Five Takeaways From Pitt's Embarrassing Military Bowl Loss

Freshman running back Ja'Kyrian Turner had two fumbles — which were his only fumbles of the season — Mason Heintschel was strip-sacked and later threw an interception that was returned 70 yards and Kenny Johnson muffed a punt.

The only turnover Pitt forced was Biles' 23-yard fumble recovery touchdown.

It also didn't help that Pitt's offensive line struggled to protect. Heintschel was sacked four times for a loss of 34 yards, one of which was the strip sack. The line also allowed seven tackles for loss for a total of 45 yards.

Narduzzi Does it Again

Some questionable coaching decisions limited Pitt in this loss, and it certainly wasn't the first time this year.

There were several head-scratching third-and-short and fourth-and-short calls. Such as when the offense ran former walk-on running back Caleb Williams up the middle on fourth-and-1 and didn't convert instead of handing it to Turner, or when Justin Cook rushed on third-and-1 on the following drive and didn't convert either.

Cook and Williams had a combined seven carries this season entering this game.

But those decisions likely didn't have much to do with Narduzzi. The 11-year Pitt head coach mostly deals with big decisions and clock management, both of which he struggled with towards the end of the game.

Two of the most glaring mistakes came in the final seven minutes.

The first was when Narduzzi opted to go for a fourth-and-1 instead of kicking a near-40-yard field goal. A make by Trey Butkowski would have made it a 23-17 game with 3:41 left on the clock and three timeouts available. Instead, the conversion led to a whopping six more plays and a 21-yard field goal conversion with just 1:23 remaining.

Taking the points and leaving more time on the clock could have set Pitt up for likely three minutes remaining in the game if it forced a three-and-out and burned each timeout. But the Panthers tried an onside kick, didn't get it and were left with 57 seconds after forcing a three-and-out.

The second questionable call was the decision to go for the onside kick. Had Pitt kicked it off, it would have likely had better field position for the final drive of the game, but instead started on its own 20-yard line after the Pirates' punt went for a touchback.

The first game management mistake compounded onto the next, and Pitt was left in an unfavorable situation to mount a comeback.

Narduzzi's errors even caused a stream of stark criticism from former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Breiden Fehoko.

Pitt's Defense Prevents Blowout

The bright spot for Pitt in this game was its defense. Big shoutout to defensive coordinator Randy Bates.

The program announced on Dec. 26 that Bates will retire following this game, and the defense kept Pitt in a position to win the game.

Biles was easily the best player on the field. He recorded a game-high 16 tackles, five for a loss, two sacks, a pass breakup and his fumble return score.

East Carolina also started on Pitt's side of the field on half of its total offensive drives and allowed just nine points on those drives.

The only shortcomings the defense had were when it allowed a 47-yard, then a 72-yard passing touchdown from true freshman quarterback Chaston Ditta to Anthony Smith. Ditta finished the game 8-for-17 passing, 177 yards and two scores in his first-career start. Smith posted four catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns.

Credit Were Credit is Due

East Carolina deserves all the credit in the world for capturing the win.

Both of the Pirates' offensive and defensive coordinators signed with other schools. Starting quarterback Katin Houser, running back London Montgomery, left tackle Jimarion McCrimon, tight end Jayvontary Conner and wide receiver Yannick Smith all decided to enter the transfer portal prior to the game.

Pitt was without running back Desmond Reid and All-American linebacker Kyle Louis, who both opted out to prepare for the NFL Draft, and running back Juelz Goff, guard Jackson Brown and wide receivers Jesse Anderson and Zion Fowler-El, who all are entering the transfer portal.

The Panthers had a significant advantage over East Carolina on paper. And the Pirates still won.

This is all without mentioning that East Carolina had a 68-year touchdown wiped off the board due to one of the worst officiating mistakes of the season.

In the third quarter, the Pirates went for a fourth-and-1 on their own 32-yard line. Marlon Gunn Jr. took a short pitch, danced through Pitt's defense and rushed down the sideline for a 68-yard score, but an official blew an early whistle, which nullified the score and made it a 14-yard gain where the whistle was blown.

On the next drive, the Pirates took a 17-14 advantage with the second big touchdown connection between Ditta and Smith and never relinquished the lead.