Pitt is hosting Boston College at Acrisure Stadium tonight. Here’s the latest from the game.
FIRST QUARTER
Pitt won the coin toss and deferred, opting to kick to start the game. After a short return, Boston College had the ball at its own 15 and quickly faced fourth-and-a-short-1 from the 24. Eagles head coach Jeff Hafley opted to go for it and quarterback Thomas Castellanos converted with a short run; two plays later, Castellanos hit receiver Lewis Bond for a screen pass that gained 25 yards to move into Pitt territory. The Eagles picked up two more first down with the run, but on third-and-11 from the 25, Castellanos was stopped for a one-yard gain, leading to a 42-yard field goal to give the Eagles the first score of the game.
BOSTON COLLEGE 3, PITT 0 - 8:46, 1st quarter
After the field goal, Pitt was led onto the field by redshirt sophomore Nate Yarnell, who started in place of Christian Veilleux. Yarnell handed off to C’Bo Flemister on the first play, but on second-and-8 he rolled out to his right and hit tight end Malcolm Epps for a 24-yard gain. Three plays later, the Panthers faced third-and-7 from the Boston College 46, and Yarnell made another play, heaving the ball downfield to tight end Karter Johnson, who made the catch for 21 yards.
But after a one-yard run and a near-interception in the end zone, Yarnell threw incomplete on third down to set Pitt up for its own 42-yard field goal attempt. Ben Sauls converted the kick and the Panthers tied the score.
PITT 3, BOSTON COLLEGE 3 - 5:07, 1st quarter
SECOND QUARTER
Pitt had the ball near midfield to open the second quarter, but the Panthers shortly found themselves facing fourth-and-3 from the Boston College 48. On that play, Rodney Hammond took a handoff and picked up four yards to keep the possession going. Yarnell hit Daejon Reynolds two plays later for a 24-yard gain and then converted third-and-3 from the 13 himself with an eight-yard run.
Fittingly after converting two third downs on the drive with his legs, Yarnell finished the possession by running into the end zone on second-and-goal from the 4 to put Pitt in the lead.
PITT 10, BOSTON COLLEGE 3 - 9:07, 2nd quarter
Pitt’s defense had the perfect follow-up to the touchdown, stopping Castellanos for a one-yard gain on first down and then forcing him into an intentional grounding penalty on second down that resulted in third-and-20 from the Boston College 15. Castellanos threw an incomplete pass on that down, and the Eagles had to punt, giving Pitt possession at its own 45.
The Panthers moved immediately, getting 15 yards on a targeting penalty and then picking up 14 more on a reverse from Kenny Johnson. But a Yarnell draw on third-and-3 from the BC 19 was short by a yard, and Daniel Carter was stuffed on the fourth-and-1 attempt.
Pitt’s defense responded immediately, though, forcing the Eagles into a third-and-16 from the 11 after a Dayon Hayes sack, but Castellanos came up big with a 22-yard pass to Dino Tomlin to move the chains. Three plays later, Boston College was in third-and-9 from the BC 34, but Castellanos made another big throw and receiver Joseph Griffin made a huge catch for a 38-yard gain.
That play put the ball at the Pitt 28, but two incomplete passes and a handoff brought Boston College’s field goal unit out, and Liam Connor made his second kick of the game.
PITT 10, BOSTON COLLEGE 6 - 0:26, 2nd quarter
THIRD QUARTER
Pitt got the ball to open the second half, but the Panthers went three-and-out and had to punt after two incomplete passes and a short run. The defense got Boston College into a third-and-1 right away, but the Eagles converted it with a 10-yard run from Kye Robichaux. After a defensive holding penalty on A.J. Woods moved the Eagles close to midfield, Boston College proceeded to march, picking up the necessary 54 yards on the next six plays, capped with a 24-yard pass from Castellanos to Bond to give the Eagles a three-point lead.
BOSTON COLLEGE 13, PITT 10 - 8:56, 3rd quarter
Pitt’s offense had an answer for the Boston College touchdown. The Panthers started at their own 10 but picked up a quick 30 yards on a pair of passes from Yarnell to Konata Mumpfield. Then, on first down from the 39, Yarnell used a pump fake to let Bub Means get behind the defense for a catch-and-run that went all the way to the end zone.
PITT 17, BOSTON COLLEGE 13 - 7:22, 3rd quarter
Boston College was ready to respond to Pitt’s touchdown, as three runs from Robichaux got the ball close to midfield and Castellanos himself took it past the 50 into Pitt territory. Two completed passes later, the Eagles were looking at first down from the Pitt 18 and Castellanos took a shot down the middle to the end zone. But Pitt safety P.J. O’Brien dove in front of the pass and picked it off at the 2.
On the second play of Pitt’s ensuing drive, Hammond took a handoff and broke through for a 40-yard run. Yarnell and Means connected on a 12-yard slant to get over the 50, but as the third quarter ended, the Panthers were facing a third-and-7 from the Boston College 33.
FOURTH QUARTER
The Panthers failed on the third down when Yarnell couldn’t connect with Epps, and Sauls missed a 52-yard attempt to leave Pitt empty on the drive. Boston College then took over at its 34, and four runs got the ball to the Pitt 35. But a sack by Shayne Simon and an illegal formation penalty pushed BC back to a third-and-12, and Castellanos threw incomplete on that play to lead to a punt.
After the punt was downed at the 3, Pitt took over but failed to gain any yards and had to punt back to the Eagles. Caleb Juno’s punt only went to the 45 and was returned to the 40, giving Boston College good field position, and Castellanos got it inside the 10 with a scramble. But the Eagles stalled there and had to kick a field goal to cut the lead to one.
PITT 17, BOSTON COLLEGE 16 - 5:19, 4th quarter
Pitt took the ball at the 25 with 5:19 left looking to drain as much clock as possible, but that plan went awry - in a good way for the home team. After a nine-yard pass from Yarnell to Mumpfield, Hammond took a handoff, skipped through several tackles and ran 66 yards for a touchdown to put Pitt up by eight.
PITT 24, BOSTON COLLEGE 16 - 4:29, 4th quarter
After the touchdown, Pitt’s defense posted its best drive of the game, holding Boston College to minus-1 net yard to force a punt. The Panthers took the ball back at their own 38 and needed two first downs to kill the clock. They got the first one when Hammond ran 14 yards on the first snap, but three subsequent plays were stopped for short gains, although they did compel the Eagles to use all of their timeouts.
The ensuing punt gave Boston College the ball at the 17, but Castellanos threw incomplete on first down and was sacked with a run out of bounds on second down. His third-down pass attempt was illegal when he threw it after running past the line of scrimmage, and on fourth-and-20 from the 5, Castellanos scrambled and heaved it downfield only to have M.J. Devonshire line it up and intercept the pass.
Pitt took over at the 50 with 18 seconds left and knelt the clock out.
PITT 24, BOSTON COLLEGE 16 - Final
