Resilient Pitt upsets No. 3 Clemson

CLEMSON, S.C. — The bruises Pitt running back James Conner left on Clemson's defenders while running for 132 yards were real.

The passes placed perfectly in the hands of tight end Scott Orndoff on Pitt's game-winning drive actually happened.

And the ball really did sail 48 yards off the foot of Chris Blewitt and through the Death Valley uprights to give Pitt an improbable 43-42 victory against No. 3 Clemson.

Yet, it seemed to several Pitt players who there was something even bigger at work Saturday night.

"I was on my knees," cornerback Avonte Maddox said of his position as Blewitt was lining up the field goal. "I stood up and pointed to the sky."

Quarterback Nathan Peterman was even more certain of an unseen power.

"Only God can do what happened tonight," he said.

Staggered by injuries and a powerful Clemson passing game, Pitt found a way to turn college football upside down. Clemson (9-1, 6-1) came into the game thinking about staying in the race for the playoffs, but Pitt (6-4, 3-3) delayed those plans.

"Sorry to do that," Conner said. "But we wanted this one bad."

Trailing for most of the game, Pitt rallied on a 70-yard interception return by linebacker Saleem Brightwell when Clemson was trying to increase its eight-point lead with 5 minutes, 42 seconds left.

Brightwell, a seldom-used redshirt freshman, returned the theft to the Clemson 30.

"I didn't know he was that fast," coach Pat Narduzzi said.

Conner scored on a 20-yard run after only 25 seconds had run off the clock, and Pitt suddenly was within two points after the conversion pass failed.

Still, Pitt needed its defense — much maligned and staggered all day by Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson's ACC record 580 yards passing — to win the game.

Facing a fourth-and-1 from the Pitt 35-yard line, Clemson called a toss to running back Wayne Gallman, who earlier scored on three 1-yard bursts. Linebacker Matt Galambos made the stop, with help from backup defensive tackle Jeremiah Taleni and Pitt has life.

"That's our specialty," Narduzzi said of the Pitt run defense that held Gallman to 36 yards on 18 carries. "I'm glad they didn't throw a quick out."

He didn't apologize for the following hyperbole. "That will probably go down as one of the greatest fourth-down stops ever," he said.

Breathing new life with 1:02 left in the game, Pitt quickly moved into field goal position on two completions worth 25 yards from Peterman to Orndoff, who finished with nine catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns. Overall, Peterman completed 22 of 37 passes for a career-high 308 yards and five touchdowns.

All that was left was for Blewitt to trot onto the field and kick the game-winner after missing an extra point and having a 53-yard try blocked in the first half.

"I had a couple guys come up to me and give me high-fives (before the kick) and tell me they believed in me," he said. "After I saw the flight of the ball, I started jumping up and down."

Narduzzi said when Pitt got its final chance with 1:02 left, "There wasn't one person on our sideline that didn't believe we were going to win."

Still, for the most of the game a victory didn't look possible.

Pitt allowed more than 500 yards through the air for the second time this season, using a variety of cornerbacks — Ryan Lewis, Avonte Maddox, Damar Hamlin and Dane Jackson. Then, Pitt lost safety Jordan Whitehead early in the second half with an apparent arm injury. Defensive tackles Amir Watts and Shakir Soto also left the game with injuries after injured tackle Tyrique Jarrett didn't make the trip.

With almost no pressure from the pass rush for most of the game — although Pitt got two sacks late — Watson shook off his sore shoulder and completed a school-record 52 of 70 passes for three touchdowns.

He also threw interceptions to Ryan Lewis, Maddox and Brightwell.

Pitt reached bowl eligibility, but more importantly gained relevancy during a nationally televised game in front of 81,048.

"We haven't got any respect in years," said Conner, who scored his 50th and 51st career touchdowns on a 46-yard catch and the game-changing 20-yard run. "We probably still won't."

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