Pitt Blazes Past 14th Ranked Louisville Cardinals 38-21

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Ryan Thielet | October 15, 2023

Was this the spark Pat Nardzzi discussed as Pitt upsets number 14 Louisville Cardinals? Pitt looked like a whole new team coming off of the bye stemming from the change at quarterback. Christen Veilleux was able to create long stainable drives for Pitt’s offense. This had been a problem for this Panther team all year long except for tonight. The drives gave the defense the rest they needed allowing them to hold down the explosive Cardinal’s offense.

The first quarter was pretty even as Pitt started with the ball. The first drive was not good as they failed to complete simple plays which forced them to punt the ball away after just three downs. Louisville would do the exact opposite as they would drive up the field to score from a 7-yard touchdown pass thrown by Quaterback Jack Plummer putting the Cards up 7-0. After this, we would not see another scoring drive until 3:05 left in the first with Christen Veilleux connecting with Bub Means for a 46-yard pass making the score 7-7 in the latter stages of the first quarter.

Quickly, the second quarter started off with Louisville punching in a one-yard rushing touchdown by Isaac Guerendo at 11:43. This play was assisted by a pass interference call on a crucial third down two plays before. It would take Pitt two drives to put up the answering touchdown by C’Bo Flemister with a 1-yard run with only 1:23 left. That wasn’t the last of the scoring. Pitt suffered some costly fouls and ended up with another Cardinal touchdown scored on them by Isaac Guerendo making it 21-7 at the half.

In the third quarter, the Pitt team came out ready to play as they put up 17 unanswered points. The Cardinals started off with the ball and failed to convert on fourth down. The first of 17 points for Pitt would be in the form of a 46-yard field goal kicked by Ben Sauls making the score 21-10 with 11:32 left in the third. Louisville would go three and out for the second time this quarter and punt the ball off to the Panthers. Pitt possessed the ball for 13 plays ending with a 3-yard touchdown run by C’bo Flemister; this was his second on the day. That drive ate up most of the clock as Louisville would get the ball back with 3:39 left in the half. They did not have the ball long as Aliquippa native, M.J Devonshire, picked it off for an 86-yard Pick-Six while fellow Aliquippa native, and Pitt’s newest NFL Hall of Famer, Darrelle Revis was in attendance. That would be it for the third quarter as the Cardinals would get the ball back with less than a minute left ending the third with a score of 31-21 Pitt.

Pitts’s defense continued to dominate the Cardinal’s offense in the fourth quarter. The defense created another turnover with an interception this time by A.J. Woods at 12:40 in the fourth. Pitt would not be able to capture any points after this turnover as they were out after 3 plays. Louisville would answer by putting up their best drive of the half, but still coming away empty-handed as kicker Brock Travelstead missed a 46-yard kick keeping it 31-21 Pittsburgh. Pitt would yet again go three plays and out to give the Cardinals another chance to get some points. This would not happen as the Cardinals would fail a fourth-down conversion for the second time this half. Pitt took over on downs and drove the ball the length of the field finishing with a 31-yard pass by Christen Veilleux to Konata Mumpfield. The score put the final nail in the coffin for the Cardinals making it 38-21 Pitt.

This was a necessary win for the Panthers who are now 2-4 on the year. They were able to throw the ball this week as Christen Veilleux had a solid performance going 12 for 26 with two touchdowns and no interceptions. The victory was a team effort. The defense played out of their mind creating opportunities that this Pitt team had been missing all season long. They hope to improve their 1-2 conference record next week as they take on Wake Forest in Winston-Salem on Saturday at 3:30 pm EST.