DETROIT — Kenny Pickett, gray hat on backwards and the Quick Lane Bowl MVP trophy cradled in his left arm, glanced right, looked left and slowly passed through the buzzing crowd gathered on the turf of Ford Field, soaking in his final moments of a grim and glam season.
Around him, Paris Ford hugged Jared Wayne. Vincent Davis stood atop the portable stage with a stunned stare. And the offensive line posed for photos, with captain Jimmy Morrissey in the center, holding the program's first bowl trophy in half a decade.
When Pitt's postseason destination was announced, it was not met warmly. The Panthers were on the heels of an embarrassing home loss to Boston College on senior day and were passed in the bowl selection process by three 6-6 teams. The Military Bowl and the Independence Bowl could have picked the Panthers. They didn't, leaving Pitt to play a barely eligible Mid-American Conference foe, a far cry from where so many thought this team could go in late October and early November.
But none of the missteps and mishaps that delivered Pitt to Detroit mattered in those postgame hugs and handshakes and stares and reflection.
Yes, the Panthers defeated Eastern Michigan, a squad that went 3-5 in the MAC, by four as 11-point favorites. Yes, they failed to hold a lead until the final 47 seconds, winning by the skin of their teeth, 34-30. But no, Pat Narduzzi did not care. And neither did his Panthers, who saw the frantic finish to a wild season as a springboard into 2020.
"Well, you guys from Pittsburgh know how we do it. We just did it one more time," Narduzzi said after Pitt’s first bowl win since the 2013 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. "Like our kids have done all year, they fight, they claw, they’ve got heart. ... You want to end the season with a W, and that's what we did."
The Panthers survived a heart-racing thrill ride in Detroit to finish their 2019 season with an 8-5 record. And Narduzzi — who lost in the 2015 Military Bowl, 2016 Pinstripe Bowl and 2018 Sun Bowl — earned his first postseason win at Pitt thanks to a one-handed touchdown catch from Taysir Mack with less than a minute to go.
Pickett, who finished 27 for 39 for 361 passing yards and three touchdowns, pushed Pitt on a 10-play touchdown drive that started at the Panthers' 9-yard line with 2:43 left in regulation. The junior quarterback completed a pair of third-down conversions and capped the march with a 25-yard strike to Mack — who snared it with a corner draped all over him with 47 seconds on the clock.
It was, as Ford called it, an "insane" reception, one the Panthers are used to seeing the former Indiana transfer make.
"That kid can make some catches," Morrissey said. "I knew once that ball went up and it's one-on-one contested with Taysir, 99% of the time he's coming down with it."
"It was a great feeling," senior cornerback Dane Jackson added. "And it was a feeling that we needed to do our job now."
That wasn't a guarantee, either.
Pitt's defense, the backbone of the Panthers all year long, got out-schemed and out-played for the majority of the night. Eastern Michigan quarterback Mike Glass accounted for 394 yards of total offense (311 passing, 83 rushing), the Eagles converted 9 of 18 third-down attempts, and Pitt's pass rush was largely neutralized with only two sacks and one quarterback hurry.
But Randy Bates' unit emerged when it had to, much like the offense the series before. The Panthers allowed one first down before locking it up, forcing an incomplete pass on fourth-and-10 with five ticks of the clock remaining.
"This win, it shows the grit that we have," Ford said. "We went through a lot of adversity this season. We kept it pushing. We always believed in each other. We stuck up for each other. And we came out victorious."
The Panthers came away with more than a win on the scoreboard, too. Defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman announced that he'll skip the 2020 NFL draft and return to Pitt next season. Ford didn't declare for the NFL, saying he had to weigh his options. And Narduzzi said the program is petitioning for a fifth year of eligibility for senior safety Damar Hamlin, who played in three games as a true freshman and was injured in 2016.
"We've been working on that," Narduzzi said. "So maybe you haven't seen the last of Hamlin."
We have seen the last of senior wide receiver Maurice Ffrench in a Pitt uniform, though. And what a way to go out. Ffrench tallied 12 catches, boosting his 2019 total to 96. That's a single-season receptions record at Pitt, passing Larry Fitzgerald's 92-catch benchmark from 2003. And Ffrench's 96-yard touchdown catch — the Panthers' longest passing play ever — served as a catalyst in the win.
Pitt will be without Ffrench in 2020, but it will have Pickett, Mack, Wayne, Shocky Jacques-Louis and a host of young talent who showed flashes and glimpses of what could be under offensive coordinator Mark Whipple.
Pitt's offense was far from a juggernaut in 2019. It was mostly an inconsistent mess, averaging 20.1 points per game entering Thursday night. And plenty of Whipple's calls were head-scratchers on Thursday night. But it's noteworthy how one end result can shape the viewpoint of a unit and a team.
The Panthers' season was imperfect and erratic as they come. The highs (Central Florida upset, Duke game-winning drive, North Carolina monkey off the back) were balanced out, if not at times drowned out, by the lows (Virginia Tech, Boston College, Miami, you name it). And still, a win over Eastern Michigan of all teams washes that away for a night — and maybe longer as Pitt eyes Year Six under Narduzzi.
"It means everything,” Hamlin said. “Through all the adversity we’ve been fighting throughout the season, we just wanted to go out with a win. To get our first bowl win, it’s big. It’s something we’ve never experienced before.”
Added Narduzzi: "We're going to reload and go."
John McGonigal: jmcgonigal@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jmcgonigal9
First Published: December 27, 2019, 5:02 a.m.