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Pitt snaps UCF’s 27-game regular season win streak on beautiful trick play

Teddy Rydquist

By Teddy Rydquist

Published:

Squandering a 21-0 second quarter lead, the Pitt Panthers came back to defeat the No. 15 UCF Knights, 35-34, on Saturday at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

Shades of Nick Foles, junior quarterback Kenny Pickett caught the game-winning touchdown pass from senior wide receiver Aaron Mathews on a trick play on 4th & 3 from the four-yard line with 56 seconds left.

Yahoo Sports College Football (@YahooSportsCFB) shared a GIF of the play:

In addition to his victory-sealing reception, Pickett threw a touchdown pass to senior Maurice Ffrench in the second quarter. Completing 25-of-47 passes, he finished with 224 yards.

Freshman left-hander Dillon Gabriel threw for 338 yards and two scores for the Knights. On the receiving end of both touchdown tosses, junior Gabriel Davis caught 10 passes for 151 yards.

25-1 over the last two seasons, Saturday was the first regular-season loss for UCF since November 26, 2016, vs. USF in Tampa. The Knights (3-1) will look to rebound vs. UConn (1-2) on Saturday (7:00 PM ET, ESPN2).

Improving to 2-2 with the win, Narduzzi and the Panthers host Delaware on Saturday at 12:30 PM ET.

Teddy Rydquist

A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Rydquist has been contributing to Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition since 2019. He can be found on Twitter @TeddyRydquist.