Takeaways: Pitt Crumbles in Disappointing Loss to Virginia

The Pitt Panthers suffered a disappointing loss to Virginia.

Nov 9, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback Eli Holstein (10) is tackled by Virginia Cavaliers defensive tackle Anthony Britton (55) during the second quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH-- The Pitt Panthers fell in a crucial game against the Virginia Cavaliers, 24-19, that dealt a blow to their College Football Playoff hopes.

After Pitt suffered a blowout loss against SMU last week, their ACC and College Football Playoff chances diminished. Pitt received two pieces of news in the week leading up to the game that kept them in the race

The College Football Playoff committee ranked the Panthers at 18th in the initial polls, and prior to their game, the then conference-leading No. 4 Miami Hurricanes fell to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, opening the Panthers' chances to make it to the ACC Championship game

With a big opportunity at hand, the Panthers came out flat against Virginia, and eventually lost the crucial contest, potentially killing their championship hopes.

The biggest culprit for the Panthers' loss was the continued stagnation on offense, which has hurt them later on in 2024.

The Panthers recorded 165 passing yards on the day against one of the worst pass defenses in college football this season, allowing 275.1 yards per game, second most in the ACC and eighth most in the FBS.

Redshirt Freshman quarterback Eli Holstein ended his day with 121 passing yards and zero touchdowns with a 43% completion percentage before he left the game after suffering a hard, late hit.

Backup quarterback redshirt Junior Nate Yarnell fared no better in his appearance off the bench. He ended the night completing 4-of-12 passes with one touchdown to two interceptions, the latter of which came on Pitt's final drive.

While the quarterbacks did not play great, their recievers did not help either in the defeat.

Senior Konata Mumpfield also left the game early with an apparent concussion, and his fellow wide-outs didn't keep up with his production. Several recievers dropped easy passes which put the Pitt offense in a bind and both Yarnell and Holstein also missed easy reads that would've moved the Panthers forward.

The offensive stagnation has spoiled the Panthers championship chances, and falls at the feet of multiple groups. Quarterback play needs to improve, the recievers need to focus on just making the catch and help their quarterbacks out, and the offensive line has struggled with injuries and were responsible for multiple presnap penalties.

The defense, which stayed strong initially, didn't play to the best of their abilties later on.

Despite two interceptions in the first half, and sacking Virginia quarterback Anthony Colandrea six times, the group surrendered too many chunk plays to keep the Cavaliers off the field.

Virginia running backs Xavier Brown and Kobe Pace combined for 120 rushing yards and two touchdowns, which took the pressure off of Colandrea despite an up and down performance from him.

"They ran the ball too much on us," Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said on Virginia. "They did a nice job running the football. And we'll look at why. But we've got to stop the run better. Again, the goal was to come in, as you guys know, 10 years of stop the run, and we didn't stop the run good enough on defense."

A combination of injuries, poor performances from both coaches and players, along with questionable calls from the referees doomed the Panthers.

In a game that the Panthers had to win, the team didn't do enough to get the victory, leaving many questions about their season still unanswered

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