Pittsburgh: 2022 Sun Bowl Champions

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Rodney Hammond Jr. rushed for 96 yards and two touchdowns, Pitt’s defense forced four turnovers, while Ben Sauls kicked a 47-yard game-winning field goal, as the Panthers (9-4) overcame a 14-point deficit in the second half to beat UCLA (9-4) 37-35 on Friday in the 89th Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl at Sun Bowl Stadium.

Pitt was short-handed with several starters opting out of the Sun Bowl to prepare for the 2023 NFL Draft. Nick Patti, playing for Kedon Slovis who transferred to BYU, saw the majority of the snaps at quarterback for Pitt, throwing for 224 yards and a touchdown.

Bub Means hauled in four receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown, while the Panther’s defense came away with four takeaways, including interceptions by Bangally Kamara, Javon McIntyre, and Tylar Wiltz.

Playing in his final collegiate game at UCLA, Dorian Thompson-Robinson completed 15 of his 23 passes for 270 yards and three total touchdowns (2 pass, 1 rush), but threw three costly interceptions before being pulled from the game by head coach Chip Kelly in the fourth quarter.

TJ Harden paced the Bruins with 111 yards and a go-ahead touchdown on the ground late in the fourth quarter, while Kam Brown hauled in four receptions for 115 yards.

Early in the third quarter, Patti threw an interception that was returned 52 yards for a touchdown by Jaylin Davies that put UCLA up 28-14. It was all Panthers from there. Pitt responded on their next possession with a blue collar, 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by Hammond Jr. to make it a 7-point game heading into the fourth quarter.

Following Thompson-Robinson’s third interception of the game, Hammond Jr. punched in a 7-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 28-28 in the fourth quarter.

The Bruins would then cough up the football for their fourth turnover of the game on the ensuing kickoff, leading to a 31-yard field goal by Sauls to put the Panthers up 31-28 with 10:38 to play. Sauls would add another chip shot field goal late in the fourth quarter to put Pitt up 34-28 with 4:24 to play.

Ethan Garbers, in relief of Thompson-Robinson, would then engineer a 8-play, 70-yard touchdown drive, which was capped off by an 8-yard touchdown run from Harden with just 0:30 seconds to play. With their backs against the wall, Patti got the Panthers into field goal range in six plays, leading to the game-winning field goal from Sauls.

Under head coach Pat Narduzzi, Pitt ends their 2022 campaign at 9-4, while UCLA also finishes the season 9-4 under Kelly.

Pittsburgh: 2019 Quick Lane Bowl Champions

DETROIT — Pitt avoided embarrassment and its second consecutive three-game, season-ending losing streak Thursday night, rallying five times to defeat Eastern Michigan, 34-30, before a record crowd of 34,765 in the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field.

It was Pitt’s first bowl victory since 2013 when the Panthers defeated Bowling Green in the Little Caeser’s Pizza Bowl, a game also played at Ford Field.

After ending the regular season with losses to Virginia Tech and Boston College, Pitt finished 8-5 for the third time in Pat Narduzzi’s five seasons as head coach. Eastern Michigan, the last-place team in the Mid-American Conference’s West Division, closes it season with a 6-7 record.

Pitt took its only lead of the game with 47 seconds left when Kenny Pickett hit Taysir Mack for a 25-yard touchdown pass at the end of a 91-yard scoring drive that started with 2:43 left in the game.

Earlier, senior Maurice Ffrench broke Larry Fitzgerald’s school record for receptions that had stood since 2003 at 92. Ffrench finished with 96 after catching 12 for 165 yards and a 96-yard touchdown, another school record.

Pickett, named game MVP, completed 27 of 39 attempts for a career-high 361 yards and three touchdowns.

Pitt played from behind for much of the game, forging ties at 10, 17 and 20 and 27. Alex Kessman’s 51-yard field goal with 4:16 left in the third quarter tied the score at 20-20, but Pitt wasted an opportunity by committing six unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on the same play.

After senior safety Damar Hamlin returned an interception to the EMU 14, six Pitt players — Hamlin, Saleem Brightwell, Dane Jackson, Paris Ford, Damarri Mathis and Cam Bright — raced into the end zone to celebrate, a common occurrence in the NFL, but a 15-yard penalty in college.

Pushed back to the 29 and then to the 33, Pitt settled for Kessman’s field goal, his career school record eighth longer than 50 yards.

Eastern Michigan took a 27-20 lead with 10 minutes, 45 seconds left in the fourth quarter when Glass hit wide receiver Arthur Jackson III on a 10-yard scoring play. Pitt immediately tied the score on a 19-yard touchdown reception by freshman Jared Wayne with 8:22 left in the fourth quarter.

Again, Eastern Michigan broke the tie, this time on a 48-yard field goal by Chad Ryland — his third of the game — with six minutes left.

The game did not start well for Pitt.

Pitt committed a variety of mistakes in the first quarter while Eastern Michigan seized a 10-0 lead, but the Panthers’ offense came to life before halftime.

The Pitt defense allowed the Eagles to take the opening kickoff and drive 57 yards in 14 plays for Ryland’s 35-yard field goal. Ryland also hit from 45 yards to give Eastern Michigan a 20-17 lead at intermission.

On Pitt’s first possession, Pickett lost a fumble at the Eastern Michigan 46 when he was hit while scrambling, failing to give himself up in time. That led to quarterback Mike Glass’s 3-yard touchdown run.

Kessman missed a 49-yard field goal attempt in the first quarter, but he hit from 44 at the outset of the second.

Pitt managed to tie the score twice within the first nine minutes of the second quarter, 10-10 and 17-17. First, Pickett hit Ffrench for a 96-yard catch-and-run, the longest pass play in Pitt history and 1 yard short of the all-time record set last season on Qadree Ollison’s 97-yard run.

Eastern Michigan immediately took back the lead, 17-10, on Glass’ 50-yard touchdown pass to Quain Williams.

Pitt responded with an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown march that started with Pickett’s 32-yard completion to Shocky Jacques-Louis and ended with Vincent Davis’ 8-yard run.

Pittsburgh: 2013 Little Caesars Bowl Champions

DETROIT -- While a bowl game represents the end of the season, the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl Thursday night might have provided a glimpse of the future for Pitt.

Four freshman played key roles as the Panthers beat Bowling Green, 30-27, to head into the offseason with positive momentum for what seems like the first time in ages.

Freshman Chris Blewitt kicked the winning field goal with 1:17 left, his classmates James Conner and Tyler Boyd set Pitt bowl game records, and redshirt freshman quarterback Chad Voytik stepped in for the second half to lead Pitt to the win.

"What can you say?" Voytik said. "I'm excited. You can't ask for much more. Young talent and years to play with them. We can only get better."

Conner, the game's MVP, rushed for 229 yards, breaking Tony Dorsett's school bowl record of 202 yards set in the 1977 Sugar Bowl against Georgia. The freshman also chipped in by playing a handful of snaps at defensive end and caused a key holding penalty by Bowling Green late in the game that pushed the Falcons back.

"[Coach Paul Chryst] said he wanted to unleash me on both sides, so he asked me to play some defense, and I was all for it," Conner said.

As a team, the Panthers ran for 255 yards against a defense that was the best in the Mid-American Conference this season.

"He's unbelievable," Voytik said of Conner. "It makes playing the quarterback position easy when you've got a running back running like that."

Boyd had 173 receiving yards, another Pitt bowl record, which he set on a 62-yard pass from Voytik in the fourth quarter on a drive that ultimately led to a touchdown that put the Panthers ahead, 27-20.

Voytik found out at halftime he would be replacing quarterback Tom Savage, who injured his ribs on the final play of the first half. To raise the stakes a little, Bowling Green's BooBoo Gates returned the opening kickoff of the second half 94 yards for a touchdown to tie the score, 17-17.

"I was nervous when I first found out, but, once I got on the field, there was just a calm that came over me," Voytik said. "It was just football."

On Voytik's second drive, he came out with the ball on the Pitt 2. After a 20-yard pass to Manasseh Garner converted a third-and-5, Voytik reached back and found Boyd for the 62-yard completion.

"I thought it slipped," Voytik said. "I thought I underthrew him by 10 yards. I guess if I had gotten all of it with my nerves, it would've gone 10 yards over his head, so I'm glad it slipped a little bit."

Two plays later, Voytik ran it in from 5 yards out to give the Panthers a 27-20 lead.

The Falcons tied the score on their next drive, but Voytik and Conner answered right back. The duo combined for 51 yards, all on the ground, to set up Blewitt's winning field goal.

"I thought Chad did a nice job and was poised," Chryst said. "Certainly, I think it helped when we were running the ball the way we did."

Pitt needed the back-and-forth second half after giving away a 17-3 first-half lead.

After a Bowling Green field goal gave the Falcons a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter, Pitt responded with 17 unanswered points.

On the drive after the Bowling Green field goal, Pitt put together a 50-yard touchdown march. The final 37 came on the ground from Conner, who gave the Panthers a 7-3 lead with a 15-yard touchdown run with 58 seconds left in the first quarter.

The next drive kicked off with a 46-yard pass from Savage to Boyd that sparked yet another scoring march. Boyd almost came down with a spectacular one-handed touchdown catch to finish off the drive, but he was ruled out of bounds and Pitt had to settle for a field goal.

After the Panthers forced another punt, Boyd put a cap on the scoring spree with a 54-yard punt return for a touchdown. He made the two Falcon gunners miss and tip-toed down the sidelines the rest of the way to put Pitt in front, 17-3.

Even though it required some dramatics in the second half, Pitt finally put the game away on with sacks by Aaron Donald and Tyrone Ezell, two seniors who will leave Pitt saying they won their last game as Panthers.

"It's a great feeling to leave a winner," Donald said, who was chosen the lineman of the game. "For the young guys, it's something to build off. It's a great feeling just to know that the program is going back on top with coach Chryst. That's a guarantee."