Kenny Pickett went 24 of 36, passing for 285 yards and two TD’s to lead the Panthers to a 41-34 victory over the Vols. Tennessee had jumped out to an early 10-0 lead in the 1st quarter, but three turnovers and 134 penalty yards would ultimately lead to their demise.
As the Vols jumped out to that lead in the first quarter, Pitt struggled to get the offense going, suffering three consecutive three-and-outs to start the game. Then came the Panther’s 4th drive of the game, when Picket started rolling.
After starting at their own eight-yard line, Pickett would start the drive with a seven-yard rush, as he kickstarted a 92-yard scoring drive. The drive would take 11-plays and culminated with an 11-yard TD pass from Pickett to Melquise Stovall as the 2nd quarter started.
After a Vols 48-yard field goal from Chase McGrath made it 13-7, Pickett got right back to work. This time it was a 75-yard five-play drive that was capped off on a trick play where Jared Wayne threw a 16-yard TD pass to Lucas Krull. This made it 14-13 Panthers with 9:25 left in the 1st half.
On Tennessee’s ensuing possession, quarterback Joe Milton III would exit the game after Pitt’s Keyshon Camp hit him with a sack-fumble for a 12-yard loss. Milton would head to the locker room. The Panthers took over 1st and ten at the Vols 18. Pitt would turn that into a quick three points as they extended their lead at 17-13.
Backup, Hendon Hooker would take his place at the helm for the Vols on their next possession. As the drive ended in a three-and-out, things wouldn’t bode well for him, throwing two incompletions. After a second Sam Scarton field goal for Pitt, Hooker was able to get things going.
Hooker would find Jimmy Calloway for a 44-yard TD connection to tie things up at 20 with 2:16 left in the half. Pitt would strike right back though, with Pickett putting together a prolific nine-play, 75-yard drive that was capped on a two-yard Vincent Davis touchdown run with 19 seconds left in the half.
This would give the Panthers the 27-20 lead as the two squads went into the locker room at the half.
The Vol’s opened up the second half with possession, and things quickly went downhill. Hooker was hit by Habakkuk Baldonado, causing a second sack-fumble, deflating the energy from Neyland Stadium momentarily.
Following consecutive punts from either team, the Panthers would again find paydirt. This time, it would be Pickett doing it with his legs on a one-yard TD run, capping an 11-play 60-yard drive.
Tennessee struck right back with a scoring drive of their own. Hooker went four of five, passing for 39-yards, and added a 23-yard scramble before connecting with Jacob Warren for a drive-capping eight-yard TD score.
As the fourth quarter got started, Pickett once again had the Panthers on the move. He went three-for-three passing for 66 yards, including a five-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Addison to make it 41-27 Pitt with only 12:22 left in the 4th.
The Vol’s would again answer the score, as Jaylen Wright ran in a one-yard score. Trailing by seven, they would need a defensive stand, which they would get. In fact, they would get two more possessions to try to draw even with Pitt.
However, after a turnover on downs, and then an intercepted Hooker pass by Brandon Hill, the Vols’ fate was sealed. Pickett and the Panthers would eat away the final 4:52 in the game to capture the victory, improving to 2-0 on the season.
The Panthers will now head back home to prepare for next week’s game against Western Michigan. Meanwhile, the 1-1 Vols will reload and have some injury questions that need to be answered ahead of their matchup against Tennessee Tech next week.
