Pitt's losing streak reaches 5 in a row as regular season ends in 34-23 loss to Boston College

Pitt’s regular season ended Saturday in Chestnut Hill, Mass., but, really, it dragged itself back to campus in a state of misery.

A series of mishaps, penalties and even more injuries led to the Panthers’ losing streak reaching five after a 34-23 Boston College victory. It’s the first time Pitt has lost five in a row since 2006.

Worse, Pitt (7-5, 3-5 ACC) collapsed in November, taking a 7-0 start to the season, building up expectations — inside and outside the program — and losing all five games in a month. A month late in the season, when the ills of inexperience and unfamiliarity with a new coaching staff should have been resolved.

Plus, Pitt has not played up to an ACC standard, losing 11 of its past 16 games against conference foes.

Pitt is bowl eligible for the eighth time in Pat Narduzzi’s 10 seasons, but it has a hollow feel when the team has not won a game since Oct. 24. The coach made certain in his postgame comments to point out the upcoming bowl game while praising his players’ efforts.

“Another tough one,” he said on the 93.7 FM postgame show. “I thought our kids played their tails off. There is no quit in our guys, I can guarantee you that.”

Pitt won’t find out its bowl destination until Dec. 8, but Narduzzi appears eager to accept an invitation and continue to chase that eighth victory.

“There are a lot of teams that would like to be bowl eligible right now,” he said. “I know our guys weren’t satisfied with just seven wins and (being) bowl eligible. But it is an accomplishment based on what we did last year (when Pitt finished 3-9).”

There are plenty of reasons for the losing streak, and many of them surfaced against Boston College.

Poor tackling led to embarrassing losses to SMU and Louisville, but Pitt largely stopped the BC ground game, with the significant exception of Jordan McDonald’s 36-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

Quarterback Grayson James, who began this season as a backup, bullied the Pitt secondary while keeping the pass rush largely at bay. He completed 20 of 28 passess for 253 yards and touchdowns of 28 and 15 yards. James’ 58-yard completion to Reed Harris set up Boston College’s second score that led to a 20-10 halftime lead.

When Pitt crawled to within 20-17 in the third quarter on the second of tight end Gavin Bartholomew’s two touchdown catches, Boston College (7-5, 4-4) responded with an eight-play, 83-yard scoring drive that ended with a 28-yard pass to Harris on third-and-20.

Injuries are part of Pitt’s problem, too, and the Panthers met Boston College without their three most important players on offense: starting quarterback Eli Holstein (leg), running back Desmond Reid — he stayed home with an undisclosed injury — and offensive left tackle Branson Taylor, who missed his sixth consecutive game with a leg injury.

But this loss can’t be pinned on Holstein’s backup.

Nate Yarnell injured his hand in the first quarter, missed only three snaps and ended up completing 23 of 42 passes for 296 yards and three touchdowns, one to wide receiver Konata Mumpfield, who caught eight for 144.

Yarnell had no running game to lean on — 23 net yards made Pitt one-dimensional — and freshman Juelz Goff was the only healthy scholarship back available after Derrick Davis was injured on his fifth carry.

Hurried 14 times and sacked six, Yarnell suffered his worst moment when he was smothered by BC defensive end Neto Okpala late in the second quarter. The football popped into the air, where 270-pound defensive tackle Tyeus Clemons secured the interception and ran 55 yards for a touchdown. That was a decisive turn of events because Pitt trailed only 13-7 before the turnover, and there were only 33 seconds left in the first half.

Narduzzi said Yarnell told him that he thought he broke his wrist.

“That’s what he felt like,” the coach said. “But he’s a tough son of a gun.”

Positive note: After the interception, there was still time for Ben Sauls to kick a 57-yard field goal — his fifth of 50 yards or longer in six attempts this season — and make the halftime deficit a respectable 20-10.

But Boston College remained in command of the game’s momentum through most of the second half.

The final indignity emerged early in the fourth quarter when Narduzzi gambled on fourth-and-2 from the Pitt 41. Yarnell fumbled the snap, the Eagles took over on downs and James threw another touchdown pass, 15 yards to Kamari Morales.

Before Boston College began to dominate play, the Eagles moved to the Pitt 8 on their first possession of the game. At that point, coach Bill O’Brien decided to try and convert fourth-and-1. Pitt middle linebacker Brandon George stepped up and threw down running back Kye Robichaux for a 1-yard loss.

It was a big moment for George, a senior who tied former Pitt long snapper Cal Adomitis’ school record for playing in 64 career games.