Pitt fell to Cincinnati on Saturday by a single point. The Panthers led most of the game, but were unable to hang on for the win at the end. It’s a disappointing and costly loss for Pitt, as they lost the Big East Championship and a bid to the Sugar Bowl. Now that the smoke has cleared and the bowl games are set, we can take a look at the game and the aftereffects.

Coming into Saturday’s game, Cincinnati was undefeated at 11-0. Their closest margin of victory was just 2 points (UConn gave the Bearcats a scare in a 47-45 game). Pitt was aware of Cincinnati’s offensive power and playmaking abilities. They were also aware of the Bearcats’ weakness: their defense. Cincinnati gave up an average of 34 points in it’s previous three games. With Pitt’s offensive power this season, it was expected to be a shootout.

The game started out pretty much as everyone had expected. Pitt scored first on a nice opening drive (Dion Lewis, TD), only to have their score answered by a Cincinnati touchdown (Jacob Ramsey, TD). Then Pitt scored again (Jonathan Baldwin, TD). Then Cincinnati answered again with a field goal (Jake Rogers, FG). This was looking like the shootout that everyone expected. It was only then that Pitt took control, scoring an additional 17 points in a nice stretch of play that made it appear that Pitt was going to blow out the Bearcats (Baldwin TD, Dan Hutchins FG, Bill Stull TD). Pitt held the lead near the end of the first half by a 21 point margin at 31-10.

Then it happened. Pitt kicked off to the Bearcats after their last touchdown of the first half. Mardy Gilyard, Cinci’s playmaker on special teams, returned the kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown with 1:10 left, cutting the score to 31-17. Pitt would take this lead to the locker room at halftime.

Now Pitt knew all week that Cincinnati would make big plays. They specifically knew that Gilyard was a threat. And boy were they right. In the third quarter, Pike found Gilyard who took it in for a 68 yard touchdown pass to cut the Panthers’ lead to just 7 points. Pitt would answer in the fourth quarter with another Dion Lewis touchdown run. But Cincinnati would score soon after with a DJ Woods touchdown. The Bearcats botched the extra point, leaving Pitt with an 8 point lead.

After Pitt intercepted Tony Pike, they gave it back with their own interception thrown by Stull. Cincinnati scored again a few minutes later (Isaiah Pead, TD) and needed a 2 point conversion to tie the game. Pike found Gilyard for the conversion and tied the game at 38.

With time dwindling down, Pitt drove down the field with a drive that included a nice Baldwin catch on 3rd and 9 for a critical first down. Dion Lewis helped push the ball forward, eventually scoring with 1:36 remaining. However, Pitt would make a costly mistake. Andrew Janocko couldn’t handle the snap on the PAT causing Pitt to leave the lead at 6 points, 44-38.

Pitt kicked off to Gilyard once again, who returned it 26 yards to the Cincinnati 39 yardline. Cinci drove down the field on the Panthers, scoring with barely half a minute remaining. They would make the extra point, putting the Bearcats ahead by one point, 45-44. Pitt would fail to move the ball after the kickoff and fell to the Bearcats by a single point.

Now it was clear all week that the Panthers knew that Gilyard was a threat, yet they still kicked off to Gilyard all game. Even the north endzone crowd urged Pitt to kick it away from Gilyard by pointing to the opposite side of the field before the kickoffs. So with the knowledge that Gilyard was a special teams threat (he did have 1276 return yards this season after all), why on Earth did Pitt kick to him? It was clear at times that they were kicking away from him on punts, so why did they kick to him on the kickoffs?

Through the course of the game, Pitt was called for 8 penalties totalling 65 yards while the Bearcats were called for 4 totalling 40 yards. At the game, fans were irate with some of the calls against Pitt, as well as some of the calls not made against the Bearcats including a facemask flag that was picked up by the officials. Was it a poorly officiated game? Absolutely. Did it cost Pitt the game? Probably not. It takes more than a few bad calls to lose a 21 point lead.

Pitt was on fire in the first half. They had Pike’s number and they were relentless on offense. Through the first half, it looked like a lopsided victory in favor on Pitt. It even appeared that Pike was on the verge of being benched in favor of Collaros. But it was the second half that made the difference. Pitt struggled to move the ball on offense with the same efficiency as the first half. Even more detrimental to the Panthers was the play of the special teams. On 8 kickoffs, they allowed 278 return yards, an average of 34.8 yards per return. They also botched an extra point that would have left the game tied after Cincinnati’s last touchdown. Pitt’s special teams played a huge role in this loss.

In the end, it was a perfect storm of mishaps, poor play, and questionable officiating that allowed Cincinnati to win this game. Give credit to the Bearcats. They made the big plays that they needed on special teams. They moved the ball through the air with 302 receiving yards. They scored 45 points. Pitt’s offense wasn’t terrible. They racked up 44 points on 176 receiving yards and 193 rushing yards. Lewis broke the school record for carries. That’s a pretty productive day for your offense. Stull did throw two interceptions, but neither resulted in a Cincinnati score on the ensuing drive. While the defense had some nice plays, it failed to contain the Cincinnati offense in the second half when it mattered.

With the win, Cincinnati won the Big East Championship outright. They completed a perfect regular season (12-0, 7-0) and earned their BCS bid to the Sugar Bowl to face Florida. Pitt was left with a 9-3 (5-2) regular season record. With the loss they fell from a possible Sugar Bowl bid to an invitation to the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, NC. This marks the second year in a row that the Panthers lost to Cincinnati in the River City Rivalry game. That brings the overall series record to 7-2, still in favor of Pitt. But give credit to the Panthers. They lead in all three losses they suffered this season. And in the two Big East losses, the two losses that mattered the most, it came down to the final seconds with combined margin of 4 points. So when you reflect upon this season, remember that Pitt was 4 points away from an 11-1 record, a Big East Championship, and a BCS bowl.

Pitt’s focus will now turn to the Meineke Car Care bowl on December 26th against North Carolina (8-4, 4-4).