Pitt Snaps Three-Game Skid and Clinches Bowl Eligibility as Damon Ferguson Jr. Runs Over Georgia Tech 34-11

Pitt needed a night where nothing fancy was required. Georgia Tech obliged by handing it one, and then handing it the football, too.

Pitt beat Georgia Tech 34-11 on Halloween night at Acrisure Stadium, and the win was worth more than the scoreboard. It snapped a three-game losing streak, moved the Panthers to 6-3 and 3-3 in the ACC, and made them bowl eligible. Georgia Tech fell to 2-6 and 1-4.

Damon Ferguson Jr. ran through the middle of the Georgia Tech defense all night, Gabe Russo kept pinning the Yellow Jackets deep, and a Pitt defense that came in leading the ACC in yards allowed per carry spent four quarters living in the Tech backfield. The Jackets were stopped on fourth down four times, lost two fumbles and did not reach the end zone until the game was long decided.

Field position, then the hammer

Pat Narduzzi's notebook this week was about field position and execution, and Gabe Russo took the first part literally. Russo's opening punt rolled to the Georgia Tech 3, the Yellow Jackets went three-and-out, and Pitt started its next drive at the Tech 31.

The execution part took longer. Pitt drew three flags on that short field, including a personal foul that wiped out a 28-yard gain, and settled for Antonio Chadha's 45-yard field goal with 7:31 left in the first quarter.

The next time Pitt got the ball, it did things the hard way. The Panthers went 86 yards in 15 plays, with Holden Geriner hitting Carson Kent for 13 and Cataurus Hicks for 12, and true freshman Damon Ferguson Jr. powered in from 3 yards out on the first play of the second quarter. Pitt 10-0.

Georgia Tech could not get out of its own way

Georgia Tech's offense spent the first half in reverse. On one second-quarter series, Alberto Mendoza was sacked by Jeremiah Marcelin and fumbled, fumbled again on a run when Shadarian Harrison punched the ball out, and then took a Raion Strader sack that came with an intentional grounding flag. Tech recovered both fumbles, which was about the only thing that went right. The drive lost 7 yards.

The Jackets did catch one break. Pitt drove to the Tech 2 behind a 44-yard Geriner strike to Censere Lee, but Jonas Duclona forced a fumble from Kent and recovered it in the end zone for a touchback. It was the kind of play that can flip a game.

It did not flip this one. Georgia Tech drove into Pitt territory on the next series, had a Mendoza run overturned on review, and then got stuffed on fourth-and-1 when Trelain Maddox was stopped for no gain. Pitt took over at the Tech 39 and needed six plays. La'Vell Wright scored from a yard out with 3:11 left in the half, and it was 17-0.

Tech went for it on fourth down again before the break and Zach Crothers sacked Mendoza for a 10-yard loss. A late Pitt fumble, forced by Taje McCoy and recovered by Zachary Tobe, set up Aidan Birr's 49-yard field goal with three seconds left. It was 17-3 at the half, and it felt wider.

The turning point: the third-quarter grind

Georgia Tech opened the second half with life, as Mendoza ran for 12 yards and a Pitt personal foul tacked on 15 more. Then the Jackets went for it on fourth-and-2 and Isaiah Neal and Nick James buried Mendoza for a loss. That was the third time in the game Georgia Tech came up empty on fourth down, and it was the last time the visitors looked like they had a plan.

The rest of the third quarter belonged to Russo and the Pitt defense. Russo pinned Tech at its own 5 with a 50-yard punt, and later at its own 3 with a 55-yarder. Neal sacked Mendoza again. Tech's longest drive of the quarter was five plays.

Then Pitt took the air out of the ball. Starting at their own 12, the Panthers went 83 yards in 15 plays and 8:07, with Wright converting a fourth-and-2 at the Tech 24 on a 19-yard run. The drive stalled, and Chadha hit a 23-yard field goal with eight seconds left in the quarter for a 20-3 lead.

On the next snap, Mendoza fumbled on a run and Jaeden Moore recovered at the Tech 15.

Putting it away

Pitt did not cash in right away. Ferguson was ruled down at the 1 after a review, two runs went nowhere, and a fourth-down pass to Ferguson fell incomplete with 12:37 left. It hardly mattered. Grady Adamson, now at quarterback for Georgia Tech, went three-and-out from the Tech 1, and a 27-yard punt gave Pitt the ball at the Tech 30. Geriner found Hicks on the first play for a 30-yard touchdown, and Chadha's kick made it 27-3 with 11:20 to play.

Georgia Tech's backup quarterback gave the Jackets a pulse late. Adamson's 36-yard run and a Pitt roughing-the-passer penalty on fourth down got Tech to the Pitt 21, but the Jackets fumbled there and Crothers recovered. Pitt then turned to true freshman Corey Dailey at quarterback, Dailey was intercepted by Trae Stevenson Jr. with a 22-yard return, and Adamson ran 18 yards for a touchdown on the next play. Adamson added the two-point run with 6:36 left to make it 27-11. Pitt recovered the ensuing onside kick, Ferguson broke a 23-yard run, and Ferguson finished the drive from a yard out with 3:28 left. Chadha's kick made it 34-11. Tech's last drive reached the Pitt 3, but Adamson threw four straight incompletions and Pitt took over on downs with less than a minute to play.

Ferguson carried the load

Ferguson was the best player on the field. The true freshman came into the night with a team-leading 477 rushing yards for the season and added 31 carries for 185 yards and two touchdowns, running behind a line that took over once it stopped flagging itself.

Geriner was not sharp, finishing 13 of 30 for 180 yards and a touchdown, but did not throw an interception and hit the big throws when they were there, including the 44-yarder to Lee and the 30-yard touchdown to Hicks. Wright added a short touchdown and the biggest fourth-down conversion of the night.

The defense was the real story, though. Pitt came in second in the ACC against the run at 65 yards per game, and Mendoza finished with minus-8 rushing yards on 11 carries once the sacks were counted. Tech's starter completed 16 of 25 passes for just 81 yards before giving way to Adamson. Pitt finished with five sacks, and Strader, Marcelin, Neal, Crothers and Nick James all had a hand in them. Alex Sanford Jr. led the team with eight tackles.

For Georgia Tech, Duclona was outstanding in a losing effort, with 10 tackles and the goal-line forced fumble.

The numbers that mattered

Pitt outgained Georgia Tech 461 to 238 and ran for 281 yards on 55 carries. The Jackets managed 95 yards on the ground and 143 through the air on 43 attempts, just 3.3 yards per pass. Tech converted 3 of 18 third downs and 1 of 5 fourth downs, while Pitt piled up 26 first downs to Tech's 17 and held the ball for 34:21. Pitt was far from clean, with three turnovers and 10 penalties for 95 yards, but Tech rarely made it pay.

The full numbers are in the official box score (opens in a new tab).

What it means

For Pitt, this was a reset in every sense. The Panthers had lost three straight, including a 52-23 beating at No. 1 Miami, and they have been grinding since Mason Heintschel's season-ending knee injury put Geriner in charge. Now they are 6-3, bowl eligible, and 5-1 at home. Narduzzi is now 8-2 against the Yellow Jackets. Next up is a Friday night home game against Florida State on Nov. 13.

For Georgia Tech, the math is brutal. The Jackets now have to win their last four games, including trips to Clemson and Georgia, just to reach six wins. After the 49-27 loss to Boston College a week ago, Brent Key said, "The only thing consistent is poor football." Saturday did not change the description. Next up is a home date with Louisville on Nov. 7.

The last word

Narduzzi wanted field position and execution. Pitt got the first all night from Russo, got enough of the second from Ferguson and the defense, and walked off its home field with a sixth win in hand. After three straight losses, that is exactly the kind of boring that feels great in November.

Sources: ESPN box score and play-by-play, Pitt Athletics game notes and live updates, Georgia Tech Athletics and Undrafted reporting. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Pitt Athletics.