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Pitt's 2016 regular season is over, and it was a year filled with big plays - on both sides of the ball. Here's a look at the top five plays from this past year.

5. THE BIG MAN CAN RUN
From time to time after Brian O’Neill moved from tight end to offensive line, the idea would be floated: was there any chance he could line up as an eligible receiver and catch a pass in some type of trickery?

Turns out, Matt Canada was thinking the same thing, and while O’Neill didn’t officially catch a pass, he did get the ball in his hands - by design - three times this season. The first came on the first drive of the Georgia Tech game, when Pitt got creative with its eligible receivers and lined up O’Neill outside left tackle Adam Bisnowaty. On the snap, O’Neill drifted out and caught what was ultimately a lateral from Nate Peterman.

None of the Georgia Tech defenders saw O’Neill out there, and he had plenty of open field to cover the necessary 24 yards for the end zone.

But while that play made headlines, it was his second touch that earns a spot on this list, a play that saw Pitt give the ball to O’Neill against Virginia Tech on first and goal from the 5 in the fourth quarter. Once again, O’Neill was lined up at tight end outside Bisnowaty with George Aston next to him, Quadree Henderson and Jester Weah at receiver and James Conner at running back. Henderson went in motion, and after the snap, Peterman faked a handoff to Conner - only to give it to O’Neill who ran an end-around from the tight end position.

What sets this play apart is that when O’Neill meets a Virginia Tech defender close to the goal line, the redshirt sophomore dives into the end zone from the 3.

4. A GAME-CHANGER
Jordan Whitehead has been one of Pitt’s best overall players since his arrival two years ago, but his contributions have largely been as an anchor of the Panthers’ stout run defense. He led the team in tackles as a freshman by playing a position that is key in stuffing the run, and that emphasis minimized his ability to make impact plays against the pass.

In fact, his biggest “splash plays” at Pitt have come on offense, rather than defense. But in the Panthers’ win at Virginia this season, he made a big-time play on defense.

Pitt had just tied Virginia 28-28 in the final minute of the first half after Conner scored on a one-yard touchdown run, but the Cavaliers looked like they would be another passing offense to put up big numbers on the Panthers. Quarterback Kurt Benkert was rolling, and Pitt seemed to be in for another dogfight.

But in the waning seconds of the second quarter, Benkert dropped back for an ill-advised throw and didn’t see Whitehead, who jumped the route and returned the interception 59 yards for a touchdown.

There were plenty of big plays in Pitt’s win over Virginia - two others are highlighted on the video below - but Whitehead’s interception turned the tide of the game. Benkert never recovered and Virginia didn’t score a touchdown in the second half.

3. A NEW WRINKLE
Pitt’s offense held back a lot in the season opener against Villanova. As in, Canada basically held back everything. So when the Panthers’ first possession against Penn State started at their own 1, there wasn’t a lot of optimism.

After all, this was an offense that struggled to produce 261 yards of total offense and scored just three touchdowns in beating an FCS opponent the previous week; how would they fare against an opponent from the Power Five conference with the goal line right behind them?

The offense started by digging its way out from the shadow of the open end zone, first with a Peterman two-yard sneak and then with a nice 24-yard run by Conner. But after a run for no gain and a second-down holding penalty, the Panthers were facing second-and-19 - not the best situation for an offense that still didn’t look like it was capable of producing much.

Then it happened. Henderson went in motion from right to left before coming back across the formation. Just as he passed between the left tackle and left guard, Peterman took the snap and gave him the quick handoff. A pair of big blocks from Scott Orndoff and George Aston opened the lane and Henderson was off to the races.

38 yards later, Penn State didn’t know what had hit them. But Pitt knew, and the jet sweep to Henderson became one of the trademarks of the most productive offense in school history. Henderson finished the season with 555 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns, and the sweep also found takers in Rafael Araujo-Lopes, Tre Tipton, Maurice Ffrench - he had two touchdowns with the play, including a 77-yard score against Syracuse - and even Aston.

Pitt’s offense clicked on a lot of cylinders this season, but 2016 will be remembered for the jet sweeps, and they got started with that second-and-19 against Penn State.

2. THE WINNING BOOT
Chris Blewitt has kicked a few game-winners in his time at Pitt. He put the victories over Syracuse and Georgia Tech in 2015 on his toe, and he did it again when Pitt hosted Georgia Tech at Heinz Field this season.

But none of those game-winning kicks - indeed, none of Blewitt’s 76 other field goal attempts - were as big as the one he lined up for at Clemson.

The setting for that game-winner doesn’t need to be laid out in any more detail than this: after going toe-to-toe with the nation’s No. 2 team on the road in front of 81,000 diehards, Pitt was at the Clemson 30, trailing by two points with just a few seconds to go. The defense had made its big stand and the offense had gotten into range; now it was up to Blewitt to win it.

And he nailed it. 48 no-doubt yards and a few to spare. Pitt’s biggest win in nearly a decade fell on Blewitt’s leg, and he was up to the task.

1. THE DEFINITIVE RUN
It’s hard to top Blewitt’s game-winner against Clemson, but that game had one play that stands as the play of the year, the play of a career and, perhaps, one of the all-time greatest plays in school history.

Saleem Brightwell had just picked off Deshaun Watson in the end zone - there were a lot of big plays in that game - and returned the interception 70 yards to the Clemson 30. A defensive holding penalty overturned what would have been a three-and-out for Pitt’s offense and moved the ball to the 20.

On first down, Peterman lined up in the shotgun with Conner next to him. Aston went in motion from left to right, and on the snap, Peterman handed to Conner up the middle. But Clemson had that area secure, so Conner had to change direction and run outside. There were a few blockers out there, but if Conner was going to turn the corner, he was going to have to take care of at least one defender himself.

The defender in this situation was outside linebacker Dorian O’Daniel, and Conner put him in the ground with a left-handed stiff arm that actually caused O’Daniel to float.

After that, a good block by Aston, a touch block by Henderson and a legitimate finishing block from Aaron Mathews cleared the way for Conner to dive into the end zone.

The touchdown and missed two-point conversion made the score 42-40 in favor of Clemson, and the heroics that followed - Pitt’s defense making a big stand and Blewitt making the game-winning field goal - all deserve mention, but that run stands alone. Conner was the face of Pitt in 2016: he was the face of the team, the program and the season.

If he opts to leave for the NFL after the bowl game, Conner will have cemented his legacy many times over. But that play with that stiff arm in that moment of that game will go down in Pitt history.