Pitt is hosting Delaware at Heinz Field. Keep up with the action here.

FIRST QUARTER
For the fifth consecutive game, Pitt's opponent won the coin toss and Delaware opted to take the ball. The Blue Hens moved into Pitt territory when quarterback Nolan Henderson ran away from a Dane Jackson blitz and hit Thyrick Pitts for a 21-yard gain, but stout run defense and an incomplete pass on third down forced a Delaware punt.

Pitt had a surprise in store when the Panthers took the field on offense for the first time: redshirt freshman Nick Patti at quarterback. And Patti struck quickly, firing a deep pass to Taysir Mack for a 46-yard gain. A pair of plays by Maurice Ffrench gained another first down, but the Panthers' next three snaps produced just five yards, bringing up fourth-and-5 from the Delaware 29.

At that spot, Pat Narduzzi opted to be aggressive and go for it, but Patti's pass to Ffrench was batted away to give possession back to the Blue Hens.

Delaware's offense looked to be having success once again, aided by a pass interference penalty and an offsides call that turned fourth-and-3 into a fresh set of downs. But Pitt's defense stepped up and caused two negative plays to set up third-and-25, which led to a Delaware punt.

Patti and the Panthers' offense wasn't able to take momentum, going three-and-out and punting, but the defense gave them the ball back with another punt. The offense got even better field position when Wendell Davis tipped the punt, and the Panthers took over at their own 38 as the first quarter came to a close.

SECOND QUARTER
On the first play of the second quarter, Patti lined up with four receivers but chose to throw to his running back, finding V'Lique Carter down the middle of the field for a 30-yard touchdown pass.

PITT 7, DELAWARE 0 - 14:54, 1st quarter

The teams traded three-and-outs after the touchdown, as Pitt's defense continued to control Delaware and the Panthers' offense continued to move in fits and spurts. Once again, though, the Blue Hens benefited from Pitt penalties; on Delaware's second drive of the quarter, Henderson's pass to Pitts was incomplete but the officials called pass interference and moved the ball close to midfield. From there, a 15-yard run by Will Knight drove into Pitt territory, and then a great catch by receiver Gene Coleman II got inside the 20.

Pitt's defense stepped up, though, and turned the Blue Hens away by pressuring Henderson and the ensuing 36-yard field goal attempt was wide left. That miss gave the Panthers the ball at their own 20 and a chance to extend the lead, but on second-and-6 from the 35, Patti was intercepted to give Delaware a short field and the Blue Hens capitalized.

Henderson scrambled for a first down to get inside the 10 and then followed that with a scoring toss to Pitts to even the score.

PITT 7, DELAWARE 7 - 6:28, 2ND quarter

After the touchdown, Pitt took the ball and promptly found itself facing fourth-and-1 at the 44. Each team took a timeout, but the advantage went to the Panthers when Todd Sibley broke a seven-yard run to move the chains.

From there, Pitt marched. With series of shorter passes, the Panthers got into Delaware territory and approached the red zone before facing third-and-10 from the 21. On that snap, Patti threw for Dontavius Butler-Jenkins, who tipped the ball into the air. But Sibley was alert, grabbed the ball and picked up 16 yards.

The play gave Pitt first-and-goal from the 5, but the Panthers were unable to run it in on first or second down and Patti's pass to Jared Wayne on third down was incomplete, leading to a 21-yard field goal from Alex Kessman.

The kick was good and Pitt took a three-point lead to halftime.

PITT 10, DELAWARE 7 - 0:08, 2nd quarter

In the first half, Patti completed 15-of-24 passes for 170 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Sibley led Pitt in rushing with 36 yards on nine carries. The Panthers allowed Delaware to gain 119 yards of total offense, but the defense was charged with four penalties for 45 yards in the half.

THIRD QUARTER
Pitt got the ball to open the second half, but the possession didn't last long. On second down, Patti threw to Ffrench on a screen pass, but Delaware linebacker Drew Nickles stripped the ball and recovered the fumble.

Five snaps later, Henderson found former Farrell standout Jourdan Townsend in the end zone for a five-yard touchdown pass.

DELAWARE 14, PITT 10 - 12:53, 3rd quarter

Patti found a little rhythm on the next drive after the touchdown, completing three passes to get inside the Delaware 40, but his pass on third-and-7 to Carter was off the mark and killed the drive. Curiously, Narduzzi opted to send Kessman onto the field for a 57-yard field goal.

The kick was no good.

Pitt's defense continued its strong game by forcing a three-and-out, but Delaware's offense matched that, and the teams repeated that pattern for another two possessions.

As time ticked down on the third quarter, Delaware was working on a lengthy possession. The drive started at the 5 and almost stalled at the 30, but Cam Bright was called for a late hit out of bounds to give the Blue Hens 15 yards, and Henderson followed that with a pair of scrambles for another 25 yards to get into Pitt territory.

FOURTH QUARTER
As the fourth quarter began, Delaware was facing a long down-and-distance, but the Pitt defense stood tall and forced the Blue Hens to punt.

The Panthers took the ball at their own 10 and opened with a pair of runs from Carter and Sibley to pick up 34 yards, but the drive nearly died at the Pitt 37. Facing third-and-17 after a penalty, Patti fired deep to Mack, who made a contested catch for 48 yards.

Three plays later on third-and-7, Patti fired to Mack in the end zone for a touchdown to take the lead back.

PITT 17, DELAWARE 14 - 10:33, 4th quarter

Pitt's defense did what it needed to do the rest of the way. Delaware's first drive after the touchdown ended when Patrick Jones and Phil Campbell sacked Henderson. Then the next drive ended with a third-down incomplete pass after Kylan Johnson got to Henderson on second down.

Those two stops gave the Pitt offense the ball with 3:44 on the clock, and the Panthers turned to Sibley. The redshirt sophomore, who did not carry the ball in the last two games, responded by picking up 24 runs on four carries, crossing the 100-yard plateau for the first time in his career in the process.

And when it looked like Delaware would get one last chance, the Blue Hens hit Pitt punter Kirk Christodoulou, turning a fourth-and-2 into a fresh set of downs that ended the game.

PITT 17, DELAWARE 14 - Final

The win improved Pitt's record to 3-2 overall as the Panthers head into ACC play with an 0-1 record. Patti threw for 271 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 23-of-37 passing, while Sibley finished with 106 yards on 22 carries.

Pitt held Delaware to 170 yards and just 3-of-14 on third downs. The Panthers will face Duke in Durham Saturday night at 8 pm.