From Pitt’s rocky start, to a valiant comeback bid, to its deflating loss, there are mixed emotions surrounding the Panthers’ 24-20 defeat to No. 20 Clemson at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Pitt fought like crazy to grab its first and only lead with 1:36 remaining in the game. The Panthers battled courageously with their backup quarterback against perhaps the most talented team they have faced all season.

In the end, it was still a loss, and the third consecutive defeat at that.

The Panthers, once 7-0, are now 7-3 with two games remaining in the 2024 regular season. The best start for this program in 1982, was nothing more than that. In college football, finishing is also imperative, and this particular Pitt team displayed over three games it is lacking that trait.

Two of Pitt’s defeats have come to ranked opponents. The competition has been greater of late, but all three games were problematic in their own. Pitt’s offense, once one of most productive in college football earlier this season, has been held to two touchdowns or less over the past five games.

On Saturday, that trend unfortunately continued, but the Panthers started out a little better at least.

Pitt’s offense scored a touchdown in the first quarter for the first time since the Cal game back on October 12th. Daniel Carter powered in on a two-yard run to tie it at 7-all with 5:22 in the first. It capped off a five-play, 75-yard drive, though it proved to be an aberration more than anything.

The Panthers had to punt on five offensive possessions in the first half, and opted to try a 59-yard field goal with Ben Sauls. The senior kicker, who has been stellar this season, missed it wide right. The kick would have been the longest in Pitt history, and also would have tied the record at Acrisure Stadium.

It was a hard ask of Sauls, but it was also the best option Pitt could muster at the time.

Things changed after halftime.

Junior quarterback Nate Yarnell started to get a little rhythm, as Pitt produced 264 yards after halftime, which is clearly the most productive half this team has had in over a month.

Although, executing the details is sometimes more important than only raw offensive production. Early in the fourth quarter, the Panthers got all the way to the two-yard line on yet another spectacular play by running back Desmond Reid, who finished as the leading receiver with 108 yards on ten catches.

In most situations, a team wastes little time, rides the momentum, and punches it in to tie the game.

Pitt went the other direction.

On first down, Derrick Davis was stuffed. The next play, Gavin Bartholomew took an uncertain shovel pass from Yarnell down to the one to bring up a third and goal knocking on the door of Clemson, but it only got worse from there.

The Panthers were then hit with three consecutive penalties: an illegal formation, a delay of game, and a false start, which resulted in a field goal, and not a touchdown.

Saturday’s loss featured a number of situations Pitt would have liked to have back, but none of them defines this game more than failing to score a touchdown in that particular moment.

Pitt still made the valiant comeback. The team miraculously made nearly every single play it needed to make in the fourth quarter to eventually take a 21-17 lead, all except one.

The Panthers’ defense carried things on Saturday. That absolutely needs to be said. No, actually, they dominated Clemson in the second half. The Tigers had only 27 yards of offense in the after halftime before the final drive of the game.

Pitt got lulled into a bad look defensively, forgot to account for a quarterback with some athleticism, and did not make the play once Clemson QB Cade Klubnik got going. The Tigers netted only 58 rushing yards on Saturday, nearly all on one scramble by the quarterback on the final play of the game for the Pitt defense.

That run by Klubnik resulted in a 50-yard touchdown, and Clemson regained the lead with 1:16 remaining.

Pitt's only lead on Saturday held for exactly 20 seconds.

It took maximum effort to accomplish that advantage over the No. 20 team in the country, and all it took was one lapse to let it slip away. But that is just how things have been going lately for the Panthers, and they have nobody really to blame other than themselves.