Football: Panthers hold on for 24-17 win at Rutgers

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Despite Pitt’s best efforts, it narrowly held onto a 24-17 victory tonight against Rutgers.

The Panthers (6-1, 3-0 Big East) led 17-10 at the half and 24-10 at the start of the fourth quarter, but just couldn’t put away from the Scarlet Knights (4-2, 0-2 Big East).

After taking a 24-10 lead, Pitt got the ball back after forcing Rutgers to go three-and-out, but quarterback Bill Still fumbled leading to a 19-yard touchdown pass from Rutgers’ Tom Savage to Tim Brown, cutting the lead in half.

“We were trying to run the clock out,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said.

“We have not played out best football. We can play a lot better.”

Stull wasn’t the only Panther who had troubles tonight.

Freshman Dan Hutchins came into the game perfect on field goals this year, hitting all seven he’s attempted. Tonight he missed two. First was a 42-yard field goal on the first drive of the second quarter, when the game was tied at seven. Later, he missed a 30-yard attempt, which could have sealed the Pitt victory with about two and a half minutes remaining in the game.

“You like to think that’s routine,” Wannstedt said.

Right before that drive was the Brown 19-yard touchdown for Rutgers, and the Scarlet Knights had all the momentum heading into the drive. The Panthers desperately needed to come out and take some time off the clock while moving the ball for a score.

At first they didn’t.

After a Dion Lewis first down, the freshman ran twice for two yards and then one yard, setting up a third-and-9 from Pitt’s own 40-yard line. Stull was under pressure from Rutgers defenders, and tossed the ball up. It looked like he was just trying to avoid the sack and chuck the ball to the middle of the field, but luckily for him, Jonathan Baldwin happened to be near the middle of the field as well.

The sophomore wide receiver leapt higher than any Rutgers defenders and seemingly paused in mid-air waiting for the lofty, slow-moving throw from Stull to get to him. Right after he reached his apex, he raised his arms and hauled in the ball right before crashing to the ground on his back for a 17-yard gain.

“I was blocking a linebacker and I turned around and saw him in the air for what seemed like 10 seconds,” Lewis said.

While it wasn’t the 100-yard receiving performance Pitt fans have come to expect from Baldwin, the catch kept the drive going and shifted some of the momentum back to Pitt.

“Jonathan Baldwin had one catch, but wow, what a catch,” Wannstedt said.

A few plays later, Hutchins missed the 30-yarder. It wasn’t the freshman’s best day, as he also had his first career punt blocked.

Mistakes also cost Pitt early in the game. After forcing Rutgers to punt to open the game, Aaron Smith let the punt drop instead of fair catching it. The ball took an unexpected bounce, and hit Dom DeCicco in the foot, and Rutgers recovered at the 11-yard line. The next play, Mohamed Sanu rushed into the end zone to give Rutgers an early 7-0 lead.

But with the Scarlet Knights threatening to tie the game, the Panthers finally caught a break.

With a bit more than a minute left in the game, Rutgers had a fourth-and-six from its own 42-yard line Pitt held a 24-17 lead, but hadn’t scored since Lewis broke a 58-yard run for a touchdown with a little less than six minutes left in the third quarter.

Savage dropped back to pass and connected with Sanu for what looked like a sure first down, but on the tackle Jovani Chapel knocked the ball loose with his left arm and the Panthers recovered the fumble. Three kneel downs later and the Panthers escaped with a win, but it was another time when the Panthers just couldn’t close out a game.

Pitt’s only loss came to North Carolina State, when the Panthers led 17-10 at the half, but were out-scored 14-0 in the fourth quarter resulting in a 38-31 loss. In wins, Pitt allowed Buffalo and Navy to stick around after dominating the first halves of both games.

“Sometimes when we get ahead, we’re not as intense, as rowdy,” defensive tackle Mick Williams said.

Williams and defense were key in sealing the win. Not only did they force the fumble to clinch the victory, but they held Rutgers to just 38 rushing yards for the entire game.

“They have big, mauling offensive lineman,” linebacker Max Gruder said. “Our defensive line really stepped up.”

The Scarlet Knights came into the game averaging 183 rushing yards per game.

“We had to stop the run,” Williams said. “Thirty-eight yards? I think we did our job.”

Another big reason for the victory was Lewis. The freshman rushed 31 times for 180 yards and two touchdowns.

“Everybody on the team trusts me,” Lewis said. “They expect me to make big plays. I just do what they expect me to. They don’t look at me as a freshman.”

He now has 918 rushing yards this season, which is best in the nation.

“I’m glad I don’t have to tackle him,” Williams said. “I did enough of that in camp.”

Notes: Cornerback Aaron Berry didn’t play today. He sat out with a shoulder injury and Ricky Gary started in his place. Wannstedt said he expects Berry to play next week against South Florida… This was Wannstedt’s first victory against Rutgers, and he has now beaten every Big East team. “It’s been a long time coming,” he said.