Pittsburgh 34, Georgia Tech 11: Ferguson's 185 rushing yards wear down the Jackets
Damon Ferguson Jr. ran 31 times for 185 yards and two scores as Pittsburgh beat Georgia Tech 34-11, covered 9.5 and stayed under the total.
Pittsburgh won this game on the ground. The Panthers ran for 281 yards against Georgia Tech at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday, and Damon Ferguson Jr. accounted for 185 of them on 31 carries, with two touchdowns. The 34-11 win ends a three-game Pittsburgh losing run and moves the Panthers to 6-3.
Georgia Tech, now 2-6, never found a way to stay on the field. The Yellow Jackets converted 3 of 18 third downs and finished with 238 total yards to Pittsburgh's 461.
How it was won
A. Chadha opened the scoring with a 45-yard field goal at 7:31 of the first quarter. Pittsburgh then scored on the first play of the second quarter, Ferguson going in from 3 yards at 14:45 to make it 10-0.
La'Vell Wright added a 1-yard touchdown run at 3:11 before half. Georgia Tech's only first-half points came from A. Birr, who hit a 49-yard field goal with three seconds left to send the teams in at 17-3.
The third quarter produced one score, a 23-yard Chadha field goal with eight seconds remaining, for a 20-3 lead. Holden Geriner then found Cataurus Hicks for a 30-yard touchdown at 11:20 of the fourth.
Georgia Tech answered at 6:36 when Grady Adamson ran 18 yards for a touchdown and then ran in the two-point conversion, cutting it to 27-11. Pittsburgh closed it out with Ferguson's 1-yard touchdown at 3:28.
The box score shows the shape of it. Pittsburgh held the ball for 34:21, ran up 26 first downs to 17, and went 6 of 17 on third down. Wright added 52 yards on 13 carries behind Ferguson.
Geriner was uneven through the air, completing 13 of 30 for 180 yards and the one touchdown. Censere Lee led the receivers with 56 yards on three catches; Hicks had 49 on three. The Panthers also turned it over three times, which kept the margin from being wider than it was.
Georgia Tech could not take advantage, losing two turnovers of its own. Alberto Mendoza completed 16 of 25 passes but for only 81 yards and no touchdowns, and the team's 143 passing yards produced few big plays. Gavin Harris caught three passes for 41 yards and Jordan Allen four for 26.
Adamson was the most effective runner for the Jackets, with 63 yards on six carries. Justice Haynes carried 11 times for 33.
Against the number
Pittsburgh closed at -9.5 and won by 23, a comfortable cover for the favorite. Once the Panthers led 17-3 at half, Georgia Tech never got within one score of making the spread close.
The total closed at 54.5 and the teams combined for 45, so the under came in by 9.5 points. Pittsburgh's three turnovers and two field goals inside the red-zone range of the game helped keep the scoring down.
On the moneyline, Pittsburgh closed at -340 and Georgia Tech at +270. The full closing prices are on the game page.
What's next
Georgia Tech has lost three straight since beating Duke 28-25, falling to Virginia Tech, Boston College and now Pittsburgh. The Yellow Jackets host Louisville on Saturday, November 7, on ACC Network.
Pittsburgh gets a week off before hosting Florida State on Friday, November 13, on ESPN. The Panthers came into this game off losses to North Carolina, Boston College and No. 1 Miami, the last a 52-23 defeat, so a 23-point home win with this much rushing production is a useful reset before the stretch run.
