Steel City Letdown: Mistake-prone Tigers lose to Pitt in erratic performance |
PITTSBURGH, PA – Pitt did what it’s been doing in recent weeks, throwing the football and playing fairly good defense. Clemson did what it’s been doing in recent weeks, struggling on offense and making enough mistakes in a game to last a season. The result was a 27-17 Pitt victory at Heinz Field Saturday afternoon that all but ended Clemson’s ACC title hopes and leads to even more questions about the program.
The injured Tigers held an early lead on the Panthers – the offense was moving the ball and the defense was holding firm – but a dropped pass early in the second quarter led to a big momentum swing and the Panthers pulled away with the victory. Clemson falls to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the ACC while Pitt improves to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in league play. The Tigers pulled starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei after the first drive of the second half after a play in which he threw a shovel pass right to a Pitt defender that was returned for a touchdown. Uiagalelei was 11-of-23 for just 101 yards at the time, but his cause was hurt by several drops. Backup Taisun Phommachanh led a drive that ended with a field goal, but his time was over after two drives. Clemson wound up with just 315 total yards while Pitt churned out 464 yards. Pitt was 10-of-18 on third down while Clemson was just 4-of-11. Pitt ran 82 plays to Clemson's 62. "Offensively again so many missed opportunities, drops, throws," head coach Dabo Swinney said. "We had a chance to go up 14-0 and we don't make a play, and they go right back and score, then get a fourth-down touchdown at the end of the half. We are what we are right now: very immature, young, not confident. That's for sure." The defense played well early, but didn't affect the quarterback enough to make a difference. "They just kicked our butts, simple as that," Swinney said. "Third down, that was the difference. We couldn't get them off the field, and we couldn't stay on the field. They were 10-of-18, we were 4-of-11. Have to give Pitt a lot of credit. What a great job they did preparing their team. Their quarterback was outstanding." Swinney said the 4-3 record is disappointing. "We're a 4-3 team, that's who we are and what we earned," he said. "It's incredibly disappointing. It's 1,000 percent on me. Period. We've had a lot of good fortune around here and this is a tough time. This is a hurting staff, team, fan base. This is not the Clemson standard. But in the long run, this will make us better. I know that. It's up to me to fix it." The Tigers played well early, the defense holding Pitt’s offense in check and the Clemson offense moving the ball on the first two drives. However, a false start penalty and an overthrow killed the first drive and an interception in the redzone killed the second drive. Following a third punt by Pitt - a 58-yarder – the Tigers took over at their own 20 just over midway through the first quarter. Uiagalelei ran for 18 yards on the first play of the drive and two plays later floated a gorgeous pass down the right sideline for a 36-yard completion to Ajou Ajou. Phil Mafah gained seven yards on a rush, and then Justyn Ross caught a short pass that he powered into an 8-yard gain to the five. Two plays later Mafah scored on a one-yard plunge for a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter. The Tigers missed out on a golden opportunity to widen the lead two drives later. A Pitt punt was downed at the Clemson two-yard line, but the Tigers moved the ball steadily down the field. On 1st-and-10 from the 38, Will Shipley ran wide open down the middle of the field and Uiagalelei hit him in stride. However, Shipley dropped the ball and the drive stalled. That missed opportunity then turned into points for Pitt. The Panthers put together a 13-play, 90-yard drive that ended with a 23-yard pass from Kenny Pickett to Jordan Addison. With 3:18 to play in the half the score was tied 7-7. Clemson didn’t attempt a running play on the ensuing drive and ran just 15 seconds off the clock with three incompletions. Two of those could be considered drops, which didn’t help the Tigers’ cause. Following the punt Pitt drove down the field, aided by a 15-yard personal foul penalty on Baylon Spector, and faced a 4th-and-5 at the Clemson 39. Receiver Taysir Mack ran past Barrett Carter and was wide open for a 39-yard score, giving Pitt a 14-7 lead with just 40 seconds left in the half. The Tigers earned two first downs to start the second half, but another mistake proved costly. On first down at the Pitt 47, Uiagalelei tried to deliver a shovel pass. However, Pitt defender SirVocea Dennis read the play and Uiagalelei delivered the pass directly into Dennis’ midsection. Dennis rumbled 50 yards for the touchdown and a 21-7 Pitt lead. Uiagalelei was replaced by backup Taisun Phommachanh, and Phommachanh led the Tigers on a scoring drive. Facing a 3rd-and-10 at the Pitt 23, Phommachanh was dropped for a two-yard loss and the Tigers settled for a 42-yard field goal from BT Potter. Pitt led 21-10 midway through the third quarter. The Panthers then put together another long, time-consuming drive and added a 44-yard field goal by Sam Scarton that gave Pitt a 24-10 lead. The Tigers quickly went 3-and-out and punted the ball back to the Panthers. Pitt later added another Scarton field goal that made it 27-10. Uiagalelei was inserted back into the lineup and led a five-play, 72-yard scoring drive. A 27-yard pass to Ross started the drive and Uiagalelei finished the drive with a five-yard scoring run. With 7:56 to play, Pitt led 27-17. However, the defense allowed Pitt to effectively run out the clock, keeping the ball and churning out third-down conversions in celebrating the win. Clemson returns home to host Florida St. next week in a 3:30 pm kickoff (ESPN).
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