Mistakes cost Pitt in 24-7 loss to No. 4 Florida State

Only two years removed from holding up the ACC championship trophy, Pat Narduzzi was the picture of a coach beaten down by defeat Saturday night.

He spoke softly, appeared almost subdued, perhaps bewildered by what has befallen his team, certainly disappointed after the 24-7 loss to No. 4 Florida State before an announced crowd of 57,557 at Acrisure Stadium. Pitt’s 2-7 record is its worst after nine games in a quarter century.

Narduzzi’s mood was tied to several events, including:

• Wide receiver Konata Mumpfield’s fumble just before he crossed the goal line in the first quarter.

• An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty called on tight end Gavin Bartholomew that shoved Pitt out of field-goal range in the third quarter. It was one of 11 penalties for a loss of 91 yards, by the way.

• An 0-for-11 effort on third down.

• Quarterback Christian Veilleux’s inaccuracy (15 for 35 with one interception).

With the victory, Florida State clinched a spot in the ACC Championship game and gave its College Football Playoff hopes a boost. But Pitt’s season, including 1-4 in the ACC, also has been marred by defeats to lesser opponents such as Cincinnati (0-7 since beating Pitt on Sept. 9) and Wake Forest (whose only victory in the past six games was against the Panthers).

“We made way too many mistakes. Same thing as last week,” Narduzzi said, referencing the 58-7 loss to Notre Dame. “More what we did, not what they did.”

If an upset of epic proportions was destined to surface, Pitt needed perfection in all areas. A stout defensive effort that held Florida State under 30 points for the first time in 15 games offered hope for about half the game, but Pitt was deficient in too many areas to complete the task.

Florida State (9-0, 7-0 ACC) took every punch Pitt could throw and remained upright.

Afterward, Narduzzi talked about 13 points Pitt allowed to get away that turned the game in the Seminoles’ favor.

The first occurred after Mumpfield’s fumble. If he had held onto the ball at the end of an 82-yard reception, Pitt might have led 14-10 at halftime.

While trying to make the tackle near the goal line, Florida State cornerback Fentrell Cypress II appeared to grab Mumpfield’s face mask. The play was reviewed, but no penalty was called. The football bounced into the end zone and was ruled a touchback — possession, FSU — when Cypress fell on it after rolling out of bounds.

Mumpfield was the last player to possess the ball legally before it went into the end zone. By rule, that’s a touchback.

Narduzzi said the officials did not give him an explanation, and he wasn’t close enough to know for sure what occurred.

“They went and reviewed it,” he said. “I’m sure they saw the face mask that they missed. Critical point in the game.

“Players play, coaches coaches, officials officiate. Whatever they say goes. We just didn’t play clean enough, disciplined enough to overcome those things.”

On two other occasions, Pitt was shoved out of field-goal range, once by a holding call in the first half and again on a penalty called well after the play in the third quarter. The holding call at the end of the first half went against left tackle Branson Taylor.

“It sounds like he threw him to the ground. I don’t know what happened, unnecessary,” the coach said.

Then, with Florida State clinging to a 10-7 lead and Pitt getting ready to kick a potentially game-tying field goal, officials called an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Bartholomew after what Narduzzi called a late hit on Veilleux.

”Gavin didn’t say anything to the officials,” he said. “They were talking about happy birthday or something. It wasn’t one person. It wasn’t Gavin. That was maybe who they called it on.”

Narduzzi said his sideline was “chippy, just like on any sideline” at that moment.

”Guys were talking. I’ve never seen a penalty called on the sideline when there are 40 guys on the sideline. You have to overcome all those things. Shut your mouth and play the game of football.”

At that point, Florida State took its 10-7 lead, bumped it to 24-7 and coasted to victory. A three-point deficit was suddenly 17, and Pitt’s upset bid lost all of its juice. In a matter of 2 minutes, 15 seconds, Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis found tight end Markeston Douglas for a 22-yard touchdown and running back Trey Benson ran 55 yards through the Pitt defense and into the end zone.

“We gave up that big run. That makes me sick. It can’t happen,” Narduzzi said.

Bottom line: Pitt was unable to counteract misfortune, whether it was self-imposed or otherwise, largely because of an underachieving offense. With not much of a running game to support him, Veilleux has a season-long completion percentage of 50%, and he has led Pitt to only three touchdowns in the past three games. Pitt hasn’t scored a touchdown on the ground since the Louisville game Oct. 14.

Asked if Veilleux is Pitt’s starting quarterback going forward, Narduzzi said “right now he is.”

“Christian made some plays. He got pressured (the Seminoles recorded six hurries). He got sacked three times. All those things.”

There are three games left in the season against Syracuse, Boston College and Duke. Narduzzi labeled them all “winnable.”

“It starts with me,” he said. “Obviously didn’t coach good enough this week to get it done. We’ll regroup. We have three games to go, three winnable games.”