Football: Pitt falls to Utah 27-24 in overtime

The Pitt football team did what most other preseason top 25 teams wouldn’t: go on the road to a hostile environment against another ranked team to open the season.

The Panthers fought through the crowd noise for more than 60 minutes, but even that wasn’t enough to decide a winner last night… The Pitt football team did what most other preseason top 25 teams wouldn’t: go on the road to a hostile environment against another ranked team to open the season.

The Panthers fought through the crowd noise for more than 60 minutes, but even that wasn’t enough to decide a winner last night.

Ultimately the Panthers were on the losing end of the game as Jordan Wynn and the Utah Utes proved to be too much for Pitt, winning 27-24 in overtime at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Wynne finished the game with 283 yards passing to go along with three touchdowns, the third of which was a 61-yard strike to DeVonte Christopher, to give his team a 10-point lead with just under eight minutes to play.

But it was at that point, with their backs against the wall, that the defense and Tino Sunseri, appearing in his first start at quarterback, stepped up in a big way.

Sunseri, who was inconsistent for most of three quarters, hit Jon Baldwin for a 44-yard touchdown to pull his team within three and give it momentum.

The defense held on to the ensuing drive, giving the Panthers the ball back at the 50-yard line with 2:39 left.

Sunseri completed passes to Dion Lewis, Mike Shanahan — twice — and Mike Cruz to put the Panthers in the red zone. Dan Hutchins hit a 30-yard field goal after Utah coach Kyle Whittingham played some mind games with him, calling two timeouts.

Finally, however, the Utes picked off a Sunseri pass in overtime and ended the game with a chip-shot field goal by kicker Joe Phillips to win the game.

Despite the interception, Sunseri showed the toughness and ability that led him to be Pitt’s starting quarterback.

“Sunseri did a lot more than I expected in the first game,” senior Alan Harper said. “Despite the interceptions, he showed poise.”

Sunseri finished the game 16-28 for 184 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

It was certainly a back-and-forth game, as the Panthers got on the board first when they took advantage of Shaky Smithson’s second fumble of the night on a punt return, taking over at Utah’s 28-yard line before Lewis ran it in from four yards out.

But the Utes responded on the next drive, slowly moving down the field before Wynn connected with Jereme Brooks for a 19-yard touchdown with 6:27 left in the second half.

On the ensuing kickoff, Pitt’s Jason Douglas muffed the kick and the ball bounced all the way out to the Panther 35-yard line where Utah recovered. The Utes took little time to get the ball back in the end zone.

It took only two plays for Brooks to score another touchdown. This time it was a three-yard pitch and catch from Wynn.

Utah quickly got the ball back and looked like it was about to score for a third time in the second quarter and take a commanding 21-7 lead, but Jarred Holley intercepted a Wynn pass in the end zone to give the Panthers momentum going into halftime.

That momentum was quickly taken away as Utah opened up the second half with a 46-yard reception by Brooks on third down that set them up all the way down at Pitt’s 20-yard line.

Pitt’s defense quickly regrouped and held Phillips to a 26-yard field goal to make it 17-7 with 11:52 left in the third quarter.

Then, Pitt regrouped.

Antwuan Reed blocked a punt that was recovered by Nate Nix at Utah’s 7-yard line, the offense went three-and-out, leading to a Hutchins field goal to make it 17-10, pulling the Panthers within one score of Utah.

It was at that point that Sunseri seemed to pick up confidence, going 3-4 for 33 yards on the drive and even picking up a first down on a fourth-and-one on the Utah 5-yard line leading to another Hutchins field goal to cut the lead to 17-13 before the back-and-forth touchdown frenzy of the fourth quarter began.

Even in the loss, the Panthers showed an incredible amount of resiliency, something that will pay off down the road.

“Pitt showed that they can play against another ranked team,” Harper said.

Assistant Sports Editor Tony Jovenitti contributed to this article.