Inside The Panthers

Pitt LB Braylan Lovelace Gets Huge Pick-Six vs. Georgia Tech

Bryalan Lovelace's 100-yard pick-six flipped the game in favor of the Pitt Panthers.
Mitchell Corcoran|
Oct 12, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers linebacker Braylan Lovelace (0) reacts after registering a sack against the California Golden Bears during the third quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Pittsburgh won 17-15. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Oct 12, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers linebacker Braylan Lovelace (0) reacts after registering a sack against the California Golden Bears during the third quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Pittsburgh won 17-15. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

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Pitt Panthers linebacker Bryalan Lovelace picked off Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King on the goal line and returned it for a 100-yard pick-six in the third quarter.

The Yellow Jackets threatened to make it a one-score game, but Lovelace shut down the drive, making it a 35-14 lead for the Panthers. This was also King's second interception of the game. He threw one to Kavir Bains-Marquez in the first quarter, and King only threw two picks all year entering this game.

Lovelace's scoring play was five yards away from tying the Pitt record for longest interception return. The record is held by Homer Roe, who had a 105-yard pick-six against West Virginia in 1908.

This was Pitt's fourth pick-six of the season and its third in as many games. Rasheem Biles has two pick-sixes, a 75-yard score against Louisville and a 10-yard score against Notre Dame last week. True freshman corner Shawn Lee Jr. has the other with a 30-yard pick-six against Stanford.

This was Lovelace's third career interception, and he had only 33 career return yards before his scoring play. This is his first full season as the starting middle linebacker, and he had 61 tackles, 3.5 for a loss and three pass breakups entering this game.

Pitt Handling Georgia Tech

Lovelace added on to Pitt's scoring onslaught in this must-win ACC road battle. Pitt must win this game if it wants any chance of competing for the ACC Championship. The Panthers scored 28 points in the first half, and Georgia Tech threatened to score 21 unanswered until Lovelace's game-changing play.

Freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel scored three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) and had 189 passing yards in the first half. Freshman running back Ja'Kyrian Turner also had 110 rushing yards at halftime.

Should Pitt protect its lead and win the game, it will be tied for first in the ACC with SMU and Virginia. The Panthers will then have another must-win game next week against Miami in Acrisure Stadium. Pitt would then need a Virginia or SMU loss to make the ACC Championship, should the Panthers defeat the Hurricanes.

This game is currently winding down in the fourth quarter, and Georgia Tech scored a rushing touchdown to make it 35-21.

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Mitchell Corcoran
MITCHELL CORCORAN

Mitch is a passionate storyteller and college sports fanatic. Growing up 70 miles away in Johnstown, Pa., Mitch has followed Pittsburgh sports all his life. Mitch started his sports journalism career as an undergraduate at Penn State, covering several programs for the student-run blog, Onward State. He previously worked for NBC Sports, The Tribune-Democrat and the Altoona Mirror as a freelancer. Give him a follow on X @MitchCorc18.

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