The Pitt-Marshall Turning Point: Weah’s Grab

Look, I’m not going to lie to you. With my faithful co-worker, on this site, Corey Cohen, standing next to me in a bar in Philadelphia, we both wanted the same thing on Pitt’s crucial third down late in the game - to run the ball. There was a little over one minute remaining in Pitt’s game against Marshall. With the Panthers clinging to a three-point lead and the Herd out of timeouts, we both kept saying, just run the ball and make it as tough as possible on Marshall.

That’s right ... the same people that have been asking the coaching staff to try and trust the passing game in a clutch situation was now begging them to run the ball. It made sense. Even if they didn’t convert, Marshall would have had very little time left and a long way to go for a score. Even with Pitt’s secondary, our confidence was high.

Instead, with a third-and-three situation, from their own 46-yard line, Pat Narduzzi and Matt Canada let Nathan Peterman put it up. Peterman put up a jump ball to Jester Weah, who was blanketed by Marshall defensive back, Chris Jackson. Weah went up and made the catch and then broke free. 54 yards later and Pitt had sealed the game. Sure, it gave Corey and I a heart attack when Peterman dropped back, but man, did it feel good.

With the score 27-0 at halftime, I didn’t think we would have a turning point happen with a little over a minute left in the game. Thankfully, we were able to select a play that put a smile on Panthers’ fans faces instead of what has happened the last two weeks.

Be sure to join Cardiac Hill's Facebook page and follow us on Twitter@PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics. Follow the author@BrunoPittsburgh