The Pitt Panthers have a knack for pulling off the improbable, and the UCF Knights were their latest victim this past Saturday. The Knights were a double-digit favorite on the road in the Steel City, but the Panthers secured an upset and spoiled UCF’s College Football Playoff hopes.
DON'T.
EVER.
COUNT.
US.
OUT.#H2P pic.twitter.com/J1EuOgylyy
— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) September 21, 2019
Pitt jumped out to a 21-0 lead over UCF to the surprise of everyone at Heinz Field. The Panthers were playing a complete game, looking strong on both ends, but then UCF roared back. The Knights scored 31 unanswered points and seemed to put the Panthers away with their last touchdown midway through the third quarter. However, Pitt came back again, pulling ahead in a game that will go down in team lore.
THE PITT SPECIAL#H2P
pic.twitter.com/6I84VpsvDd— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) September 21, 2019
In a play that’s nothing at all like the Philly Special, Pittsburgh’s Aaron Matthews threw a touchdown pass to quarterback Kenny Pickett with less than a minute to go in the game. That put Pitt up 35-34, and the Panthers went on to win the game by that margin after holding UCF one final time.
🚨🚨🚨Pittsburgh snaps UCF's 27-game regular season win streak. Clemson now owns the longest such win streak in the FBS at 22 straight wins. pic.twitter.com/0ysLopffiM
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 21, 2019
UCF no longer has the longest winning streak in the nation. The Knights’ last regular season loss prior to this was in November 2016 when they were hammered 48-31 by rival USF in the War on I-4. They went undefeated throughout the 2017 season, laying claim to a national championship, and they went undefeated in 2018 before losing to LSU in the Fiesta Bowl.
The last team Pitt beat by exactly 1 point was 2016 Clemson, who won the National Championship. UCF is just getting started. #ChargeOn
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) September 21, 2019
The loss eliminates any pretense of UCF playing for the CFP National Championship this season as no Group of Five team will make the CFP with one loss. The Knights can still win their third straight AAC championship though, and they start conference play against lowly UConn this Saturday.
Meanwhile, Pitt will host FCS Delaware this Saturday before starting ACC play against Duke next week.
H/T ESPN
