11/24/2018 football Edit

Pitt runs into 'buzz saw' Miami defense

Chris Peak • Panther-lair

Publisher

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - Pitt didn’t need to beat Miami to clinch the ACC Coastal Division. Last week’s win at Wake Forest accomplished that.

But a win against the Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday would have been a nice boost to the momentum the Panthers built over the previous month, as they rode a four-game winning streak to the division title and looked to be surging at the right time.

Instead, the team flies back to Pittsburgh on Saturday licking considerable wounds after Miami stomped out a 24-3 win in the 2018 regular-season finale.

“Ran into a buzz saw,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said after the game, and that was an understatement. Miami’s defense, which entered the game as one of the best units in the ACC and the nation, lived up to its billing and then some.

The Hurricanes sacked Kenny Pickett six times, the most a Pitt quarterback has been sacked in a single game since 2013. They held Pitt’s previously-potent rushing attack to just 69 yards, the Panthers’ lowest total since late last season. And they kept Pitt out of the end zone for the first time since the 2012 BBVA Compass Bowl, when the Panthers stumbled to a 28-6 loss at the hands of SMU.

It was known that Miami’s defense would be a handful, but what was unknown was how Pitt’s offense would respond to the challenge.

The answer, unfortunately for the Panthers, was not very good.

“We just didn’t have enough plays to get things going,” Narduzzi said. “You went three-and-out, you couldn’t set anything up, you never got in a rhythm. It’s three-and-out, three-and-out, three-and-out, and it’s hard to set up a plan when you just go three-and-out and you’re not making any plays.”

Pitt’s offense had 15 possessions against Miami, and the results of those 15 drives were as follows:

One field goal. One fumble. One turnover on downs. And 12 punts.

The Panthers went three-and-out on seven of their 15 possessions and four-and-out on two more. They never ran more than seven plays or gained more than 46 yards on any single drive, and the only drive that produced points - a 7-play, 37-yard march in the third quarter - was bolstered by 25 yards in penalties on Miami. So even that drive really only gained 12 yards on seven plays.

A big part of the problem was Miami’s ability to get into the backfield. The Hurricanes finished with a rather shocking 14 tackles for loss, including the six sacks, and all of those plays behind the line of scrimmage - along with four penalties on offense - led to the results on third down:

1-of-15 conversions. Nine third downs with a distance of seven yards or more. And 12 plays on third down that gained zero yardage or lost yardage.

“We had a tough time finding a rhythm today,” said Pickett, who followed last week’s career day of 316 yards and three touchdowns with just 130 yards on 14-of-22 passing. “I think we had way too many penalties; I don’t know what the number was but it was killing our drives, killing our progress moving the ball. We had them in time of possession, we were holding the ball and we were getting drives, but we would set ourselves back.

“Trying to play catch-up all game, that’s tough to do, especially against a defense like that. That’s the most talented defensive unit we’ve faced, by far.”

Now the Panthers (7-5 overall, 6-2 ACC) will go back to Pittsburgh to prepare for an even tougher defense: No. 2 Clemson, who will be Pitt’s match in next week’s conference title game.