Oct. 17, 2015
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | USATSI Photo Gallery | GT Photo Gallery
| PITTSBURGH (5-1, 3-0) 31, GEORGIA TECH (2-5, 0-4) 28 SATURDAY, OCT. 17 ● ATLANTA ● BOBBY DODD STADIUM (46,208) FINAL STATS | QUOTES | NOTES | POSTGAME AUDIO | GT PHOTOS | USATSI PHOTOS |
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech freshman running back Marcus Marshall rushed for 159 yards and two scores, but Pittsburgh’s 56-yard field goal with 1:11 left was the difference maker in a 31-28 Yellow Jackets loss.
The game was a back-and-forth contest with neither team leading by more than seven points. Pitt (5-1, 3-0) improved to 3-0 in league play, while the loss dropped the Jackets to 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the ACC.
Pitt’s Nate Peterman connected with J.P. Holtz for a 6-yard TD that put the Panthers up 28-21 late in the third, their first lead since Boyd’s 6-yard catch made it 7-0 early in the first.
Pitt’s defense, which began the day seventh in the nation in yards allowed, gave up a staggering 337 yards in the first half, but the Panthers recovered to hold Georgia Tech’s potent rushing attack to just 112 yards rushing in the second half.
Georgia Tech’s Marcus Marshall broke off a 58-yard touchdown run to make it 7-all in the first quarter, and quarterback Justin Thomas had runs of 51 and 45 yards to set up two other TDs.
The Panthers kept the score tied 21-all at the end of the second quarter when Khaynin Mosley-Smith blocked Harrison Butker’s 50-yard field-goal attempt.
Marshall, who added a 7-run TD run to make 28-all early in the fourth, had 159 yards rushing on 10 carries. Thomas had 95 yards rushing and was 6 of 15 for 106 yards and a touchdown.
It was Marshall’s second 100-yard game of the season; he rushed for a career-high 186 yards in his debut Sept. 3 vs. Alcorn State. Junior QB Justin Thomas eclipsed the century mark in the first half before finishing with 95 rushing yards on 14 carries.
POSTGAME AUDIO
Head Coach Paul Johnson | LB Tyler Marcordes & BB Marcus Marshall
