Through the years, Pitt has learned to bounce back from tough defeats

Those who dare to compete in the unforgiving world of college football often find the other team wants to win, too.

Defeat is part of the equation, and Pitt has had its share of tough ones over the years. When Alex Kessman’s extra-point try went wide right in overtime last Saturday and Pitt lost to Boston College, 31-30, it conjured up memories of similar heart-breaking losses.

What follows are five of them, but they all have something in common: Pitt won its next game, ending each of the four seasons with a bowl victory.

The Panthers get a chance to extend that trend Saturday when they visit Miami at Hard Rock Stadium.

Penn State 7, Pitt 6, Nov. 22, 1975

If Pitt fans were anguished after the BC game, imagine how their ancestors felt in 1975.

To set the stage, Pitt was tired of being Penn State’s doormat. Over the previous nine seasons, the Nittany Lions won the annual game by an average of more than four touchdowns, including 65-9 in 1968 and 55-18 in 1971.

But Johnny Majors was a year away from winning a national championship when he took the Panthers into Three Rivers Stadium in 1975 where a crowd of 46,846 and a national television audience were waiting.

Pitt was ranked No. 17 in the nation, with a 7-3 record. The previous week Tony Dorsett had run for 303 yards in a 34-20 victory against Notre Dame at Pitt Stadium. No. 10 Penn State was 8-2 and destined to play Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

Pitt took a 6-0 lead late in the first half on a 37-yard run by Elliott Walker, but Penn State’s Tom Odell blocked the extra point, ending Carson Long’s streak of 60 successful conversion kicks.

Penn State took a 7-6 lead in the fourth quarter on a touchdown by Steve Geise and Chris Bahr’s conversion kick.

Long, who was Pitt’s all-time best place kicker until Chris Blewitt showed up four decades later, missed three field goals in the final 10 ½ minutes, including one from 23 yards.

Joe Paterno was grateful for the gifts. “When I get home, I’m going to church,” he said.

Long, a straight-on kicker, kicked 45 in his career — only Blewitt, Conor Lee and Kessman have kicked more. He is fifth in all-time scoring (268 points), behind only Tony Dorsett, Blewitt, James Conner and Kessman.

But he might have been distracted that day. His wife, Peggy, had given birth to an 8‐pound baby girl in the morning.

A year later, with Pitt on its way to the national championship, Long kicked a field goal to help Pitt beat Penn State, 24-7. He celebrated by doing a somersault coming off the field.

West Virginia 17, Pitt 14, Nov. 8, 1975

Given today’s circumstances, it may be difficult to believe that Pitt played West Virginia and Penn State in the same season on a regular basis.

Two weeks before the Penn State loss, Pitt was tied with WVU, 14-14, with 57 seconds left at old Mountaineer Field.

Pitt had the ball, but after three plays, there was confusion on whether or not it was fourth down. When offensive line coach Joe Avezzano, later a longtime special teams coach for the Dallas Cowboys, walked onto the field to sort things out, he was called for unsportsmanlike conduct.

After the yardage was marched off, Pitt punted from its end zone and WVU took over at midfield. After a pass completion from Dan Kendra to Randy Swinson, walk-on Bill McKenzie kicked a 38-yard field goal on the last play of the game.

While fans rushed the field, legendary WVU play-by-play announcer Jack Fleming shouted to a statewide audience, “The ballgame is over. There’s a mob scene out on the field. You haven’t seen anything like it.”

After the McKenzie game, Pitt won the next seven in a row against the Mountaineers.

Penn State 48, Pitt 14, Nov. 28, 1981

Pitt was undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the nation when Penn State and a crowd of 60,260 packed Pitt Stadium.

After the Panthers took a 14-0 lead on two Dan Marino touchdown passes, the Nittany Lions ran off 48 unanswered points to score the first big upset of Joe Paterno’s tenure.

Marino led the nation with 34 touchdown passes, but he hurled four interceptions. Penn State sophomore quarterback Todd Blackledge threw for 267 yards and two scores.

Cincinnati 45, Pitt 44, Dec. 5, 2009

In a de facto Big East championship game, Pitt held leads of 31-10 and 38-24 before unbeaten Cincinnati scored on a Tony Pike’s game-winning 29-yard touchdown pass to Armon Binns with 33 seconds left.

Pitt had taken a 44-38 lead with 1:36 left, but holder Andrew Janocko bobbled the snap on the extra-point try, giving Cincinnati a chance to win.

Pitt freshman Dion Lewis ran for 194 yards and three touchdowns on a school-record 47 carries.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt called it “a tough, heartbreaking loss, to say the least.”

Said defensive end Mick Williams: “It’s a tough way to end, and I really don’t know how to describe it.”

Janocko has gone on to a successful coaching career, and has been a Minnesota Vikings assistant for six years, this season serving as wide receivers coach.

Miami 16, Pitt 12, Oct. 26, 2019

This was Pitt’s only loss in a seven-game stretch. With the largest home crowd of the season (47,918) in attendance at Heinz Field, Miami ended Pitt’s four-game winning streak, tying the longest during Pat Narduzzi’s tenure.

The loss also dampened Pitt’s hopes of repeating as ACC Coastal champion.

Pitt’s only points were four Kessman field goals, including a 29-yarder with 7:19 left. It gave Pitt a 12-10 lead, but accentuated the Panthers’ red-zone woes.

“Terrible,” center Jimmy Morrissey said, quietly assessing the offense. “I’m shocked that we were even in that game.”

Pitt’s defense held Miami to 208 total yards, but a 32-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Jarren Williams to K.J. Osborn with 58 seconds left was the decisive dagger.

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