Pitt
8-4 , 5-3
Miami
5-7 , 3-5
Pitt Rolls Past Miami in ACC Finale, 42-16
11/26/2022 11:45:00 PM | Football
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — For Pitt, it's bowl season. For Miami, it's next season.
Kedon Slovis threw three touchdown passes, all to Jared Wayne, and Israel Abanikanda rushed for two touchdowns as Pitt rolled past Miami 42-16 on Saturday night and eliminated the Hurricanes from bowl contention.
"It's still not a perfect game, but it's a glimpse of it, what I can do," said Wayne, who had career-highs of 11 catches, 199 yards and the three scores.
Miami (5-7, 3-5 ACC) matched its worst season in the last 45 years.
Abanikanda now has 20 touchdown rushes this season and finished with 111 yards on the ground, his sixth consecutive 100-yard game for the Panthers (8-4, 5-3). Wayne had first-half TD catches for 26 and 66 yards as Pitt took a 28-0 lead into the break, then caught a 7-yarder late in the third.
It was Pitt's biggest win ever over Miami; the previous was a 17-point victory in 1976 — a year when the Panthers won the national title.
"A great way to end the regular season," Wayne said.
Pitt beat Miami for just the fourth time in the last 26 meetings between the teams, plus went 4-0 in November for a second consecutive season. It also grabbed a small sliver of history — the contest was the last Coastal Division game to be played, with the ACC abandoning the two-division format starting next season.
It also was the 61st win for Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi, giving him outright possession of second on the Panthers' all-time list. He was tied with Pop Warner.
"It's a November to remember," Narduzzi said. "We've got a good football team. They've got a good football team. It's good to beat Miami. ... We've been close the last couple years, but this was a big one for us."
For Miami, it was a terrible end to a terrible season.
The Hurricanes used three quarterbacks Saturday, which was fitting, since they had a revolving door at that position all season. Starter Tyler Van Dyke was back for the opening series but reaggravated the shoulder injury that kept him out for much of the season's second half. Jacurri Brown left in the third quarter after getting hurt, and Garcia played the rest of the way.
But after the Panthers (8-4, 5-3) dominated the opening 30 minutes, the result was never in doubt in the second half.
THE TAKEAWAY
Pitt: Abanikanda is up to 1,431 yards rushing this season, eighth-most by any Pitt running back in a single season. He'll need 58 yards in the bowl game to pass LeSean McCoy for the No. 7 spot on that list.
Miami: The Hurricanes announced a crowd of 46,428. In reality, it may have been about half that — and most of those folks were long gone by the finish. Miami's average announced attendance this season was 45,711. Excluding the last two seasons, affected by the pandemic, it was Miami's lowest average turnout since 2007.
UP NEXT
Pitt: Awaiting bowl invitation.
Miami: Opens next season on Sept. 2, at home, against Miami of Ohio.
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Team Stats
PIT 7, MIA 0
PIT - Abanikanda,Israel 2 yd run (Sauls,Ben kick), 4 plays, 30 yards, TOP 02:06
PIT 14, MIA 0
PIT - Wayne,Jared 66 yd pass from Slovis,Kedon (Sauls,Ben kick) 2 plays, 78 yards, TOP 00:48
PIT 21, MIA 0
PIT - Abanikanda,Israel 11 yd run (Sauls,Ben kick), 2 plays, 19 yards, TOP 00:45
PIT 28, MIA 0
PIT - Wayne,Jared 26 yd pass from Slovis,Kedon (Sauls,Ben kick) 7 plays, 89 yards, TOP 03:27
PIT 28, MIA 3
MIA - Borregales,Andres 25 yd field goal 10 plays, 78 yards, TOP 04:57
PIT 35, MIA 3
PIT - Wayne,Jared 7 yd pass from Slovis,Kedon (Sauls,Ben kick) 10 plays, 73 yards, TOP 05:39
PIT 35, MIA 9
MIA - Mallory,Will 4 yd pass from Garcia,Jake () 7 plays, 63 yards, TOP 03:37
PIT 42, MIA 9
PIT - Flemister,C'Bo 26 yd run (Sauls,Ben kick), 6 plays, 71 yards, TOP 02:36
PIT 42, MIA 16
MIA - Restrepo,Xavier 4 yd pass from Garcia,Jake (Borregales,Andres kick) 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:54
