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Pitt comes out running on their first four plays, setting up a 4th and 1 at their 49. They elect to punt.
And pin us at our 1.
One play drive - safety for the Panthers. 2-0, 12:31 left in quarter.
RB Kimo King is giving us fits, getting into the secondary with ease. He has 5 carries for 56 yards already.
Add 23 on his next touch, down at our 13.
QB Buck Brown throws an 11 yard TD pass to up the lead. 9-0, 9:42 left in quarter.
Brown rumbles for 24 yards before being pushed out at the 25.
Burford completes his first four attempts to four different receivers.
But the drive dies inside the Pitt 20. Wayne kicks a 32 yard field goal. 9-3, 5:30 left in the quarter.
King runs for 13 on 3rd and 10, he is up to 93 yards on 8 carries.
The defense responds on the next set of downs. Punt.
Three and out for the offense, including a 3rd down sack.
We record an interception on 3rd down, but it is called back on a defensive holding penalty. This was one play after Pitt recovered a fumble - we can't catch a break right now. They have the ball at our 32.
King goes over 100 yards for the game on the first play of the 2nd quarter.
The refs try to even the score, taking away a 3rd down conversion with a holding penalty.
Pitt has to settle for a 45 yard field goal. 12-3, 12:14 left in the half.
We fumble the kickoff, giving Pitt the ball at our 26. This game has been a disaster so far.
Brown throws another 11 yard TD pass. 19-3, 11:12 left in the half.
We put together a few first downs before RB Isaac Davis is leveled after a 10 yard gain. The ball is on the turf, and we have another turnover.
3 and out for Pitt when they elect to punt on 4th and 2.
Brown is running hard on this drive, moving the chains a couple of times.
We get a break on a Pitt defensive penalty on 3rd down to keep the drive alive.
But a 3rd and 14 is too much to overcome. Wayne boots a 39 yard field goal at the end of a 12 play drive. 19-6, 1:16 left in the half.
We force a 3 and out, burn two timeouts, and get the ball back.
An 18 yard punt return puts us at the 50. If not for a tripping penalty, Detmer may have run it back all the way. But tack on 15 more yards and we have the ball at the 35 with 0:31 left.
6 yards on a screen pass to Brown, final timeout.
Burford drops back to pass, incomplete.
Wayne hits a 47 yard field goal, closing out the scoring for the half. 19-9.
Halftime Notes:
We are lucky to be in the game after a couple of bad turnovers.
Statistically, the game is pretty close. We are moving the ball on offense pretty effectively.
We need to win this game or next week at USC to make a bowl game. We are back at a point where I wouldn't mind seeing one more game with this team, so I hope we have a great 2nd half in us today.
Burford hurts his knee escaping a tackler on our opening possession of the 2nd half and is out for the rest of the game. That is a big setback. Jack was 10-19 for 80 yards, but I don't like our other options at the position much. Particularly when we are playing from behind.
QB Gary Anderson hits his first attempt, 15 yards to Gary Brewer up to the 49.
2nd attempt - picked after leading Jackson into the safety for a colossal hit.
Brown converts a 3rd and 8 with a 10 yard completion to TE Mann. He is able to hold onto the ball after a big hit, unlike some wideouts ...
The defense doesn't break on this drive, forcing a 27 yard field goal attempt. It's good, 22-9 with 9:47 left in the quarter.
We come out throwing - 3 straight completions for Anderson.
The 4th play is also a complete pass, but Stablein fumbles and Pitt recovers at their 42. We are now down 4-0 on turnovers today. And surrendered a safety.
Defense forces a 3 and out - they have played a pretty solid game despite the score.
3 and out, Pitt will get good field position.
They take over at the 49.
Brown and Redwine get 15 on 3rd and 16, they punt.
We are pinned at our 6.
We'll need a big play, I don't trust this QB to lead a 94 yard drive without one.
Neither does our offensive coordinator. We hand off 4 straight plays and punt.
Pitt gets a 31 yard return, starts at our 35.
2 play drive, two completions for Brown. Two point conversion and the score is 30-9 with 0:51 left in the 3rd.
Forget what I said about wanting to play a bowl game. USC is going to destroy us next week.
3 incompletions - punt.
DT Chuck Rachal records a sack. Then forces a fumble two plays later, but we are allergic to live footballs. Pitt is 5-5 on recoveries today.
6-6 after another fumble on this drive.
Brown gets his 4th TD pass of the day, a 37 yarder to Fran Kitchings. It appears the defense has now lost its fight. 37-9, and I can't wait for the game to end.
We fumble another kickoff, Pitt recovers (7-7) on our 1.
They score - 5th TD pass for Brown. 44-9, another 8:50 to endure.
The second half of this game has been an abortion.
Brown goes over the 100 yard mark. Might as well get a garbage score or two ...
We punt.
Pitt is not calling off the dogs. They drive 58 yards on 9 plays before settling for a field goal. 47-9, 1:58 left.
On the 8th try, we recover a fumble. There are no moral victories to be had here, though.
Anderson to Jackson for 2 yard TD, 47-16 with 0:37 left.
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