C’Bo Flemister rushed for two touchdowns Saturday night and host Pittsburgh’s defense shut out No. 14 Louisville in the second half to earn a 38-21 Atlantic Coast Conference win.
Pitt scored 24 unanswered points in the second half.
Flemister’s 3-yard scoring run with 3:39 left in the third quarter polished off a 61-yard scoring drive that chewed up almost seven minutes, giving the Panthers (2-4, 1-2 ACC) a 24-21 lead. M.J. Devonshire added insurance when he picked off Jack Plummer and returned it 86 yards for a touchdown with 14 seconds remaining in the period.
Christian Veilleux completed just 12 of 26 passes for 200 yards in his first start, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Veilleux’s last pass was a 31-yard scoring strike to Konata Mumpfield with 3:03 left in the game.
Plummer hit 29 of 52 passes for 350 yards and one touchdown but tossed a pair of interceptions for the Cardinals (6-1, 3-1). Jamari Thrash caught nine passes for 120 yards, but leading rusher Jawhar Jordan carried the ball just twice for 8 yards before leaving the game in the first quarter with an injury and not returning.
Mistakes cost Louisville throughout the game. It outgained Pittsburgh 430-288 but fumbled five times, losing one. In addition, Plummer was sacked four times.
Louisville got off the mark in a hurry, scoring on its first drive on Plummer’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Chris Bell less than 3 1/2 minutes into the game. However, the Panthers responded at the 2:37 mark when Veilleux found Bub Means with a 46-yard scoring strike.
The Cardinals took a 14-7 lead with 11:43 left in the first half when Isaac Guerendo plunged in from the 1 to cap a scoring drive of nearly six minutes. Pittsburgh equalized with 1:23 remaining when Flemister cracked the goal line’s plane from the 1 to finish a five-minute march.
Louisville put together a 75-yard drive in the final 83 seconds, finishing it on Guerendo’s 5-yard run that allowed it to take a 21-14 advantage to the locker room.
–Field Level Media
