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The Pitt Defenese celebrates Phillip O'Brien Jr. (5) interception in the 3rd quarter against Syracuse on Thursday, October 24, 2024.
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Pitt defense runs up the score with 3 pick-sixes in rout of Syracuse

Sebastian Foltz/Post-Gazette

Pitt defense runs up the score with 3 pick-sixes in rout of Syracuse

Panthers linebackers Rasheem Biles, Kyle Louis and Braylan Lovelace all took interceptions to the house

Pitt’s offense had been the talk of the town as it raced out to a 6-0 start, but for the second week in a row, it was head coach Pat Narduzzi’s opportunistic defense that led the way to a victory for the still undefeated Panthers. 

Syracuse entered Acrisure Stadium as one of the ACC’s biggest surprises so far in 2024. But Pitt, off to its own historic start, crushed the Orange. The Panthers (7-0, 3-0 ACC) cashed in five turnovers for points to fuel a dominant 41-13 victory on Thursday night and didn’t need their offense to do it. 

“We’re 7-0 at this point, and a win has come from each phase of football,” kicker Ben Sauls said. “Special teams has won games. Offense has won games. Defense has won games. And all together, we’ve won games as a team. So if we continue to do that, we’re going to be really dangerous.”

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Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord entered this game as one of the ACC’s most prolific passers. He led the league in pass attempts and completions, but he paced the conference in interceptions, too. He threw three interceptions in the first 10 minutes of action Thursday, and the Panthers cashed in all three turnovers for points. 

Pittsburgh Panthers cornerback Kyle Louis (9) returns an interception for a touchdown in the first quarter of the Pitt Syracuse game at Acrisure Stadium Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024.
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“The main narrative of the game was that there was going to be a quarterback clash between Eli [Holstein] and Kyle McCord,” linebacker Kyle Louis said. “The whole week, the whole bye week, our defense took that personally. They were definitely disrespecting us all around, so we definitely locked in.”

First, Rasheem Biles undercut McCord’s fourth pass of the game and returned the ball 35 yards for a touchdown. Then, on the very next drive, Brandon George’s diving interception set up a 49-yard field goal from Sauls, his school-record 13th straight made field goal. And on the ensuing possession, Louis undercut another McCord pass thrown outside the hashmarks and returned it 59 yards for a touchdown. 

Linebacker Braylan Lovelace later got in on the fun, too. With just 1:12 to go until halftime, he picked off McCord’s 34th pass of the evening and ran it back 33 yards for another touchdown to extend the Pitt lead to 31-0. Safety P.J. O’Brien added a fifth interception of McCord right before the end of the third quarter, corralling a tipped ball from Jordan Bass. 

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By the time Pitt had jumped out to a 17-0 lead at the 6:36 mark of the first quarter, its offense had gained just 16 total yards. Quarterback Holstein was finally able to chip in a 20-yard touchdown pass to Censere Lee at the 12:30 mark of the second quarter and added a second touchdown pass — 29 yards to Raphael Williams — on the first play of the fourth quarter. But the Panthers managed just 217 yards of total offense for the game. 

“We were only on the field for 44 plays on offense. I don’t think our offense ever got into a rhythm because they were on the sideline for so darn long,” Narduzzi said. “Never got into a rhythm. ... But our defense was our offense today.”

Syracuse (5-2, 2-2) didn’t get on the scoreboard until 5:22 was left in the third quarter. McCord punched in a 1-yard touchdown run at the end of an 18-play drive that ate up 9:34 of the remaining 30 minutes left on the game clock. Even when putting points on the board, the Orange gave Pitt the gift of a dwindling clock and all but sealed a blowout loss. 

Quotable

Pitt’s linebackers gave themselves a nickname before the season began — “the Sharks.” Inspired by their high school teammates, Louis and Biles popularized the nickname, and it’s bled over into the fan base. Pitt students dressed in shark costumes and sported surfboards with a shark bite taken out of the side while the loudspeakers blared the “Jaws” theme music before every defensive series. 

In this Oct. 6, 2018, file photo, Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett drops back to pass against Syracuse during an NCAA football game in Pittsburgh. Pickett and the Panthers face Notre Dame this week.
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After another dominant defensive performance, the three rivers that meet outside of Acrisure Stadium have become shark-infested waters. 

“We’re the Sharks,” Louis said. “If you want to come in here, you better learn how to swim.”

Key stat

“That’s got to be some kind of historic performance right there,” Louis said after his defense scored three defensive touchdowns on Thursday night. 

Pitt became the first FBS team with three interceptions returned for touchdowns in a half since Florida International did so in the second half of a 2005 game against Florida Atlantic. And during the past five years, the Panthers are the only team to have returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the first quarter alone — and they’ve now done it twice, once in 2022 against Virginia and again on Thursday against Syracuse. 

The Panthers defense put this game away early and never looked back, even without much help from the other side of the ball. 

Up next

The Panthers will make their longest road trip of the season to Dallas on Nov. 2 at a time to be announced, where upstart SMU, one of the ACC’s latest additions, awaits. The No. 22-ranked Mustangs are 5-1 and host Duke at 8 p.m. Saturday. 

First Published: October 25, 2024, 3:06 a.m.
Updated: October 25, 2024, 9:53 a.m.

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The Pitt Defenese celebrates Phillip O'Brien Jr. (5) interception in the 3rd quarter against Syracuse on Thursday, October 24, 2024.  (Sebastian Foltz/Post-Gazette)
Sebastian Foltz/Post-Gazette
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