Boston College let a winnable recreation towards a nasty crew slip away on Thursday night time in Pittsburgh.
The Pitt Panthers snapped a five-game shedding streak with a 24-16 victory over BC at Acrisure Stadium. The Eagles dropped to 6-5 and 3-4 within the ACC and shut out the season on Nov. 23 towards Miami at Alumni Stadium.
Pitt quarterback Nate Yarnell effectively managed the sport and made well timed passes in his second profession begin and first of the season. Yarnell accomplished 11-of-19 throws for 207 yards and a landing. Eagles’ QB Thomas Castellanos accomplished 13-of-25 for 171 yards and a landing with two picks.
Both groups produced a 100-yard rusher. Pitt tailback Rodney Hammond rushed for 145 yards on 15 carries and a landing. BC’s Kye Robichaux had 118 yards on 24 runs coming off an damage.
“We are very disappointed, this was a missed opportunity,” stated BC coach Jeff Hafley. “I don’t assume we performed properly sufficient to win the sport and we had a number of alternatives to take action.
“We didn’t play well enough and coached well enough to win the game. We need to play better than that and that was a missed opportunity.”
BC performed smash mouth on its opening drive that went 61 yards on 14 performs and culminated in a 42-yard discipline aim by sophomore place kicker Liam Connor with 8:45 to play. The chunk play of the drive was a 25-yard display to vast receiver Lewis Bond.
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi had made noise throughout the week {that a} QB change was within the works. Yarnell started the season third on the depth chant behind BC switch Phil Jurkovec and Christian Veilleux, who was dreadful in final Saturday’s 28-13 loss at Syracuse.
“We assumed it would be one or the other and they are both very similar quarterbacks,” stated Hafley. “He (Yarnell) is a little more accurate and doesn’t turn the ball over and that is probably why they went with him.”
Yarnell accomplished his first two passes for a mixed 45 yards however the drive fizzled out on the BC 25. Pitt tied the sport 3-3 on a 42-yard discipline aim by junior Ben Sauls with 5:07 to play within the first.
Yarnell skillfully managed an 85-yard, 15-play, drive that put Pitt up 10-3 at 9:07 of the second. Yarnell fitted well timed brief and intermediate passes into the Panthers’ sustained floor assault and scored on a 4-yard keeper for his first speeding landing.
Pitt’s third drive opened with 15-yard focusing on penalty towards BC cornerback Khari Johnson, who was banished to the sideline for a helmet-on-helmet hit on vast receiver Malcolm Epps. The Eagles averted a catastrophe when center linebacker Vinny DePalma stoned Pitt fullback Daniel Carter on a fourth and one on the BC 17.
BC transformed the turnover on downs into three factors and a 10-6 deficit on the break. Castellanos accomplished two deep balls on third and lengthy however the drive stalled on the Pitt 38. Connor made the preliminary try from 45 yards, however the factors got here off the board as a result of Hafley known as timeout earlier than the kick. Connor composed himself and break up the uprights on his second strive with 26 seconds remaining.
“He has been really consistent in practice and he felt really good pregame so we backed up his line a little bit and he made them both,” stated Hafley.
BC’s protection pressured its first three and out on the Panthers’ opening drive of the third quarter. The offense responded with an eight-play, 85-yard, drive that made it 13-10 with 8:50 to play. BC pounded the center of the Pitt defensive entrance with sustained good points earlier than Castellanos used play motion to finish a 24-yard landing cross to Bond. The play went below assessment and was upheld, giving Bond his sixth of the season.
The Panthers response was quick and livid. Yarnell capped a six-play, 85-yard drive with a 61-yard bomb to senior break up finish Bub Means with 7:22 to play.
“On the long touchdown catch one of our players dropped his man for a reason I don’t know and that led to a big touchdown,” stated Hafley. “That should not have happened.”
BC countered with a pleasant drive to the Pitt purple zone, however journey ended unhealthy when Castellanos was picked off by Phillip O’Brien on the two. Pitt obtained out of the outlet on a 40-yard run by Rodney Hammond, however the drive ended when Sauls’ bid from 52 yards went vast left.
BC’s protection pressured a 3 and out contained in the Pitt 5 and obtained the ball again on the 40 with 9:26 to play. A holding penalty nullified an 9-yard landing run by Castellanos on first and aim and BC settled for a 33-yard discipline aim by Connor that made it 17-16 with 5:19 to play.
Pitt went up 24-16 on a 66-yard run by Hammond with 4:29 to play.
“On the run at the end we had a flat wall defense and a player missed a tackle and their guy made a big play,” stated Hafley.
Source: www.bostonherald.com