• TOUCHDOWN: Dugger wasn't down as he crossed the goal line. Pitt ties it up, 44-44.
• It clearly looks like Dugger crossed the goal line.
• Toledo's stop is nullified by a defensive holding penalty. The Panthers get another shot.
• TOUCHDOWN: Gleason finds Torres on the right side.
• TOUCHDOWN: Toledo answers. Gleason finds Terrell Crosby Jr. in the back of the end zone on the left side.
• TOUCHDOWN: Dugger finds Johnson wide open in the back of the end zone after scrambling to the left side. Pitt, 46-40.
• It's now a game of two-point conversions.
• FIELD GOAL: Sauls ties it on the next play with a 19-yarder. Tied, 40-40.
• Bartholomew takes another direct snap and has a wide open Isaiah Neal, but the defensive tackle drops it.
• Bartholomew gets a direct snap and is stopped just short of the goaline after a late push. The Panthers almost had it there.
• Looks like Reid is cramping up. He drops to the ground after that 11-yard gain.
• FIELD GOAL: Cunanan hits a 33-yarder to push the Rockets ahead.
• TOUCHDOWN: Gleason bullies his way into the end zone from one-yard out. PAT good. Tied, 37-37.
• Toledo converts their fourth-down and has the ball on the 12-yard line.
• SACK:Francis Brewu and Sean FitzSimmons get to Gleason.
• TOUCHDOWN: It's Dugger with a 2-yard score. Reid limps off the field alongside a few trainers. PAT good. Pitt, 37-30.
• Dugger finds Reid right over the middle of the field on the first play, but he drops it in the end zone. That's two crucial drops in the last few plays.
• Toledo wins the toss and chooses defense. Pitt gets the ball first and starts on the 25-yard line.
• We're heading to OVERTIME as Dugger is sacked.
• Pitt calls a timeout with one-second remaining. I thought they might let Sauls try it but the offense comes back out.
• Dugger picks up a big first down there on a third-and 2 and then unleashes a long pass down field. It was a true 50-50 ball for Williams.
• That hurts. After all the stops the defense has made throughout the second half, the Rockets put together a game-tying drive. Cunanan missed field goals of 26, 29 and 45 yards against Akron.
• FIELD GOAL: After missing three attempts in Toledo's final regular season game, Dylan Cunanan just drilled a 51-yarder to tie this game at 30.
• Wow. Gleason hits Vandeross for a 27-yard gain and the Rockets are in business. Can't let that happen in this situation. Two minutes remaining.
• Toledo stops Dugger on third-and-9 and Pitt is going to punt with 4:46 left in the game.
• PICK-6: Dugger makes a mistake and the Panthers pay for it. Defensive tackle Darius Alexander picks it off and returns it 58-yards for the score. PAT good.
• Love the energy Dugger is playing with. He's really sparked the offense and has been the difference here in the second half. However, let's not forget that the defense has come up with five straight stops, including two turnovers and a turnover on downs.
• Pitt's defense comes up with another stop. That's five straight drives, not including the one to end the half, that have ended in a punt, a turnover on downs or a turnover.
• Sauls gets in on the action and pushes Stuart out of bounds on the ensuing kickoff.
• Attendance: 26, 219
• TOUCHDOWN: Dugger throws his second touchdown pass of the evening after finding space in the pocket. He hits Williams for a 16-yard score. Pitt, 30-20.
• Reid jawing with a few Toledo players as the third quarter comes to an end. Pitt, 23-20.
• INTERCEPTION: Cruce Brookins picks off Gleason and takes it back into Toledo territory with a 26-yard return.
• A lot to like from that offensive drive. Obviously, Dugger brings a lot more athleticism to the field and showed that. He already has eight carries for 32 yards. From what I understand, the plan was to always go to him today at some point. I'm assuming because Lynch was the third-string QB throughout the season, he got the start. But, Dugger has shown a decent amount of promise during his first two drives.
• EJECTION: Toledo's D'Andre Ragin gets removed from the game after the skirmish and was charged with a flagrant unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
• FIELD GOAL: Sauls converts from 37 yards and there's a little skirmish on the field afterward. Pitt, 23-20.
• FUMBLE: Pitt takes over after Tucker Gleason fumbled. It's recovered by P.J. O'Brien.
• Earlier in the game, Bell called a lot of RPOs and Lynch chose to hand them off to Reid. Those RPOs turn into Dugger runs and the Panthers march down the field for the score. Dugger should stay in the game after that drive.
• TOUCHDOWN: Dugger hits Jake Overman on a 11-yard pass to the left corner. A really nice pass there by the true freshman. Lynch hits Bartholomew for the two-point attempt. Tie game, 20-20.
• A Kenny Johnson wildcat play picks up 14 yards for the Panthers. That's a nice little option there.
• Williams jogs off the field with a limp and is being attended to on the sideline. He didn't go into the blue tent, so that's encouraging.
• INJURY:B.J. Williams is down on the field and is being attended to by trainers.
• The Panthers come up with a huge fourth-down stop. Brandon George met Connor Walendzak at the point of contact and held him to no gain. Let's see if the offense can build up some rhythm.
• INTERCEPTION: Lynch had Johnson wide-open and severely under threw the pass and it gets picked off by Jaden Dottin. I would say that should be it for Lynch.
• We're back for the final two quarters of Pitt's 2024 football season.
• As many have mentioned, this game took a turn after Sauls' 57-yard field goal. The Panthers have had four straight drives of 14 yards or less and it seems like Toledo has adjusted had honed its focus on Reid, which has in turn limited the offense. The 14-point swing with the pick-6 and 67-yard touchdown changed the scope of the game.
• That's the first half: Toledo 20, Pitt 12
• Three straight penalties for Toledo -- a block in the back and two false starts -- knock the Rockets back to the 10-yard line.
• Since their field goal drive, the Panthers haven't had a drive last longer than four plays or cover more than 11 yards.
• Yea, Awls read that pass the entire way for the score. He jumped it pretty much as Lynch was throwing it.
• PICK-6 TOUCHDOWN:Braden Awls picks off Lynch and returns it 42 yards for the score. PAT good. Toledo, 20-12.
• Just bad execution on that touchdown. If McIntyre doesn't run into the back of his teammate on the screen, he most likely makes that stop.
• TOUCHDOWN: A wide receiver screen to Junior Vandeross III goes 67 yards for the score. It looked like McIntyre and Ryland Gandy both got caught up on the screen by one player. PAT good. Toledo, 13-12.
• Looks like I was correct. The official gets a mixture of boos and cheers as he announces the ruling.
• I could be wrong, but I thought his arm was clearly coming forward there.
• The defense has locked in since Toledo's first touchdown drive. They've forced three straight punts and two three-and-outs.
• Can't really say enough about Sauls. He's been great at Pitt and continues that run today. Will be fun to see him kick on Sundays
• FIELD GOAL: Ben Sauls doing Ben Sauls things from 57 yards. Pitt, 12-6.
• That scoring drive was solid. Reid dominated it with six carries and Lynch completed a few nice passes, including a 16-yarder to Poppi Williams on a really nice route. They'll need to keep that up today.
• TOUCHDOWN: Desmond Reid takes a pitch to the front left pylon for six. PAT good. Pitt, 9-6.
• End of 1Q: Toledo 6, Pitt 2
• Julian Dugger sighting. He comes in for a run right up the middle. He carries it twice and Lynch comes back in.
• Kade Bell trying to get the running game going. That's five straight runs for Desmond Reid. One of them was a 17-yarder.
• Well, this is a decision. Toledo is going to punt from Pitt's 39. They were at the 34 before a delay of game penalty. Toledo's kicker Dylan Cunanan missed three field goal attempts in their final regular season game.
• Jerjuan Newton got away from Louis there for a 29-yard pitch and catch. These big plays early on are demoralizing for this Pitt defense.
• Lynch picks out Kenny Johnson on third-and-12 and it looked like Johnson was either getting held or was asking for a holding call. He didn't even turn toward the ball when Lynch threw it.
• Yeah, I can't say I've seen that before. What a sequence. The third-down stop, the fourth-down touchdown and the PAT attempt returned for a touchdown. WOW.
• TOUCHDOWN: Tucker Gleason finds Anthony Torres in the back of the endzone for the first score of the game. However, Kyle Louis block the PAT attempt and returns it 85 yards for two points. Toledo, 6-2.
• Yea, things haven't changed. Javon McIntyre gets beat up the middle of the field for a 31-yard gain and the Rockets are knocking on the door.
• Well, that didn't take long. Jacquez Stuart gets things going with a 31-yard run.
• KICKOFF: Pitt vs. Toledo, 2:05 p.m.
• Pitt wins the toss and defers to the second half.
PREGAME NOTES:
• Looks like Tamon Lynum and Ryland Gandy will start at corner today. From what I understand, Rashad Battle is injured.
• Today's starting offensive line, from left to right: Ryan Baer - Ryan Jacoby - Lyndon Cooper - BJ Williams - Terrence Enos Jr.
• Censere Lee, who suffered a season-ending knee injury against Virginia, is at midfield with Holstein and Heintschel. He's got a brace on his right knee. Good to see that he can still have this experience with his teammates.
• Interesting Note: Mason Heintschel, a class of 2025 recruit who was planning to enroll early, is here with Pitt and doesn't have pads on but has thrown a few passes in warmups.
• So from the looks of warmups, it's Lynch then Julian Dugger, then Jake Frantl. It's gonna be interesting to see how the offense operates today. Lynch saw action in two games this season. He completed 1 of 2 passes against Boston College for three yards and completed 5 of his 7 pass attempts against Louisville for 43 yards and an interception. Nate Yarnell and Ty Dieffenbach both entered the transfer portal earlier this month. Yarnell recently committed to Texas State, according to a report from The Athletic.
• Eli Holstein is here in Detroit with the team, but will not play against Toledo, per source. David Lynch, who was the team's third-string quarterback for most of the season, will get the start.
• Also of note, Desmond Reid will play, along with Gavin Bartholomew and DonovanMcMillon. This will be Bartholomew's 50th game for the Panthers, he's the first tight end in Pitt history to play in 50 career games.
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THE ASYLUM
Greg Macafee
4:17 am - 12.26.2024DETROITFinal: Toledo 48, Pitt 46, OT
• Who: Pitt (7-5, 3-5 ACC) vs. Toledo (7-5, 4-4 MAC)
• What: GameAbove Sports Bowl
• When: 2:05 p.m.
• Where: Ford Field
• Weather: 41°, cloudy, 6-mph wind
• TV: ESPN
• Radio: Panthers Radio Network
• Satellite: SiriusXM 371
• Boxscore: StatBroadcast
• Media notes: Pitt | Toledo
► FOLLOW THE ACTION
• FINAL: Toledo 48, Pitt 46, overtime
• Dugger's final pass falls just short of Johnson and that's it.
• TOUCHDOWN: Gleason does it again and finds a wide-open Vandeross off the right side. Toledo, 48-46.
• TOUCHDOWN: Gleason fakes a scramble up the middle and then finds Newton in the middle of the end zone. Tied, 46-46.
• TOUCHDOWN: Dugger finds Bartholomew. Pitt, 46-44.
• TOUCHDOWN: Dugger wasn't down as he crossed the goal line. Pitt ties it up, 44-44.
• It clearly looks like Dugger crossed the goal line.
• Toledo's stop is nullified by a defensive holding penalty. The Panthers get another shot.
• TOUCHDOWN: Gleason finds Torres on the right side.
• TOUCHDOWN: Toledo answers. Gleason finds Terrell Crosby Jr. in the back of the end zone on the left side.
• TOUCHDOWN: Dugger finds Johnson wide open in the back of the end zone after scrambling to the left side. Pitt, 46-40.
• It's now a game of two-point conversions.
• FIELD GOAL: Sauls ties it on the next play with a 19-yarder. Tied, 40-40.
• Bartholomew takes another direct snap and has a wide open Isaiah Neal, but the defensive tackle drops it.
• Bartholomew gets a direct snap and is stopped just short of the goaline after a late push. The Panthers almost had it there.
• Looks like Reid is cramping up. He drops to the ground after that 11-yard gain.
• FIELD GOAL: Cunanan hits a 33-yarder to push the Rockets ahead.
• TOUCHDOWN: Gleason bullies his way into the end zone from one-yard out. PAT good. Tied, 37-37.
• Toledo converts their fourth-down and has the ball on the 12-yard line.
• SACK: Francis Brewu and Sean FitzSimmons get to Gleason.
• TOUCHDOWN: It's Dugger with a 2-yard score. Reid limps off the field alongside a few trainers. PAT good. Pitt, 37-30.
• Dugger finds Reid right over the middle of the field on the first play, but he drops it in the end zone. That's two crucial drops in the last few plays.
• Toledo wins the toss and chooses defense. Pitt gets the ball first and starts on the 25-yard line.
• We're heading to OVERTIME as Dugger is sacked.
• Pitt calls a timeout with one-second remaining. I thought they might let Sauls try it but the offense comes back out.
• Dugger picks up a big first down there on a third-and 2 and then unleashes a long pass down field. It was a true 50-50 ball for Williams.
• That hurts. After all the stops the defense has made throughout the second half, the Rockets put together a game-tying drive. Cunanan missed field goals of 26, 29 and 45 yards against Akron.
• FIELD GOAL: After missing three attempts in Toledo's final regular season game, Dylan Cunanan just drilled a 51-yarder to tie this game at 30.
• Wow. Gleason hits Vandeross for a 27-yard gain and the Rockets are in business. Can't let that happen in this situation. Two minutes remaining.
• Toledo stops Dugger on third-and-9 and Pitt is going to punt with 4:46 left in the game.
• PICK-6: Dugger makes a mistake and the Panthers pay for it. Defensive tackle Darius Alexander picks it off and returns it 58-yards for the score. PAT good.
• Love the energy Dugger is playing with. He's really sparked the offense and has been the difference here in the second half. However, let's not forget that the defense has come up with five straight stops, including two turnovers and a turnover on downs.
• Pitt's defense comes up with another stop. That's five straight drives, not including the one to end the half, that have ended in a punt, a turnover on downs or a turnover.
• Sauls gets in on the action and pushes Stuart out of bounds on the ensuing kickoff.
• Attendance: 26, 219
• TOUCHDOWN: Dugger throws his second touchdown pass of the evening after finding space in the pocket. He hits Williams for a 16-yard score. Pitt, 30-20.
• Reid jawing with a few Toledo players as the third quarter comes to an end. Pitt, 23-20.
• INTERCEPTION: Cruce Brookins picks off Gleason and takes it back into Toledo territory with a 26-yard return.
• A lot to like from that offensive drive. Obviously, Dugger brings a lot more athleticism to the field and showed that. He already has eight carries for 32 yards. From what I understand, the plan was to always go to him today at some point. I'm assuming because Lynch was the third-string QB throughout the season, he got the start. But, Dugger has shown a decent amount of promise during his first two drives.
• EJECTION: Toledo's D'Andre Ragin gets removed from the game after the skirmish and was charged with a flagrant unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
• FIELD GOAL: Sauls converts from 37 yards and there's a little skirmish on the field afterward. Pitt, 23-20.
• FUMBLE: Pitt takes over after Tucker Gleason fumbled. It's recovered by P.J. O'Brien.
• Earlier in the game, Bell called a lot of RPOs and Lynch chose to hand them off to Reid. Those RPOs turn into Dugger runs and the Panthers march down the field for the score. Dugger should stay in the game after that drive.
• TOUCHDOWN: Dugger hits Jake Overman on a 11-yard pass to the left corner. A really nice pass there by the true freshman. Lynch hits Bartholomew for the two-point attempt. Tie game, 20-20.
• A Kenny Johnson wildcat play picks up 14 yards for the Panthers. That's a nice little option there.
• Williams jogs off the field with a limp and is being attended to on the sideline. He didn't go into the blue tent, so that's encouraging.
• INJURY: B.J. Williams is down on the field and is being attended to by trainers.
• The Panthers come up with a huge fourth-down stop. Brandon George met Connor Walendzak at the point of contact and held him to no gain. Let's see if the offense can build up some rhythm.
• INTERCEPTION: Lynch had Johnson wide-open and severely under threw the pass and it gets picked off by Jaden Dottin. I would say that should be it for Lynch.
• We're back for the final two quarters of Pitt's 2024 football season.
• As many have mentioned, this game took a turn after Sauls' 57-yard field goal. The Panthers have had four straight drives of 14 yards or less and it seems like Toledo has adjusted had honed its focus on Reid, which has in turn limited the offense. The 14-point swing with the pick-6 and 67-yard touchdown changed the scope of the game.
• That's the first half: Toledo 20, Pitt 12
• Three straight penalties for Toledo -- a block in the back and two false starts -- knock the Rockets back to the 10-yard line.
• Since their field goal drive, the Panthers haven't had a drive last longer than four plays or cover more than 11 yards.
• Yea, Awls read that pass the entire way for the score. He jumped it pretty much as Lynch was throwing it.
• PICK-6 TOUCHDOWN: Braden Awls picks off Lynch and returns it 42 yards for the score. PAT good. Toledo, 20-12.
• Just bad execution on that touchdown. If McIntyre doesn't run into the back of his teammate on the screen, he most likely makes that stop.
• TOUCHDOWN: A wide receiver screen to Junior Vandeross III goes 67 yards for the score. It looked like McIntyre and Ryland Gandy both got caught up on the screen by one player. PAT good. Toledo, 13-12.
• Looks like I was correct. The official gets a mixture of boos and cheers as he announces the ruling.
• I could be wrong, but I thought his arm was clearly coming forward there.
• The defense has locked in since Toledo's first touchdown drive. They've forced three straight punts and two three-and-outs.
• Can't really say enough about Sauls. He's been great at Pitt and continues that run today. Will be fun to see him kick on Sundays
• FIELD GOAL: Ben Sauls doing Ben Sauls things from 57 yards. Pitt, 12-6.
• That scoring drive was solid. Reid dominated it with six carries and Lynch completed a few nice passes, including a 16-yarder to Poppi Williams on a really nice route. They'll need to keep that up today.
• TOUCHDOWN: Desmond Reid takes a pitch to the front left pylon for six. PAT good. Pitt, 9-6.
• End of 1Q: Toledo 6, Pitt 2
• Julian Dugger sighting. He comes in for a run right up the middle. He carries it twice and Lynch comes back in.
• Kade Bell trying to get the running game going. That's five straight runs for Desmond Reid. One of them was a 17-yarder.
• Well, this is a decision. Toledo is going to punt from Pitt's 39. They were at the 34 before a delay of game penalty. Toledo's kicker Dylan Cunanan missed three field goal attempts in their final regular season game.
• Jerjuan Newton got away from Louis there for a 29-yard pitch and catch. These big plays early on are demoralizing for this Pitt defense.
• Lynch picks out Kenny Johnson on third-and-12 and it looked like Johnson was either getting held or was asking for a holding call. He didn't even turn toward the ball when Lynch threw it.
• Yeah, I can't say I've seen that before. What a sequence. The third-down stop, the fourth-down touchdown and the PAT attempt returned for a touchdown. WOW.
• TOUCHDOWN: Tucker Gleason finds Anthony Torres in the back of the endzone for the first score of the game. However, Kyle Louis block the PAT attempt and returns it 85 yards for two points. Toledo, 6-2.
The block:
The touchdown:
• Yea, things haven't changed. Javon McIntyre gets beat up the middle of the field for a 31-yard gain and the Rockets are knocking on the door.
• Well, that didn't take long. Jacquez Stuart gets things going with a 31-yard run.
• KICKOFF: Pitt vs. Toledo, 2:05 p.m.
• Pitt wins the toss and defers to the second half.
PREGAME NOTES:
• Looks like Tamon Lynum and Ryland Gandy will start at corner today. From what I understand, Rashad Battle is injured.
• Today's starting offensive line, from left to right: Ryan Baer - Ryan Jacoby - Lyndon Cooper - BJ Williams - Terrence Enos Jr.
• Censere Lee, who suffered a season-ending knee injury against Virginia, is at midfield with Holstein and Heintschel. He's got a brace on his right knee. Good to see that he can still have this experience with his teammates.
• Interesting Note: Mason Heintschel, a class of 2025 recruit who was planning to enroll early, is here with Pitt and doesn't have pads on but has thrown a few passes in warmups.
• So from the looks of warmups, it's Lynch then Julian Dugger, then Jake Frantl. It's gonna be interesting to see how the offense operates today. Lynch saw action in two games this season. He completed 1 of 2 passes against Boston College for three yards and completed 5 of his 7 pass attempts against Louisville for 43 yards and an interception. Nate Yarnell and Ty Dieffenbach both entered the transfer portal earlier this month. Yarnell recently committed to Texas State, according to a report from The Athletic.
• Eli Holstein is here in Detroit with the team, but will not play against Toledo, per source. David Lynch, who was the team's third-string quarterback for most of the season, will get the start.
• Also of note, Desmond Reid will play, along with Gavin Bartholomew and Donovan McMillon. This will be Bartholomew's 50th game for the Panthers, he's the first tight end in Pitt history to play in 50 career games.
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