Damon Ferguson Jr. rushed for a career-high 102 yards and scored a touchdown for the third straight game as Pittsburgh dominated on the ground and earned a 27-13 victory over visiting Syracuse on Thursday night.
Filling in for Ja’Kyrian Turner for the second straight week, the freshman had his first career 100-yard rushing game after he gained 59 yards last week in a win over UCF.
The Panthers earned their 12th straight home victory over Syracuse and beat the Orange for the 21st time in the past 25 meetings.
Ferguson finished with 10 carries. His 32-yard run down the right sideline with 12:38 left in the second quarter gave the Panthers (3-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) a 14-0 lead two plays after Syracuse was called for pass interference and unsportsmanlike conduct.
Ferguson also had a 33-yard run in the third quarter that set up quarterback Mason Heintschel’s 9-yard TD that gave the Panthers a 24-10 lead after the extra point.
Pitt’s La’Vell Wright added 81 yards on 14 carries. His 2-yard TD opened the scoring with 3:16 left in the first quarter shortly after a penalty on Syracuse kept the drive alive.
Heintschel completed 10 of 23 passes for 123 yards and contributed 41 rushing yards. Teammate Antonio Chadha had a 42-yard field goal in the second quarter and a 34-yarder in the fourth.
The Panthers totaled 245 yards on the ground as coach Pat Narduzzi was on the sidelines for his 144th game, surpassing Jock Sutherland (1924-38) for the most in school history.
Syracuse (1-2, 0-2) allowed the game’s first 17 points. The Orange wound up committing 10 penalties for 94 yards after committing 14 penalties in a loss to Cal last week.
Orange quarterback Steve Angeli completed 13 of 25 passes for 161 yards but threw two interceptions and faded after completing nine of his first 11 attempts. He was replaced by Amari Odom with 8:09 left, and the Kennesaw State transfer completed all seven of his passes for 44 yards.
Ahmad Miller led the Orange with 78 rushing yards, including a 2-yard TD with 3:28 left in the second quarter. Shay Barker made a 42-yarder and a 30-yarder for his first two career field goals after Tripp Woody’s 29-yard try sailed well wide early in the second quarter.
–Field Level Media
