Defense helps No. 22 Panthers achieve 6-0 for first time since 1982

Through the first six games of the season, Pitt has found ways to win games, no matter the situation.

The Panthers have led from the front, they have come from behind and they have won games with their high-scoring offense led by redshirt freshman Eli Holstein. But on a night when the offense turned in its worst offensive performance of the season -- Holstein completed just 50% of his pass attempts for 133 yards and two interceptions -- the defense stood up en route to a 17-15 victory over Cal on Saturday at Acrisure Stadium.

Even while allowing the Golden Bears to produce 355 yards of total offense, the Pitt defense tallied a season-high six sacks, 11 TFLs and forced three-straight three-and-outs in a scoreless third quarter and held on at the end to move the Panthers to 6-0 for the first time since 1982.

"Every game isn't going to be good as an offense, we aren't going to do what we want to do every game," Desmond Reid said. "But the defense came in the clutch and that was something that we've been looking for since the season started. They did their thing today and, honestly, they are the reason we won. They fought, they got stops and they did what they were supposed to do."

At the front of that defense was Jimmy Scott and Braylan Lovelace. Scott tallied a career-high three sacks and six tackles and Lovelace tallied two more sacks, three TFLs and seven total tackles. Kyle Louis, Brandon George and Donovan McMillon were just as good as well as they combined for 33 tackles. Louis added the sixth sack and two TFLs.

The defense will be the first to admit that it wasn't the greatest of performances given the chunk plays they gave up at different times throughout the game, but they made plays when it mattered the most.

On two occasions in the third quarter, the defense forced a three-and-out after Holstein threw an interception and on both occasions, they held Cal to two yards or less. On Pitt's final defensive drive of the third quarter, Scott recorded two of his three sacks for a loss of 14 yards to push the Golden Bears out of field goal territory and force them to punt from their 46-yard line.

"It's always the same mindset for us every game: 'We have to get after it,' but this game we definitely put a bigger emphasis on studying their offensive line," Scott said. "Based off of film, we knew we could get after them and I think that's exactly what we did."

The Golden Bears continued to put the pressure on Pitt throughout the second half and pulled within two points early in the fourth quarter after Fernando Mendoza hit Jack Endries down the middle of the field on three different occasions for 66 total yards. The final of those three catches was a 19-yard touchdown catch in the teeth of the Pitt defense. Endries finished the game with eight catches for 119 yards.

Since they were trailing by two, Justin Wilcox elected to go for the two-point conversion and brought back-up quarterback Chandler Rogers, who was a running quarterback, into the game. Rogers lined up in shotgun but shifted to the left. Mendoza then snapped the ball and pitched it to Rodgers who tried to find room up the middle but Lovelace was there to sniff it out.

"We knew when No. 7 (Rogers) was in the game, they liked to run the ball. So, I knew when I saw the motion going out, I figured they were going to come back with the draw," Lovelace said. 

It was a huge moment in the game that kept the Panthers in front but the defense wasn't quite done yet as Pitt was forced to punt on its next offensive drive after five short plays. Cal received the ball with just over eight minutes left and put together a 13-play drive that covered 58 yards and chewed up 6:29 of the clock. With 1:50 left, Ryan Coe lined up for a field goal and, well, I'll let the video speak for itself.

However, Cal forced a quick three-and-out from the Pitt offense and the Golden Bears got the ball back on their 20-yard line. 

The defense forced three incomplete passes and held Mason Starling short of a first down on 4th and 15 to end the game.

"I'm proud of our team," Pat Narduzzi said. "They just find ways to win football games. Obviously, the offense didn't play great today, but the defense played lights out, and that's what you want to have."

While the defense stood tall, the offense, even on an off night, was able to produce enough to pull out a victory. A week after catching 11 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown, Reid was explosive on the ground and rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. He also converted two crucial fourth-down attempts in the first half to keep the offense on the field.

The first came on a 19-yard pass across the middle of the field to put the Panthers into Cal territory. The second conversion may have been one of the biggest plays of the game. Take a look: 

The Panthers took the field and planned to just try and get Cal to jump offsides. But, Holstein brought three receivers in motion to the short side of the field, giving Reid a lot of room on the wide side to get the first down and more.

"It was exactly what coach (Kade) Bell called," Holstein said. "He made a great call right there, he kind of just drew that up on the sideline, it just came off the top of his head, like 'Hey, we're going to do this' and it worked. That's why he's one of the best OCs in the country."

Pitt is off to its best start in over 40 years and while they are still undefeated, they have a special mentality that has allowed them to persevere in the moments like they faced on this day. They are still looking to prove what they are capable of.

"I feel like we are always going to have to prove people wrong," Reid said. "I mean, shoot, even in the ACC, we aren't No. 1 in the ACC. So, we still have a lot of stuff to work on, we still have to prove a lot of people wrong and we are going to prove people wrong."

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Pitt (6-0, 2-0 ACC) is off next week and will take on Syracuse (4-1, 1-1 ACC) on Thursday, Oct. 24 at Acrisure Stadium.

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