#H2P... PITT IS IT! - A Pitt Panthers Dynasty (NCAA 14)

[Careless Whisper]

NC State just looks very solid on both sides of the ball, easy to see why they went 11-1 - although that does seem strange, the Wolfpack being a CFP contender! I've got Pitt in a classic.

[moose141]

LIVE LOOK IN: CC WEEK
Report by Matt Schmidlin | December 14, 2019

As we near kickoff for your Pitt Panthers as they take on the NC State Wolfpack, let's take a live look in around the country at the NCAA Scoreboard as one more school has seemingly punched their ticket to the College Football Playoff!

FINAL SCORES

American Championship Game -- Houston, TX -- FINAL
UCF 11-2 (7-1) -- 31
#11 Houston 11-2 (7-1) -- 28

The UCF ground game took center stage, as the Knights ran for 215 yards en route to an American conference championship. D'Eriq King threw for a score and ran for two TDs in the losing effort for Houston, who lost in the American championship for the second straight season. Former Pitt QB Ben DiNucci tossed for a score and ran in a score in the win for UCF.

Conference USA Championship Game -- Birmingham, AL -- FINAL
Western Kentucky 6-7 (6-3) -- 31
#3 UAB 13-0 (9-0) -- 35

Nearly down and out, UAB used two fourth quarter touchdowns to complete a come from behind victory to seal an undefeated season and state their case for a CFP berth. The Blazers scored the winning touchdown with just 1:01 to play in the fourth quarter, with John Jacobs throwing his fourth TD on the day in the win.

SEC Championship Game -- Atlanta, GA -- FINAL
#14 Georgia 10-3 (7-1) -- 28
#1 LSU 13-0 (8-0) -- 34

LSU overcame a minor injury to Heisman favorite Joe Burrow early in the second quarter and held off a furious rally to clinch their second straight SEC title, beating Georgia, 34-28. Burrow ran for a TD in first quarter as LSU built a 21-0 advantage, but left in discomfort in the second quarter. Leslie Scott, Jr. came in and ran for a score to push the LSU lead to 28-7 in the first half. After leading 28-14 at the midpoint, LSU withstood a Georgia comeback and used a pair of second half field goals to outlast the Bulldogs.

IN PROGRESS

Mountain West Championship Game -- San Diego, CA -- 8:30 2ND QUARTER
Boise State 9-3 (7-1) -- 21
San Diego State 10-2 (7-1) -- 7

COMING UP

ACC Championship Game -- Charlotte, NC -- 8:00 PM
#8 Pittsburgh 10-2 (7-1)
#6 NC State 11-1 (7-1)

Big Ten Championship Game -- Indianapolis, IN -- 8:00 PM
#24 Wisconsin 9-3 (7-2)
#2 Ohio State 12-0 (9-0)

MAC Championship Game -- Detroit, MI -- 8:00 PM
Western Michigan 9-3 (7-1)
Ohio 10-2 (8-0)

PAC-12 Championship Game -- Los Angeles, CA -- 8:00 PM
Oregon 9-3 (7-2)
#5 UCLA 11-1 (8-1)

UP NEXT
Pitt vs. NC State live on ABC!

[moose141]

BACK (H)2(P) BACK?
Season 4, ACC Championship: #8 Pitt (10-2, 7-1 ACC) vs. #6 NC State (11-1, 7-1 ACC)
Video report by Matt Schmidlin | December 14, 2019



Game Recap


Rapid Reaction

Did They Do Enough?

Pat Narduzzi acknowledged that everything for the next few days is really just beyond his control.

"It's out of our hands, really," the Panthers head coach said. "We've done everything we can do, and I'm so proud of what our guys have accomplished this year, no matter what happens. I'm not gonna go out and campaign or anything, but I think our play on the field this year has shown that we're one of the best football teams in this nation."

With the victory, the Panthers hope to have convinced the College Football Playoff selection committee that they are deserving of the opportunity to play for their 10th national title, and first since 1976. Pitt earned the #4 seed in the playoff field last season, losing to eventual national champion Washington in the national semifinal.

NCAA Scoreboard

Mountain West Championship Game -- San Diego, CA -- FINAL
Boise State 10-3 (7-1) -- 41
San Diego State 10-3 (7-1) -- 27

Led by a 4 TD performance from Ross Bowers, the Boise State Broncos reclaimed the Mountain West championship, knocking off the San Diego State Aztecs. The Broncos also had a pair of 100 yard rushing performances, as Alexander Mattison ran for 110 yards and a score and Jake Shaddox added 106 yards in the victory. The Boise win was a reversal of the 2017 MWC title game, where San Diego State emerged victorious over the Broncos.

Big Ten Championship Game -- Indianapolis, IN -- FINAL
#24 Wisconsin 9-4 (7-2) -- 27
#2 Ohio State 13-0 (9-0) -- 38

Ohio State escaped upset alert in Indy after trailing with under six minutes to play, scoring a pair of Antonio Williams touchdowns to pull out a comeback victory over Wisconsin and win the Big Ten. Williams, starting in place of injured HB Mike Weber, ran for 136 yards and a trio of touchdowns, while Dwayne Haskins through for 266 yards and a pair of scores in the win. The victory also gave the Buckeyes revenge on the Badgers for their 2017 title game loss.

MAC Championship Game -- Detroit, MI -- FINAL
Western Michigan 9-4 (7-1) -- 31
Ohio 11-2 (8-0) -- 37

Quinton Maxwell threw for 301 yards and three scores to lead Ohio to their tenth straight victory, as they won their second straight MAC title, beating Western Michigan. It was Maxwell's second straight MAC Championship game MVP, as he also ran for a team leading 80 yards. In a crazy trend, it was another inverse of a 2017 title game, when Western Michigan had beaten the Bobcats.

PAC-12 Championship Game -- Los Angeles, CA -- FINAL
Oregon 10-3 (7-2) -- 28
#5 UCLA 11-2 (8-1) -- 21

Starting in place of Justin Herbert, junior Sam Miller stole the show for Oregon as they handed UCLA their second straight PAC-12 championship defeat and knocked them from contention for a playoff berth. Miller was a bit erratic, completing only 44 percent of his passes, but did manage to throw for a pair of TDs while adding 92 yards and a score on the ground, including the deciding score on a 5 yard scamper in the 4th quarter. Ohio State transfer Demario McCall added 81 rushing yards in the Ducks' victory.

Photo Gallery

[Deuce2223]

Congrats on the title.. Excited to see BSU win the MWC, I don't know who Bowers is but I like him and I assume Oregon won the Pac-12 but the final score said 21-21.

[Careless Whisper]

Congrats on the back-to-back ACC titles! Really grinded that one out it seems like, hoping the CFP committee thinks you did enough to put you in.

Side note: Those road unis really pop under the lights.

[Miles Perry]

Big win to secure the conference title. Love seeing a low-scoring, defensive battle every now and then... Will it be enough to get in to the top 4??

[Tearz49ers]

Congrats on the ACC title, now we just have to cross everything that something happens ahead of you in order for you to get in!!

[moose141]

Quote: Originally Posted by Deuce2223

Congrats on the title.. Excited to see BSU win the MWC, I don't know who Bowers is but I like him and I assume Oregon won the Pac-12 but the final score said 21-21.

Thanks Deuce! I figured you would enjoy the Boise result, haha, Bowers was a senior who was going to be Cal's backup QB so I used the editor to grad transfer him to Boise since their starting options were pretty subpar. He ended up putting together a pretty solid year. Yeah, thanks for the catch on that, Oregon did win! Definitely throwing another win in the playoff picture.

Quote: Originally Posted by Careless Whisper

NC State just looks very solid on both sides of the ball, easy to see why they went 11-1 - although that does seem strange, the Wolfpack being a CFP contender! I've got Pitt in a classic.

Quote: Originally Posted by Careless Whisper

Congrats on the back-to-back ACC titles! Really grinded that one out it seems like, hoping the CFP committee thinks you did enough to put you in. Side note: Those road unis really pop under the lights.

Definitely right that it was a tight game! Could've been an even greater classic had NC State gotten one final drive to try to tie or win. If you want to see a true classic, go back to season 1 and watch our ACC Championship game versus Clemson. It was one of the best games that I've played on NCAA, so intense and came right down to the wire, definitely a true instant classic.

Speaking of instant classics, I may need to do a Top 5 or 10 games ranking or something for games in this dynasty, because we have had some unreal matchups play out over the 4 seasons that have taken place so far. It would be a cool lookback, especially for those of you that may not have been around for the first couple seasons, since I've kinda stretched things out with a few random hiatuses haha. Agree also on the jerseys, thanks for the props on that! The whites actually have come out really nice, I think the contrast with the bright yellow really makes them look pretty slick.

Quote: Originally Posted by Tearz49ers

Congrats on the ACC title, now we just have to cross everything that something happens ahead of you in order for you to get in!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Miles Perry

Big win to secure the conference title. Love seeing a low-scoring, defensive battle every now and then... Will it be enough to get in to the top 4??

Thanks Tearz and Miles! It was a fun but nervewracking game, as both teams moved the ball decently well, but all the drives seemed to flame out. It seems like we've had a lot of those down the stretch!

Yeah, there is definitely going to be some controversy for the final playoff spots. We've got teams who beat everyone they needed to, but their schedule was weak, versus teams who lost a bit more but played better schedules or were more dominant. And the question of how much does a conference title really matter. So much to sort out! (And you guys are gonna get the chance to help!)