Pitt Lands in ESPN's Top 100 CFB Games

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers had a wild 2024 season, playing in some incredible and wild games throughout.

Bill Connelly of ESPN put out a list of the 100 best college football games of 2024, putting Pitt in that three times.

He placed Pitt coming back and beating Cincinnati, 28-27 on the road, in Week 2 in the River City Rivalry at No. 93.

The Panthers fell behind 17-6 at the half and trailed the Bearcats as much as 21, 27-6 with 4:50 left in the third quarter. Bearcat fans expected an easy win, but the Panthers fought back throughout the second half to make sure that wasn't the case

Redshirt freshman quarterback Eli Holstein had an incredible second half and especially his fourth quarter. He completed two touchdowns to senior wide receiver Konata Mumpfield, one for 11 yards at the end of the third quarter and the next for 38-yards on a fourth down and three early on in the fourth quarter.

Holstein also completed a late touchdown to junior running back Desmond Reid, who took his pass and ran 56 yards to the end zone.

Redshirt senior Ben Sauls saved the Panthers after two missed two-point conversions, hitting the game winning field goal from 35 yards with less than 30 seconds left.

The comeback for Pitt was the largest since Oct. 9, 1971, when they trailed Navy 35-10 at Pitt Stadium and scored 26 unanswered points to get the victory, 36-35.

This is also tied for the largest halftime comeback under Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi since he took over in 2015. They also trailed by 11 against Duke at home on Oct. 27, 2018, 28-17, but would manage to win 54-45 in a rainy day.

Connelly then had Pitt losing to Toledo in six overtimes in the GameAbove Sports Bowl, 48-46 at Ford Field in Detroit, at No. 82.

The Panthers fell behind, 20-12 at halftime, but things started changing, once they went with freshman Julian Dugger at quarterback, who led them to a 30-20 lead early in the fourth quarter, thanks to his combination of good passes and an excellent ground attack.

Dugger would throw a pick-six and then Toledo tied the game up, sending it into overtime, which ended up going to six overtimes.

Pitt ran a trick play twice, but didn't score a touchdown in the second overtime, and instead of going for it on fourth-and-one to win it, they settled for a field goal.

The two teams battled it out over four more overtime periods, which saw two, premature benches clearing celebrations from the Rockets, before they ended up outlasting the Panthers in the sixth period.

That defeat made it six straight losses to end the season for the Panthers and it was the longest bowl game ever.

Connelly then put Pitt vs. West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl in Week 3 at Acrisure Stadium up at No. 30.

Both teams went after it early on, with Pitt taking the lead, but West Virginia fought back, scoring 17 unanswered points to take a 34-24 lead with five minutes left.

Holstein would then lead a touchdown drive, with a 40-yard pass to wide receiver Daejon Reynolds in triple coverage, getting the Pitt fans back into the game.

The Pitt defense made a quick three-and-out stop and Holstein helped drive down 76 yards to the one-yard line, before running back Derrick Davis Jr. ran it in for the go-ahead score, sending the home fans into a frenzy.

A late interception by linebacker Kyle Louis would end it and send the Pitt homes delirious with joy and the WVU fans stunned in disbelief their team just blew that lead in such a short timespan.

Pitt will have some more great games next season, with their full schedule releasing earlier in the week.

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