Tim Benz: We've seen 'typical Pitt' losses in 2020. Will we see a 'typical Pitt' win?

We throw around the phrase “typical Pitt loss” all the time when discussing the football team.

Except there are many different iterations of a “typical Pitt loss.”

• There is the mind-boggling, creative way of blowing a game late. Like when kicker Alex Kessman bombed a field goal from the Mass Pike to tie Boston College at the end of regulation on Oct. 10 then shanked an extra point to lose the game in overtime.

Or blowing a 21-point lead to Cincinnati at home in 2009’s de facto Big East championship game. Thanks, in part, to allowing a 99-yard kick return. And botching a hold on an extra point.

• There is the bad out-of-conference upset loss to a non-Power Five school. Like Akron in 2014, Youngstown State in 2012, Ohio in 2005 or Toledo in 2003.

• There is the momentum-halting home stumble, just as the nation was starting to take notice of the program. Like the defeat to North Carolina State after cracking the Top 25 with a 3-0 start in September. Or that Thursday night versus North Carolina in 2015 after Pat Narduzzi’s team had reached 23rd in the country. Or falling on homecoming as No. 17 in the land to Rutgers, 54-34, in 2008.

• And, finally, there is having absolutely no answer in a “big game” against a top-notch opponent at Heinz Field. Such as the 51-6 defeat to Penn State two years ago. Or getting boat raced by Florida State 41-13 in Jameis Winston’s nationally televised 2013 debut. And getting dropkicked 42-21 by Notre Dame in Dave Wannstedt’s first game in 2005.

Saturday — in the highest-profile home game of the year — Narduzzi’s team was overwhelmingly outclassed by third-ranked Notre Dame (5-0) in similar fashion, 45-3.

“They are the No. 3 team in the country,” Narduzzi said in a postgame interview session. “They played like it. It’s as good of a team as I have seen walk on a field in the last six years. They are talented from front to back on both sides of the ball. We got beat by a better football team.”

Now the question becomes, will Pitt (3-4) fans get to enjoy that “typical Pitt win”? The one that could’ve made for a monumental moment in program history, if hopes of significant success for the season hadn’t been doused in previous outings.

You know, like clipping No. 3 Clemson, 43-42 in 2016, after back-to-back defeats the previous two weeks. Or ending 2017 with a 24-14 shocker of No. 2 Miami while sitting at 5-7.

Blasting 12th-rated Virginia Tech, 38-7, at Heinz Field in 2001 while holding a rotten 2-5 record at the time.

And, of course, in 2007, we witnessed the 13-9 stunner of second-ranked West Virginia in Morgantown as the Panthers entered the game as massive underdogs with a 4-7 mark.

Two such opportunities are present on the schedule. They occur over the final two weeks of the season. There is a home date against Virginia Tech (Nov. 21), which was 19th in the country before a loss to Wake Forest. And the Panthers visit top-ranked Clemson on Nov. 28.

“Anything can happen in the ACC,” senior linebacker Chase Pine said after the game. “We are just going to keep fighting through the week. And the next four games are going to be crucial to step up and win. If we get those wins, it’ll be a different conversation than what we are having now.”

However, starting quarterback Kenny Pickett is injured. The running game is putrid. That vicious defensive front we saw earlier in the season is nowhere near as fearsome all of a sudden. And Narduzzi shows zero sign of knowing how to stop the bleeding.

Then again, hopes were equally nonexistent in any of those other upset situations as well. And that’s why we use the phrase, “We never saw it coming.”

“We’ve had some tough losses,” senior offensive lineman Bryce Hargrove said. “But our leadership is staying positive. We aren’t giving up. We still have four games to go. We are staying positive and trying to get better. Trying to solve the problem.”

For the sake of Panthers fans, maybe Pitt can be “typical” once more against the Hokies or Tigers next month.

But given the injuries and diminishing quality of play, wins of that variety may be even more difficult to explain in 2020 than in any of those previous examples.