I lived through the Pitt nightmares at Heinz Field, almost every one of ‘em since the yard opened in 2001.
The Swinging Gate fiasco against Texas A&M. The walloping by Notre Dame in Dave Wannstedt’s first game. The dropped extra-point snap against Cincinnati. The beating by Miami in front of 450 football alums, including the great Tony Dorsett. The embarrassing loss to Youngstown State in Paul Chryst’s first game. The lopsided loss to Florida State in the first ACC game. Most recently, the 51-6 humiliation against Penn State in September.
Saturday was a wonderful change of pace.
It was great fun watching Pitt win a big game with ease against Virginia Tech instead of breaking its fans’ heart one more time.
I’m not sure, but I think the final score was 52-22. Pitt scored so easily and so often that I had a hard time keeping track. I got dizzy trying to keep up with Qadree Ollison’s touchdown runs.
There is no way Pat Narduzzi could have dreamed the day would go this well.
“That’s a great locker room in there. We’ve got some great kids,” he said.
“It’s incredible. It shows you the work pays off. The persistence pays off. It’s our kids believing. They’re tough. They’re resilient. They’re coachable. I knew once we played together and we could get it all clicking …
“This is a good time to start to get hot, I can tell you that.”
It’s hard to believe Pitt was the same bunch that took that beating from Penn State, lost at North Carolina to a team that is 1-6 in the ACC and then was whipped by 31 points at Central Florida. The win had huge implications. Pitt isn’t just bowl eligible after doing the near-impossible by missing out last season. It is a good bet to play in the ACC championship Dec. 1. It needs only to win at Wake Forest Saturday or at Miami Nov. 24.
Who saw that coming?
Well, Narduzzi, actually.
“Next time we’ll see you is in Charlotte for the ACC championship game because we’re going,” he told Pitt faithful at the team’s kickoff luncheon in August.
Pitt still has work to do, but it’s hard to imagine Wake Forest or Miami matching up against Pitt’s terrific offensive line and backs Ollison and Darrin Hall. Ollison had runs of 27, 32, 21, 31 and 97, that final one the longest play in Pitt history. He finished with 235 yards on 16 carries for a surreal 14.7 yards-per-carry average. Hall had runs of 53, 58 and 73 yards and finished with 186 yards on seven carries for an absurd 26.6 yards average. They helped Pitt to a school-record 654 total yards.
Imagine how much more damage Ollison and Hall would have done if Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster wasn’t such an alleged genius.
“I think we ran the ball the way we needed to,” Narduzzi said. “I think they knew it was coming, too. They just couldn’t stop our run game today. It was impressive.”
Narduzzi described his offensive line as “unbelievable.” And of Ollison and Hall, both seniors playing their final home game? “Those guys are two great backs that are going to play in the NFL. Those are two special guys.”
Dorsett was in the house again and presumably enjoyed the outcome more than he did the 31-3 beating by Miami in 2010. James Conner also watched and received a roar from the crowd as Pitt’s honorary captain for the coin toss. Ollison and Hall surely made both Pitt iconic running backs proud. They did a nice impersonation of each legend.
“[Conner’s] message for us before the game, he said we had an opportunity to do something great today,” Ollison said.
So Pitt did.
What an amazing, unexpected day at Heinz Field.
Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com and Twitter@RonCookPG. Ron Cook can be heard on the “Cook and Joe” show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan.
First Published: November 11, 2018, 2:36 a.m.