Pitt outlasts Syracuse in game dominated by offense

His face never lit up, like it sometimes does when Pat Narduzzi is in a good mood.

After the game, the Pitt coach's anger was real, and he threatened to “go beserk” if video review showed his defense didn't play hard enough.

When he got home last night, he might have needed an antacid to calm the “sick” feeling that washed over him after the epic — sometimes comical — struggle Saturday in front of 34,049 people at Heinz Field.

And, yes, he was the winning coach in Pitt's historic 76-61 victory against Syracuse. The final score represented the most total points scored in an FBS game. Ever.

If he allows himself to consider the current three-game winning streak and top-10 wins against Penn State and Clemson earlier this year, Narduzzi will be thankful for his second eight-victory regular season in his two-year Pitt tenure. Pitt (8-4, 5-3 ACC) next will play in a bowl game to be decided, its ninth consecutive postseason berth.

But first there remains work to be done.

“We've got to get back to ground zero,” he said. “Like I tell our players, every week there are going to be ups and downs. We didn't plan to have that many downs. I've never been in a game like that, and I don't want to be in a game like that again.

“Half of me is jumping for joy for what our offense did out there today. The other half makes me sick.”

Senior middle linebacker Matt Galambos, whose unit was on the field for 106 Syracuse snaps that produced 668 yards and nine touchdowns, doesn't blame his coach.

“A lot of guys like myself are angry about it,” he said. “Sixty-one points is unacceptable.”

What happened? A small part of the blame can be traced to Pitt's quick-strike offense that scored 11 touchdowns and the most points by a Panthers team since a 76-0 victory against Temple in 1977. Six of Pitt's scoring drives lasted one, two or three snaps.

“I'm not going to complain about the offense scoring in 11 seconds,” defensive end Ejuan Price said. “The tempo got to us at one point in the game.”But Pitt's defense has had trouble stopping good aerial games all season, and Syracuse took advantage of the bleeding in the secondary to throw for 440 yards, authored by backup quarterback Zack Mahoney.

Also, Pitt played most of the game without cornerback Avonte Maddox, who injured his ankle Tuesday. He was joined on the sideline by two other injured starters (possibly the two best players on the defense): safety Jordan Whitehead and nose tackle Tyrique Jarrett.

“There are no excuses,” Narduzzi said.

Pitt's defense scored on a 20-yard interception return by redshirt freshman cornerback Dane Jackson. It was the fourth defensive touchdown this season and seventh under Narduzzi since 2015.

“I'm happy for Dane on that play,” Narduzzi said, “but we have to make some more.”

The good news is that Pitt's offense continues to roll. It beefed up its record-setting point total to 508, an average of 41.8. The 644 yards was Pitt's most in a game in 21 years.

The offense scored five times on plays of 35 yards or more, including identical jet sweeps of 66 and 77 yards by wide receivers Quadree Henderson and Maurice Ffrench that worked so well that offensive coordinator Matt Canada called them 89 seconds apart in the third quarter.

Running back James Conner produced his 17th 100-yard rushing game (115 on 19 carries), scoring on 9- and 1-yard runs, complementing his 35-yard touchdown reception.

“Nah,” said Conner when asked if this was a victory to celebrate. “I don't know what everybody else is doing. I'm not celebrating. I'm happy we won. We have to get better.”

Quarterback Nathan Peterman was inaccurate for much of the game, completing 9 of 18 attempts for 251 yards and four touchdowns. But he ran for 79 yards, including an acrobatic 13-yard run with 10 seconds left in the first half on which he leaped outside the sideline, reached back with the ball and touched the pylon before his feet hit the ground.

“Nobody knew I had that in me,” he said.

Yet he was far from pleased with his overall effort.

“I still think we can do better,” he said. “I left some incompletions out there where I could keep us on the field.”

In the end, players tried to paint the victory for what it was: an ACC victory that could vault Pitt into national prominence or, at least, an attractive bowl game.

“It's a great feeling, no matter what it looked like,” said Price, one of 19 seniors who were honored with their parents before the game. “Even though the defense was bleeding today, it feels to go out on top.”

Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.