Navy Beats Pittsburgh with Game-Winning Kick, 24-21

Navy Beats Pittsburgh with Game-Winning Kick, 24-21

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - A 30-yard field-goal by Nick Sloan as time expired gave Navy a 24-21 victory over Pittsburgh on Saturday.

The Midshipmen (4-3) snapped a two-game losing streak and need just two wins to become eligible for a bowl game.

Navy finally got into a rhythm in the second half and put together their most impressive drive of the game to take a 14-13 lead with 14:28 left in the game.

Reserve fullback Quinton Singleton's 9-yard scoring run capped the 16-play, 91-yard scoring drive that took 8:15 off the clock. The teams traded touchdowns in the fourth quarter before Sloan kicked the game-winner.

Tom Savage completed 20 of 27 pass attempts for 203 yards and two touchdowns for Pitt (4-3).

Pittsburgh's Devin Street caught nine passes for 96 yards with a touchdown and became the school's all-time leading receiver. Street now has 186 career receptions, surpassing Latef Grim, who had 178.

Trailing 14-13 midway through the fourth quarter, Savage threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to freshman Tyler Boyd to give the Panthers a 20-14 lead. Street then caught a short pass for the 2-point conversion.

Navy responded on the ensuing possession and tied the game on a 10-play, 71-yard drive capped by a 2-yard run by quarterback Keenan Reynolds with 3:53 left in the game.

The Midshipmen then forced a 3-and-out on the Panthers' next possession and got the ball at Pitt's 49. Navy ran 11 plays to set up Sloan's game-winning kick.

Pitt opened a 3-0 lead on its first drive on a 25-yard field goal by Chris Blewitt on a 16-play, 68 yard drive that took 7:32 off the clock. After Don Pearson recovered a fumble by James Conner to open the second quarter, Navy took the lead on a pass from Reynolds that deflected off Geoffrey Whiteside and was caught by senior Marcus Thomas, who ran 58 yards for first career touchdown.

Another 44-yard field goal by Blewitt pulled Pitt to within 7-6 with 9:23 left in the half. The Panthers then took a 13-7 lead eight minutes later on a 12-yard pass from Tom Savage to Street.

The Panthers completely dominated the first half and held the edge in total plays (44-22), time of possession (22:07-7:53) and yardage (252-135).

Navy entered the game ranked sixth in the nation with 304.2 rushing yards per game, and managed 220 against the Panthers. 

                            Team Statistics (Final)

                               2013 Navy Football

                 Pitt vs Navy (Oct 26, 2013 at Annapolis, Md.)

                                     UP     NAVY

FIRST DOWNS...................       18       20

  Rushing.....................        8       16

  Passing.....................        9        3

  Penalty.....................        1        1

NET YARDS RUSHING.............      135      220

  Rushing Attempts............       38       47

  Average Per Rush............      3.6      4.7

  Rushing Touchdowns..........        0        2

  Yards Gained Rushing........      148      234

  Yards Lost Rushing..........       13       14

NET YARDS PASSING.............      203      105

  Completions-Attempts-Int....  20-27-0   8-18-1

  Average Per Attempt.........      7.5      5.8

  Average Per Completion......     10.1     13.1

  Passing Touchdowns..........        2        1

TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS...........      338      325

  Total offense plays.........       65       65

  Average Gain Per Play.......      5.2      5.0

Fumbles: Number-Lost..........      1-1      1-0

Penalties: Number-Yards.......     7-45     4-27

PUNTS-YARDS...................    4-141    5-184

  Average Yards Per Punt......     35.2     36.8

  Net Yards Per Punt..........     34.8     36.8

  Inside 20...................        2        1

  50+ Yards...................        0        0

  Touchbacks..................        0        0

  Fair catch..................        0        3

KICKOFFS-YARDS................    5-278    4-251

  Average Yards Per Kickoff...     55.6     62.8

  Net Yards Per Kickoff.......     36.4     40.5

  Touchbacks..................        2        3

Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD.    0-0-0    2-2-0

  Average Per Return..........      0.0      1.0

Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD   1-14-0   3-46-0

  Average Per Return..........     14.0     15.3

Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD..    1-0-0    0-0-0

Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD.    0-0-0    0-0-0

Miscellaneous Yards...........        0        0

Possession Time...............    34:06    25:54

  1st Quarter.................    11:25     3:35

  2nd Quarter.................    10:53     4:07

  3rd Quarter.................     3:52    11:08

  4th Quarter.................     7:56     7:04

Third-Down Conversions........  7 of 14  6 of 12

Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 0   1 of 1

Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      3-3      3-3

  Touchdowns..................      2-3      2-3

  Field goals.................      1-3      1-3

Sacks By: Number-Yards........     1-10      1-7

PAT Kicks.....................      1-1      3-3

Field Goals...................      2-2      1-1