After Pitt took a 34-13 lead with 6:14 remaining in the fourth quarter, it looked like Houston had no chance for a comeback.
Someone forgot to tell quarterback Greg Ward Jr.
Ward Jr., the converted wide receiver, threw three touchdown passes in the final 3:41 of play to lead the Cougars on a crazy fourth-quarter comeback that culminated in an improbable 35-34 win in the Armed Forces Bowl.
The comeback included two onside kick recoveries in a wild sequence of events. Pitt completely dominated for the first 55 minutes of play, but when Ward Jr. hit Deontay Greenberry for an 8-yard score and cut the lead to 34-20 with 3:41 to go, it was the first indication that the Cougars were going to fight until the final seconds ticked off.
Following the Greenberry score, the Cougars recovered an onside kick near midfield and quickly went back to work. Ward Jr. hit Markeith Ambles for two big gains, but then the Pitt defense looked like it would finally be able to exhale. Instead, on 4th-and-13, Ward Jr. hit Demarcus Ayers for a 29-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 34-27 with 1:58 to go.
Houston kicker Ty Cummings then hit another successful onside kick to give the Cougars another possession – this one starting at their own 43.
Ward Jr., who threw for 237 of his 274 yards in the fourth and also ran for 92 yards on the day, looked toward Greenberry, his favorite target, and he delivered. First he hit Greenberry wide open down the seam for a 38-yard gain to the Pitt 19. Three plays later, Ward Jr. found Greenberry in the end zone for a 25-yard score, cutting Pitt’s lead to 34-33 with 59 seconds left.
Instead of going for the tie with an extra point, Houston interim coach David Gibbs decided to go for the win on a two-point conversion. Somehow, Pitt left Greenberry open again and Ward Jr. found him in the corner of the end zone to give the Cougars a 35-34 lead and complete the unlikely comeback.
With 59 seconds left, Pitt still had a chance. The Panthers reached midfield, but quarterback Chad Voytik’s pass fell incomplete on a fourth-down play and the Cougars were able to celebrate a victory.
A comeback seemed farfetched after Pitt completely dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball for most of the game, racking up 449 yards of offense.
Houston keyed in on Pitt running back James Conner, the ACC Player of the Year, and bottled him up early. The game was scoreless after one quarter, but the Panthers kept pounding away on the ground and were eventually rewarded when Conner, who finished with 90 yards rushing, scored on a one-yard plunge to cap off a 15-play, 92-yard drive early in the second quarter.
Houston responded with a lengthy drive of its own. Kenneth Farrow, who ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns on the day, scored from two yards out to finish off a 15-play, 76-yard drive. Houston kicker Kyle Bullard slipped on the extra point attempt, so Pitt led 7-6.
It was all Pitt for the next two quarters.
With the Cougars still keying in on Conner and the running game, Voytik had some success passing downfield and the Panthers extended their lead to 17-6 at halftime.
Voytik hit J.P. Holtz for a score in the third and then Conner scored again early in the fourth to extend Pitt’s lead to 31-6. Pitt then took its foot off the gas pedal and allowed the Cougars to creep back in the game and ultimately complete one of the best comebacks of the season.
The heartbreaking loss gives the Panthers a 6-7 record, the program’s third 6-7 record in the last four seasons.
Houston, with Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman coming in as head coach, finished 8-5.
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