Pitt falls apart against Virginia, suffers 2nd straight loss

Let’s call Pitt’s complicated 24-19 loss to Virginia on Saturday night a missed opportunity by a team with lofty expectations, a letdown with the season on the line and a mix of penalties, injuries, dropped passes, general offensive malfunction and even officials adding to the confusion.

Pat Narduzzi was unhappy with many of the events that unfolded in front of a crowd of 56,693 at Acrisure Stadium, his mood as grim as it’s been in his 10 seasons as Pitt’s head coach.

“Obviously, a disappointing outing,” he said. “We had our chances to win the football game. We didn’t get it done.”

Big picture after the rubble has been cleared: Pitt’s second loss in a row prevented the Panthers (7-2, 3-2 ACC) from entering a virtual tie for second place in the conference with Clemson (7-2, 6-1) and Miami (9-1, 5-1). Now, Pitt has three weeks to regain the momentum that grew from its seven-game winning streak to start the season.

The game’s outcome hinged on several factors, including Pitt allowing Virginia (5-4, 3-3) to rush for 170 yards. That one hurt Narduzzi more than anything.

“They ran the ball too much on us,” he said. “We’ll look at why. We have to stop the run better.”

Yet in the next breath, he correctly pointed out that Pitt allowed only 24 points, and one of three Virginia touchdowns came after a 20-yard drive set up by Cavaliers safety Jonas Sanker’s 45-yard interception return. That final touchdown was a 3-yard run by Kobe Pace that gave Virginia a 21-13 lead with 3 minutes, 34 seconds left in the third quarter.

On the other side of the ball, Pitt’s offense struggled most of the night against a Virginia team that had allowed 89 points in its past two games.

Quarterback Eli Holstein, who left the game in the third quarter with an apparent head injury, completed only 10 of 23 passes for 121 yards. His replacement, Nate Yarnell, was 4 of 12 for 44 yards with two interceptions.

“It starts with coaching and me,” Narduzzi said. “We have to get better play. It’s not just quarterback. It’s everybody involved. We had way too many dropped passes out there. It’s hard to get in rhythm when you’re not catching the ball like we have all year. That’s our job to catch balls. It’s our job to get them to catch balls (with) ball drills.

“I wish they were more focused, for sure. Put that on me. We catch it in practice. We have to catch it in big moments in big games.”

Also, kicker Ben Sauls, who hit two field goals from 44 and 48 yards, had one blocked.

Two plays underscored the frustration Pitt players and coaches felt while walking off the field.

• With 6:04 left in the game, Pitt stopped Virginia backup quarterback Grady Brosterhous for no gain on fourth-and-1 at the Pitt 24. It looked to be the game’s decisive defensive play, with the deficit only 21-19 and more than enough time for Pitt to get in position for a field goal.

But before Pitt could celebrate, referee Nate Black called for a do-over, saying officials weren’t in proper position.

Narduzzi, his arms outstretched in exasperation and confusion, tried to get an explanation, but he said none was offered.

“At the end, they got five downs. I haven’t seen that too many times in my career,” he said. “I’m sure (ACC supervisor of football officials) Al Riveron will answer that for us on Monday or Tuesday. It’s our job to get lined up and get in position. It’s their job to get in position as well.”

After reporters asked for clarification from the ACC office, the league issued the following statement:

“Prior to completion of the substitution process, the ball was improperly snapped before the officials were in position to officiate. There is no foul, the play clock is set to 25 seconds and the clock starts on the ready-for-play signal.”

Given a second chance, Virginia ran for a first down and killed four minutes off the clock before kicker Will Bettridge hit a 32-yard field goal with 2:06 remaining to make the score 24-19.

“We considered it as a time to bounce back and go make a play again,” Pitt safety Donovan McMillon said, taking the high road. “Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way.”

Pitt had one more chance, but defensive back Cory Thomas, a Penn Hills graduate, intercepted Yarnell at the Virginia 16 with 1:38 left.

• The first of two decisive plays occurred earlier in the fourth quarter before that controversial fourth down when Yarnell flipped a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Gavin Bartholomew to cut the Virginia lead to 21-19. Yarnell and Bartholomew also hooked up on the 2-point conversion try, but Pitt left tackle Ryan Baer, who had moved from the right side as coaches rebuilt an injury-plagued line, was called for holding. It was one of 11 penalties that ended up costing Pitt 75 yards and two points.

“(Baer) knocked (the defender’s) arm down,” Narduzzi said. “That’s all it was. He wasn’t even close to the quarterback.”

Narduzzi did acknowledge another truth about the game: “We had way too many penalties in the first half, offensively.”

Pitt’s coach was upset, but he said he was satisfied with his team’s preparation and effort.

“Our guys fought their tails off,” he said. “Our guys will stick together. That’s what we do.”

McMillon said he expects players to recover and be ready to tangle with Clemson next Saturday.

“Two losses, that can break teams,” he said. “We worked too hard for nine months of offseason to fumble and fold now. We have the 24-hour rule, watch the film, figure it out.”