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Pitt stands up to adversity in win over Syracuse

MORE FROM THE GAME - PODCAST: The Drive Home after the Syracuse game | Coleman on the game-winner - "I took it" | Post-game video: Pat Narduzzi| Narduzzi on the win, overtime and more | Pitt beats Syracuse in overtime | Slideshow: Photos from Pitt's win over Syracuse | Postgame video: Players talk about the overtime win

Saturday’s game couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start for Pitt. But instead of following the script, instead of wilting in the face of adversity, the Panthers fought back on their way to a much-needed overtime win against Syracuse.

In the early going, the Orange looked ready to live up to pregame expectations. They took the opening kickoff and marched, with relative ease, 75 yards on 11 plays for the game’s first touchdown.

Then, when Pitt receiver Shocky Jacques-Louis fumbled on the Panthers’ next possession, Syracuse needed just five plays to cover 42 yards and put another one in the end zone.

Less than 10 minutes into the game, the visitors had a 14-0 lead, and the home team, with an offense that scored just seven points last week and a defense that seemed to be providing no resistance whatsoever to Syracuse’s offense, looked like it was headed for a third consecutive loss on the season.

But then something happened. Pitt’s offense hit a quick strike when Qadree Ollison ran 69 yards for a touchdown on the second play of the next drive. And on the fifth play of Syracuse’s following possession, Quintin Wirginis stripped Orange quarterback Eric Dungey.

Pitt corner Dane Jackson scooped the fumbled and scored from 35 yards out, and in a matter of two minutes and 11 seconds, the game had gone from a two-touchdown impending blowout to a tie score at 14-all.

The tide had turned and Pitt’s defense carried that momentum throughout the first half. On its first two possessions, Syracuse had produced 14 points and gained 117 yards. On the Orange’s final seven possessions of the first half, they gained 66 yards and scored three points.

Syracuse finally got back to the end zone on its second drive of the third quarter and scored again two drives later. But the Pitt defense forced a pair of field goals in the fourth quarter and clinched the game with an interception in overtime.

That’s a far cry from last week, when Central Florida got up early on Pitt and the Panthers were never able to respond.

“Those guys fought and fought and fought,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said after the game. “We're down 14 points to start off and I'm sure everybody is going, ‘Oh, here we go again,’ but our guys continue to believe and that talks about character right there. That is character.”

"We’ve had a lot of [adversity] the past two games and they were rough," redshirt senior linebacker Quintin Wirginis said after the game. "But that teaches you that you’re not going to be able to play just one half of football; you have to stick it out the whole game. And when they come out and get two quick scores, like I said, it’s a whole football game and we have so much time left."

In the third quarter, Syracuse finally found the end zone again, but Pitt's defense stepped up to hold the Orange to field goals in the fourth quarter, allowing the Panthers' special teams and offense a chance to win in overtime.

And, of course, there was that huge defensive play in overtime when Therran Coleman picked off Syracuse quarterback Eric Dungey to end the game.

"It’s just so important to keep that swagger, that energy, through the whole game,” Wirginis said. “I think that’s something that we’ve lacked before. Championship football teams play all four quarters, every snap, every rep. I think that’s what we did today and that’s our goal for the rest of the season.”

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