In the Steel City, Florida State’s defense was more than tough enough.
The Seminoles forced a trio of fourth-down stops and a punt to secure FSU’s 16-10 win over Pittsburgh on Friday night. A third stop with just 43 seconds to go at the FSU 48 sealed it up.
FSU (5-5, 3-5 ACC) won its second straight road game behind its defense, led by interim coordinator Ernie Sims Jr.
FSU’s defense forced the necessary fourth-down stops in the second half and produced a momentum-shifting interception — a Deamontae Diggs pass breakup was intercepted by Rylan Kennedy and gave the Seminoles a short field.
Five plays and 32 yards later, Amari Thomas had a 1-yard touchdown run to put the Seminoles ahead 13-7 with 10:39 left in the third quarter.
Gabe Panikowski also made three field-goal attempts (47, 37 and 27).
FSU overcame a rough first half in which it generated just 25 rushing yards against a tough Pitt front. Still, the Seminoles generated a pair of field goals and only trailed 7-6 at the half.
Amari Thomas had 13 carries for 30 yards before leaving the game in the third quarter due to injury. FSU had to turn to its fifth running back, Zay Parks, the rest of the game. Parks had nine carries for 27 yards.
Ashton Daniels completed 16 of 24 passes for 163 yards, but with no interceptions. Daniels did have 27 rushing yards, although he fumbled in the second half after losing control of the ball on a play that was not whistled dead by the officials.
Jasen Lopez caught five passes for 72 yards to lead FSU.
Daniel Hughes had a 64-yard punt that rolled back to the Pitt 2 with 1:51 left to pin the Panthers deep. FSU’s defense allowed a few first downs, including one by penalty, but held on to take the road victory.
Targeting
FSU’s top tackler, Chris Jones, had seven tackles through three quarters. Jones was flagged for targeting with 10:06 left in the game and had to watch from the sideline the rest of the way.
The NCAA implemented a new rule this summer that targeting flags in the second half do not carry over to the next game. So Jones will be able to play the first half next week.
Injury notes
Pitt starting quarterback Holden Geriner was listed as questionable and then did not play. The Panthers started Corey Dailey, their third-team quarterback. Dailey completed 16 of 34 passes with a touchdown and an interception.
Ja’Bril Rawls and Thomas went down with injuries in the third quarter.
Coming up
FSU will play host to NC State on Nov. 21 at 3:30 p.m. on ACC Network. NC State (4-5) will play host to Syracuse on Saturday.
With a win over the Wolfpack, the Seminoles would be bowl-eligible.
Thanks for reading the Osceola. Subscribe now for 40 percent off to enjoy a full year of coverage of FSU athletics. You’ll also earn an e-gift card at Alumni Hall.
