

And when Pitt’s offense couldn’t produce a blowout win against the ACC’s worst team on Saturday, instead leaving Atlanta with a 20-10 victory over 2-win Georgia Tech, the trend continued to be defining.

The trend in question: inconsistent offensive play that fails to capitalize on opportunities, turns the ball over and seems to go into a shell in the second half.

“I think it was inconsistent again, not where we want to be,” junior quarterback Kenny Pickett said after the game. “We have to protect the ball better, starting with myself.”

That’s a good place to start - both with the turnovers and with Pickett. He threw two interceptions in the first half against Georgia Tech. That followed the 16-12 loss to Miami last week when Pickett also had two picks in the first half. All told, the Panthers have had at least two turnovers in six of nine games this season and gave the ball away at least three times in four of those games.

Pitt added a fumble to Pickett’s two interceptions in each of the last two games, bringing the two-game turnover total to six. Against Miami, the Panthers weren’t able to get away with it as the Hurricanes’ stout defense kept Pitt from building any extended drives.

At Georgia Tech on Saturday, the Panthers won despite the turnovers. They gashed the Yellow Jackets for a quick-strike touchdown in the first quarter when freshman running back Vincent Davis took a direct snap from the Wildcat formation and ran 61 yards to the end zone. And they added a second, game-deciding score in the second half when Pickett and sophomore receiver Shocky Jacques-Louis hooked up for a 21-yard touchdown pass.

That play capped the Panthers’ best drive of the game, an 8-play, 65-yard march that had a little bit of everything: some rushing yards from junior back A.J. Davis, a 10-yard screen pass to senior Maurice Ffrench, two Pickett runs and a healthy avoidance of third downs (Pitt only faced one and converted it).

That wasn’t Pitt’s only extended drive in the game, though. The Panthers actually looked as sharp as they have since the Syracuse game on the first possession Saturday afternoon. They attacked Georgia Tech from the jump, starting with a we-still-believe-in-you pass to tight end Nakia Griffin-Stewart, who dropped two passes against Miami but caught this one for nine yards.

Then a screen pass to Ffrench gained 17. And Pickett scrambled for nine. Sophomore back V’Lique Carter pushed through the pile to convert a third-and-1. And after Pickett and redshirt junior Taysir Mack nailed the game’s first 20-yard play, the Panthers found themselves inside the 20 with an eye on setting a tone for a would-be blowout.

Except things fell apart. On first down from the 15, Pickett rolled out to his right, didn’t see senior receiver Aaron Mathews standing by himself in the end zone and threw incomplete for Mack. On second down, Pitt lost five yards on a false start by right tackle Nolan Ulizio, which actually wasn’t a bad thing since Pickett fumbled the shotgun snap before the play was whistled dead.

Pickett and Mack connected for six yards on second-and-15. And on third-and-9 from the 14, Pickett scrambled to his right again and, to put it favorably, threw the ball away.

Alex Kessman converted the 32-yard field goal to get points, but Pitt’s offense, which entered the game scoring touchdowns on just 52% of its red-zone drives, had fallen short of the drive’s potential.

“I wouldn’t say there was a lot of frustration; I think it was all positive,” Pickett said. “We knew that we could move the ball on those guys and the receivers had a big drive that series and I was putting the ball where it needed to be. We stalled in the red zone, something we have to continue to improve on. That will be another emphasis as we move into this bye week and getting some extra reps down in the red zone.”

Ffrench agreed about the frustration - or lack thereof.

“I wouldn’t say it’s frustration; it’s just a part of football and you have to keep a positive mindset. You don’t want to be down or feel sorry for yourself because you didn’t make the play or you didn’t score on that drive. It’s something we just have to keep building on and be positive in that situation.”

That mindset would be a little more palatable if Pitt’s offense had continued to drive on Georgia Tech at will. Instead, the Panthers stumbled. Pickett threw an interception on two of the next three possessions and Ffrench fumbled away the drive after that. In the second half, Pitt gained a grand total of 71 yards - the lowest total for a half this season - while punting three times and kicking two field goals.

Not one of those five possessions gained more than 18 yards and two of them produced lost yardage. In fact, it wasn’t until the final drive of the game that the Panthers found any offensive cohesion. On that possession, Pitt took the ball with 4:43 on the clock and proceeded to run the ball seven times, picking up a couple first downs and sealing the victory in the process.

It was one final success for the offense after a long string of ineffectiveness.

“Some drives, we were consistent; there were some really good drives there,” Pickett said. “And then some drives, we weren’t. We’re just going to have to keep working on it and I think the bye week’s big because we need work. We’re nowhere near where we want to be. And it’s a good thing: we have a lot of work left to do and we haven’t peaked yet.”