Pitt Panthers running back James Conner keeps on putting up big numbers during his record breaking sophomore season.
And the Panthers keep on wasting his big performances.
Conner rushed for 220 yards and scored four touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough as North Carolina rallied late to defeat Pitt 40-35, all but sticking a fork in the Panthers bowl hopes.
Conner’s fourth touchdown of the game put the Panthers on top 35-34 with 3:33 remaining, but it turned out to be too much time left on the clock for Marquise Williams and the Tar Heels offense.
Williams completed a 23-yard pass to Quinshad Davis with just under a minute left to give the Tar Heels the ball at the Pitt one-yard line. One play later T.J. Logan scored from a yard out to give UNC the go ahead score. Pitt got the ball back with 50 seconds left on the clock, but quarterback Chad Voytik fumbled after gaining 21 yards on a scramble.
After a slow start, the Pitt defense had problems slowing down Williams all afternoon. The junior quarterback combined for 398 total yards (122 rushing) and four touchdowns, three of which came on the ground.
Through one quarter it looked like it would be a Panthers rout as Pitt led14-0 on touchdown runs of 56 and 16 yards from Conner. Pitt also outgained UNC 233-36 through one quarter.
But UNC picked things up in the second quarter after Pitt kicker Chris Blewitt had a 45-yard field goal blocked. A third down pass interference call on the Panthers extended a drive. Instead of Pitt getting the ball back, North Carolina started to speed things up and got in a rhythm offensively. Williams scored on a 23-yard run and North Carolina never looked back.
Pitt extended their lead to 21-7 when Voytik, who completed 11-of-16 pass attempts for 210 yards, hit Tyler Boyd with a 50-yard touchdown pass. The touchdown turned out to be just one of many big plays from Boyd on the afternoon as the sophomore hauled in five passes for 160 yards.
But Pitt couldn’t keep the Tar Heels out of the end zone before the end of the half and it proved costly as Williams sent the game into the locker room at 21-13 with a two-yard touchdown run with only 17 seconds remaining.
Williams hit Ryan Switzer with a 63-yard touchdown pass to pull UNC within 21-19 early in the third quarter, but Conner’s third touchdown run of the game, this time a two-yard run, put Pitt back up by two scores at 28-19 with just over six minutes left in the third.
But the Panthers defense couldn’t protect the lead.
Charles Brunson scored on a 17-yard run to pull the Heels within 28-26 late in the third and Williams scored untouched on a 45-yard run early in the third to give the Tar Heels their first lead of the day at 34-28.
Once Pitt regained the lead on Conner’s fourth touchdown, they allowed North Carolina to drive 75 yards with relative ease to win the game.
With his big effort, Conner broke the ACC single-season rushing record by a sophomore and passed LeSean McCoy for the most yards rushing from a sophomore in Pitt history.
With the loss, the Panthers now have to win their final two games- at home vs. Syracuse and at Miami- to become bowl eligible.
Photo Credit: Associated Press
