In college football in 2022, it’s difficult to win with defense.

But on Saturday night, that’s exactly what Pitt did, smothering No. 20 Syracuse with a dominant performance to secure a 19-9 victory at Acrisure Stadium.

And while it might not work every game, the Panthers are not in position to haggle over details. They came into Saturday’s afternoon tilt with the Orange smarting from a two-game losing streak that saw fourth-quarter leads slip away on the road at Louisville and North Carolina in consecutive weeks.

Those losses were largely a product of ineffective offensive play, but the defense did little to win either one. Pitt gave up a touchdown and a field goal in the fourth quarter at Louisville and then got shredded by UNC quarterback Drake Maye for a trio of fourth-quarter scores last week.

All told, the Panthers gave up 31 points in the fourth quarters of the last two games - a total that was overwhelming when Pitt’s offense couldn’t manage a single point of its own and actually contributed seven to Louisville’s total on a scoop-and-score in the fourth quarter.

So on Saturday, when Pitt went into the fourth quarter with a 17-6 lead over Syracuse, there were no guarantees about the outcome.

And when Pitt’s offense went into a hole of its own in the fourth quarter, the pressure increased on the Panthers’ defense.

But on this particular Saturday, Pitt won with defense.

A fluke punt that netted two yards gave the Orange the ball at the Pitt 28, the defense pushed Syracuse back to the 29 and a missed field goal. The next drive saw the Orange lose six more yards. They got 54 on their third drive of the fourth quarter, largely on the strength of a 15-yard scramble and a long pass - Syracuse’s biggest play of the game. But even then, the defense stepped up to force a field goal.

And after Pitt pinned the Orange at the 1 on the visitors’ last effort, the Panthers closed the door with a safety.

The results:

145 yards of total offense. 25 rushing yards. 3-of-14 on third down. 23 minutes of possession. 22 yards of offense from Syracuse star back Sean Tucker.

Most importantly:

No touchdowns.

Quite simply, Pitt needed a win on Saturday. A win by any means. And while it would have been ideal to have the Panthers’ offense break out and play better than it has all season, that wasn’t the case on Saturday. Pitt managed just 339 yards, turned the ball over twice deep in Syracuse territory and scored just one touchdown in the second half. It wasn’t an improvement in any sense, and the challenge remains for the offense to find a way to produce more in the final three games. It goes without saying that the Panthers are likely going to need to score more than two touchdowns to beat Virginia, Duke and Miami.

They can’t count on the defense to carry the day every day. That’s just not the way college football works in 2022. But on this day, it did work that way, and Pitt got a win that it absolutely needed.

Now the Panthers (5-4 overall, 2-3 ACC) move on to face Virginia on the road before the home finale against Duke and the regular-season finale at Miami. They’ll need an offensive improvement to win those games, but if the defense keeps playing like it did against Syracuse on Saturday, they’ll have a chance.