Florida State Beats Pitt 16-10 With Late Fourth-Down Stop as Rick Stockstill Moves to 2-0

Pitt started its last possession at its own 2-yard line with 1:49 to play, needing 98 yards and a touchdown to spoil Florida State's night. The Panthers covered 50 of them. On fourth-and-4 at the Florida State 48, Corey Dailey's throw toward Censere Lee fell incomplete with Omar Graham Jr. bearing down, and the Seminoles ran out the clock on a 16-10 win over Pitt on Friday night at Acrisure Stadium.

It was not pretty, and Florida State will not care. Ryan Panikowski's foot, a defense that bent in the fourth quarter without breaking, and one third-quarter touchdown were enough to make interim coach Rick Stockstill 2-0 since the school fired Mike Norvell on Nov. 1. Florida State is now 5-5 overall and 3-4 in the ACC, one win from bowl eligibility. Pitt falls to 6-4 and 3-4 on Senior Night, its final home game of the season.

A slow start, then a Pitt answer

Neither offense found a rhythm early. Florida State's first points came on two Panikowski field goals: a 37-yarder with 3:41 left in the first quarter and a 27-yarder at 8:24 of the second that capped an 11-play, 83-yard drive lasting 5:50. Twice the Seminoles moved inside the Pitt 20 and twice they settled for three, which Pitt's athletics site pointed to at halftime as the key work of its defense.

Pitt answered the second kick. Dailey, a freshman making only his second career start, led a 10-play, 85-yard march and finished it with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Ja'Kyrian Turner at 3:07 of the second quarter. Turner was back in the lineup for the first time since the North Carolina game after missing three games, and the sophomore made the return count with a touchdown catch and steady work on the ground.

Pitt led 7-6 at the break despite six penalties for 55 yards in the first half, a number that kept stalling drives that otherwise looked promising. The Panthers also leaned on Demetrice McCray in a Wildcat package, and it worked early: McCray converted a fourth-and-1 in the first quarter with a 10-yard run.

The turnover that flipped the game

The decisive swing came early in the third quarter. A deflected Dailey pass landed in the hands of Florida State's Rylan Kennedy, who returned it 7 yards. It was Dailey's first real mistake of the night, and the Seminoles cashed it in. Amari Thomas powered in from 1 yard out at 10:49 of the third quarter, and Florida State led 13-7.

Pitt responded with a drive into the red zone, but La'Vell Wright was stopped short on the ground and a Dailey pass fell incomplete. Antonio Chadha came on to hit a 34-yard field goal at 4:23, trimming the lead to 13-10.

Later in the quarter Pitt went back to the Wildcat on a fourth-and-1, and this time the snap to McCray went wrong. The Panthers turned it over on downs. According to Pitt's live coverage, the Panthers held a 231-197 edge in total yards through three quarters but had only 10 points to show for it.

A fourth quarter of missed chances

Pitt's defense handed its offense a gift early in the fourth. At 12:30, Alex Sanford Jr. punched the ball away from Florida State quarterback Ashton Daniels and Shawn Lee Jr. recovered, giving Pitt the ball at its own 8. Florida State also lost linebacker Chris Jones, its leading tackler on the night with seven stops, to a targeting ejection on a hit on Dailey.

The Panthers moved toward midfield, but the drive died there. A deep shot to Malik Knight on third down could not be completed, and on fourth down Caleb LaVallee got to Dailey for a sack and a turnover on downs. LaVallee finished with six tackles, and that sack was the defensive play of the quarter.

Florida State turned that stop into points. Panikowski drilled a 47-yard field goal at 6:27, his third make in three tries, and the lead grew to 16-10. Pitt went three-and-out on its next series. The Panthers' defense got the ball back once more when Jeremiah Warren sacked Daniels for a 9-yard loss at 2:00, forcing a punt, but Daniel Hughes boomed it 64 yards and pinned Pitt at its own 2.

The final stand

What followed was the most dramatic stretch of the night. Dailey ripped off a 24-yard run on first down, then added 5 more. A third-down incompletion would have left Pitt in trouble, but Graham was flagged for roughing the passer on Charles Lester III's breakup of a deep ball to Knight, and the 15 yards moved the Panthers to their own 46.

Lester broke up another pass to Knight on the next snap. Dailey then scrambled 8 yards to the Florida State 46 to set up third-and-2. Graham made up for the penalty by dropping Wright for a 2-yard loss, and Pitt burned a timeout with 48 seconds left. On fourth-and-4, Graham pressured Dailey again and the pass to Lee sailed incomplete. Daniels took a knee, and the Seminoles celebrated their second straight road win under Stockstill.

Numbers that tell the story

Pitt outgained Florida State 306 to 260 and ran 71 plays to the Seminoles' 57, according to the ESPN box score (opens in a new tab). The Panthers ran for 149 yards on 37 carries, but the two turnovers, the first-half penalties and the fourth-down failures cost them the game.

Dailey completed 16 of 34 passes for 157 yards with one touchdown and one interception, and he led Pitt with 58 rushing yards on nine carries, including the 24-yard burst on the final drive. Turner had 42 yards on 12 carries and caught seven passes for 41 yards. Knight caught three balls for 55 yards. Cruce Brookins led the Pitt defense with 10 tackles, and Braylan Lovelace added seven tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

Daniels was efficient without being explosive, going 16 of 24 for 163 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. Jasen Lopez was his favorite target with five catches for 72 yards, including a 46-yarder. Florida State managed only 97 rushing yards on 33 carries, with Thomas gaining 30 yards and the touchdown on 13 attempts and Zay Parks adding 27 on nine.

The Seminoles won it on defense and special teams. Beyond Panikowski's three field goals and the Hughes punt, Jones and LaVallee led the tackle chart, Deamontae Diggs had two tackles for loss, Graham finished with five tackles and constant pressure on the last drive, and Lester broke up the two biggest throws of the night.

What it means

For Florida State, the win keeps a season that looked lost at the start of the month very much alive. The Seminoles had lost three straight before Norvell's firing; since then they have won at Boston College and at Pitt, and the school has also named Jeff Purinton its new athletic director as the coaching search continues. Florida State needs one more win to reach six and bowl eligibility. The Seminoles host NC State at Doak Campbell Stadium on Nov. 21, then close the regular season at home against Florida on Nov. 27.

For Pitt, the loss stings mostly because of how it happened. The Panthers were already bowl eligible after beating Georgia Tech 34-11 on Halloween, and they came off a bye week with a chance to climb in the ACC standings. Instead Pat Narduzzi's team dropped to 3-4 in league play and lost at Acrisure Stadium for the second time this season after entering the night 5-1 at home. Pitt finishes on the road, at Louisville on Nov. 21 and at California on Nov. 28.

The quarterback picture is the one bright note. Dailey, starting in place of Holden Geriner, made plays with his legs late and kept Pitt in it to the final snap. The Panthers simply could not find the touchdown that would have turned a gritty night into a win.

Florida State did not dominate anything on Friday, but it made fewer mistakes when it mattered, and that has been the story of the Stockstill era so far. The Seminoles kicked when they had to, took the ball away once, and got stops on fourth down twice in the final quarter. Pitt had more yards, more plays and the ball last. It did not have the finish.

Pitt's coverage of the game is in the school's live game blog (opens in a new tab).

Sources: ESPN box score and play-by-play, Pitt Athletics, Florida State Athletics, 247Sports.

Photo: Pitt Athletics.