Panthers' fight against Seminoles admirable to a certain degree

Correct anybody -- myself, included -- if they say Pitt has quit in them.

Pat Narduzzi's players could have easily packed it in. A bowl berth hanging by a thread, No. 4 Florida State set to come into town, and the residue of the comments Narduzzi made about his own players -- and subsequently had to apologize for -- after last week's bludgeoning at Notre Dame all were ingredients and, to some, justification for the players' moods to shift to sprint towards the end of the season by any means.

These players -- the very ones who were singled out by their own coach one week prior -- said nay.

Don't let the final score -- Seminoles 24, Panthers 7 -- influence otherwise. 

Saturday's game at Acrisure Stadium could have easily and quickly gone sideways, but it didn't. This could have been a couple of sequences away from suggesting different or closer. This could have been a statement game from Jordan Travis, Jared Verse, and a Seminoles team that has College Football Playoff aspirations on its mind.

Pitt said nay, at least from an effort standpoint.

"Just proud of the effort our kids gave out there today. They played their tails off," Narduzzi said. "We made way too many mistakes. When you look at it, it's more of what we -- the same thing as last week. More of what we did, not what they did. We shoot ourselves in the foot at times with penalties, 11 penalties. Maybe only one or two on defense. Our defense played their tails off. They're on the field for 35 minutes, so we lost the time of possession by ten minutes again today.

"It's hard to win football games when you only put 7 points on the board. (The Pitt offense) gave up 13 points. You know, you're talking about a 20 to 24 game with the No. 4 team in the country on the field, and we just didn't play clean enough, disciplined enough to overcome those things."

The cliched "moral victory" oftentimes means nothing. This time, though, it feels like it means at least something.

Sure, some sequences were filled with hot air. Gavin Bartholomew's unsportsmanlike penalty drawn as a result of barking at the referee after Christian Veilleux was chased to the sideline by top NFL prospect Jared Verse on a third-down play is the grand instance from Saturday. That same penalty took Pitt out of field goal range and forced a punt.

Veilleux had strong comments about the call on Bartholomew.

"I mean, I thought it was bull s***, honestly," he said. "He's just on the sideline. They played the replay and they circled him and he's literally just there, just like everybody else is around him. So I don't get that call. I think there were a lot of calls today that didn't make sense. Nothing wrong on Gavin's part."

Another hot-air call was in the form of Brandon George's defensive pass interference on a third down on the Pitt 26-yard line to renew a Florida State first down and result in a 22-yard touchdown reception by Markeston Douglas two plays later. 

"It was just a little under route. I've got to to a better job of making sure I get my hands a little bit more hidden, I guess you could say," George said. "I didn't think I grabbed him, but at the end of the day the referee made the call and that's what we go with."

Bartholomew's penalty and George's penalty happened on concurrent drives, causing a 10-point swing in the third quarter.

A 10-point swing that any 2-6 team could not afford to sustain against the fourth-ranked team in the country. That 10-point swing was the opening the Seminoles needed in an otherwise punch-for-punch game to that point. it was sealed by Trey Benson's 55-yard touchdown run with 1:11 left in the third quarter.

Perhaps caring a little too much allowed for a chance at a college-football-season-changing upset to dissipate. But Narduzzi's bunch could have packed it in, suffered worse to its opposition, and stumbled into the final month of the season without any positives to build upon after losing to two consecutive top-15 teams.

They said nay.

"Our team's fight is incredible," George said. "It's hard to find a team with the fight that we have. Every day we attack like it's our last, like it's our last snap. We make sure we're coming in here every day prepared, trying to attack the day as best as we can."

They even fought when things went wrong in the worst way. Veilleux should have had Konata Mumpfield for an 82-yard touchdown to begin the second quarter, but an effort play from Fentrell Cypress II to force the ball out of his hands at the 1 resulted in a turnover to keep Pitt off the board:

That could have been enough of a window for Travis and the Seminoles to break through.

Pitt said nay.

The Seminoles stalled on their 39 but went three and out.

Pitt responded with the first score of the game on this dart from Veilleux to Bub Means:

With its seventh loss of the season, Pitt is officially ineligible for a bowl appearance for the first time since its 5-7 finish in 2017. This is the second such occurrence in Narduzzi's nine seasons here. Given how this season has unfolded, it is likely to result in the worst record Narduzzi has experienced as a head coach.

Three games remain. If this effort shown Saturday is anything like they are set to display in these final three stops, then they can minimally compete and at least begin to build for a better 2024.

At this stage, isn't that what should be desired?

"Again, our defense continued to fight and gave up that big run, which makes me sick, and whatever it was," Narduzzi said. "... Just have to keep plugging away."

The requisite talent is one thing that can be addressed over the offseason. Sure, some players will transfer and others will come in. The true freshmen who sign in December will be coming into a perceived rebuild.

But, where is the harm in laying the foundation to compete when bowl eligibility, a Top 25 ranking, and all of the bells and whistles can come into play for this new group next season?

"As a team I feel like we've grown a lot since the start of the season," George said. "Every day, every week. We have a young squad. We have a lo of guys that are stepping into roles they haven't stepped in before, and we've obviously had some growing pains. That's not to say our season is a failure. It's not. Every day, we attack like it's our last, and we continue to do that day in and day out. People are going to try and address the fact that we're out of bowl contention, but to be honest, we're playing to play Syracuse. We're going forward one step at a time and we need to improve one step at a time and continue to improve and play Pitt football like we can and we should."

The final three games of the season will likely mean some true freshmen who are set to preserve redshirts will see the field. Pitt has already deployed Kenny Johnson, Montravius Lloyd, Zion Fowler-El, Israel Polk, B.J. Williams, Jordan Bass, Cruce Brookins, Rasheem Biles, Braylan Lovelace, and Isaiah Neal as true freshmen. Some have played more than others, but there is absolutely no harm in seeing more than just Johnson, Williams, and Lovelace on a regular basis to close the season. 

There are seniors and leaders, like George, to feed off of. The time for Pitt to grow is now, in November, while it can position and prepare some of its youth for the spring. 

"Not even just every practice. Every rep, every minute you're in meetings, every little detail you do outside of the facility and inside of the facility," George said. "That's what lays a foundation for every game."

It starts with the quarterback. If Veilleux can complete throws like his non-touchdown to Mumpfield and his for-real touchdown to Means on a more frequent basis, Pitt can go into the offseason with certainty that the redshirt sophomore is the guy moving forward into the offseason.

Veilleux and his offense took their lumps on this Saturday. Offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. called his offense to 333 total yards and a goose egg -- 0-for-11 -- on third down. 

If the youth movement is going to begin now, it will take lumps. But, at the same time, it will be sure to keep punching through the walls in front of them, just as it did before the Seminoles inevitably broke through.

"I think we just played undisciplined football at times," Veilleux said. "Got too many penalties (11 for 91 yards), we took ourselves out of field goal range two or three times. I think we've just got to be more disciplined. The guys are playing hard, and I think that's what leads to too many penalties. Guys are giving it their all. In football that can catch up with you sometimes. But I think we played better than what the score says and what the stat sheet says."

If the quarterback feels it, then the odds would indicate the locker room also does.

Even in a loss, that is a start. 

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Team feed
• Scoreboard
• Schedule
• Standings
• Statistics

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• Out for the season: G Ryan Jacoby (leg), OT Matt Goncalves (foot), DB Rashad Battle (foot).

THE SCHEDULE

Start spreading the news. Pitt (2-7, 1-4 ACC) is headed to New York for a neutral-site showdown against Syracuse (4-5, 0-5) at Yankee Stadium. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. I will have you covered.

THE CONTENT

• Visit the Pitt team page for more from Acrisure Stadium.