CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. _ On more than one occasion last season, Pitt captain Jimmy Morrissey entered the Heinz Field media room visibly frustrated.
Morrissey, a senior who's seen it all, rarely minces his words. Look back only a week ago when he called Pitt's loss to North Carolina State "embarrassing." But after the Panthers' inept defeat to Miami in 2019, Morrissey said the offense needed to do more to "reciprocate" what Pitt's defense was doing.
Well, neither Pitt's offense nor its defense reciprocated each other on Saturday. And the special teams floundered, as well.
The Panthers lost, 31-30, in overtime to Boston College at Alumni Stadium after failing to play, as some coaches call it, complementary football.
Randy Bates' defense picked up Mark Whipple's offense at times. Whipple's unit did the same. But at no point were both Pitt's offense and defense in sync. That _ along with a missed Alex Kessman extra point in overtime _ is why the Panthers dropped their second consecutive game.
Pitt, now 3-2 overall, is in bad shape. The Panthers' preseason hopes of reaching the ACC title game are pretty much dead. And when they get back to Pittsburgh, they'll be tasked with preparing for a road trip to Miami, then a game against Notre Dame.
Pitt's 2020 campaign, one it wanted to be "different" from other seasons in Pat Narduzzi's tenure, is headed down a familiar path. Favorites in each of the last two losses, the Panthers might upset Miami next week. They might even upend Notre Dame at home. But the season as a whole won't reflect the standard Pitt's veterans set for themselves in August. And it's because of nights like Saturday.
Alex Kessman bombed a 58-yard field goal to tie it at 24 with 40 seconds left in regulation. He also missed a game-tying point-after attempt in overtime, sending Boston College's bench into a frenzy.
Kenny Pickett accounted for three touchdowns. He also tossed an interception and took a sack late in the fourth quarter when he could least afford to.
And Pitt's defense sacked Boston College quarterback Phil Jurkovec five times and stripped him of the ball once. But the Panthers also allowed the former Pine-Richland standout to throw for 358 yards, account for four touchdowns and hit wideout Zay Flowers on a 25-yard scoring strike in the first overtime period.
Pitt's offense had its chance to respond and did.
Pickett, who ran around all day trying to make something happen, extended Pitt's lone overtime drive with his legs, converting a fourth-and-7 and later a fourth-and-1 via QB sneak. The veteran quarterback then found Taysir Mack on a short tunnel screen.
But Kessman, who gave Pitt the opportunity at overtime in the first place, pushed his extra point wide right. If he makes it, maybe the Panthers pull it out. But Kessman's mistake was far from Pitt's only mishap of the day.
The first half alone served as a microcosm for Pitt's inconsistent season so far. Heck, on the Panthers' very first drive, encouraging play by Vincent Davis and a 25-yard completion to Mack were all for naught as a fumbled exchange set them back immediately.
Pitt's offense did respond to Boston College's opening 12-play, 86-yard field-goal drive, though, with a 14-play, 75-yard scoring series of its own. Pickett polished off the Panthers' first trip to the red zone with a QB sneak score, his third in the last two weeks. Pitt also took advantage of a Boston College mistake, going for it on fourth-and-3 at the Eagles' 41 after an offsides penalty pulled Pitt's punt team off the field. Pitt converted and kept chugging along to pay dirt.
Leading 7-3, things were looking up for the Panthers. But after trading punts, Pitt's defense didn't hold up its end of the bargain.
Boston College's first touchdown should've never happened. Pitt cornerback Marquis Williams had an interception in his hands, but let the opportunity slip. Three plays later, a coverage bust gifted Jurkovec a 44-yard touchdown pass to Flowers.
Credit to Pickett and Whipple's unit, the offense picked up the defense. Pickett and company capitalized on a 43-yard DJ Turner kick return, finding the end zone in six plays _ the sixth being a 15-yard swing pass score by true freshman running back Israel Abanikanda.
But Pitt's defense couldn't hold onto its flimsy lead. Sure, the Eagles were aided by a bad roughing the passer penalty called on John Morgan. And yes, they were bailed out on a goal-line fumble that wasn't. Boston College running back Pat Garwo put it on the deck, but was ruled down and no camera angle could prove otherwise on the review.
Boston College profited. Jurkovec, using his 6-foot-5, 230-pound frame, bodied Pitt defensive end Deslin Alexandre on fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line, earning the Eagles a 17-14 lead _ an advantage it would never surrender.
Pitt's offense shot itself in the foot with less than a minute to go in the half, but set up Alex Kessman with a 55-yard field goal attempt. He missed wide right, his first of two misses on the evening. Kessman hooked a 49-yarder left in the third quarter, when Pitt was desperate for something. Any kind of points would've been welcomed.
But at that point, after answering twice in the first half, Whipple's unit _ far from the team's strength _ could only make up so much ground given up by the defense.
Jurkovec opened the second half with a dime. The WPIAL's second-leading all-time passer hit Flowers again, this time for a 77-yard score. Without a safety over the top, Flowers gained a step on Pitt corner Jason Pinnock, and Jurkovec hit him in stride. If there were fans sitting the aluminum seats at Alumni Stadium, they would have ooo'd and ahh'd at the perfectly-lofted pass.
Though it took a few drives, Pitt did offer a sign of life. Bates' defense, after getting burned by Flowers, limited Boston College to a pair of short, fruitless drives. And Whipple's unit spun together a scoring series, too.
Pickett took some shots, forcing him to actually leave the drive early. But the third-year starter pushed Pitt to the red zone, and Arizona State transfer Joey Yellen came in to mop it up. Yellen handed off to Davis twice, and the 5-foot-8 back barrelled into the end zone on the second, cutting Boston College's advantage to 24-21 with two minutes left in the third quarter.
No one scored until Kessman's 58-yard field goal, a moon shot that would've been good from 65. That offered a flawed Pitt team more than a glimmer of hope. It gave the Panthers a chance to steal a game one could argue they didn't deserve.
But after Pitt won the overtime coin toss and chose defense first, Jurkovec's touchdown pass to Flowers was too easy. And Pitt labored too much to score. And Kessman missed the chip shot _ a gutting end to a game that encapsulated all of Pitt's shortcomings.
After five games, it's clear what those shortcomings are. Whether or not Pitt can overcome them moving forward will determine what kind of team and program Narduzzi has.
