Pitt hasn’t won a NY6 bowl game in 14,609 days (and counting)

Pitt hasn’t won a New Years Six bowl game in 14,609 days. And counting.

This year’s Peach Bowl paired up one of Penn State’s former longtime rivals (Pitt) against its forced Big Ten rival (Michigan State). And although both teams were playing without their best offensive players, the game generated plenty of drama coming down the stretch. But a late pick-six by the Spartans ensured Pitt’s long search for a victory in a New Years Six bowl game will continue for at least another season.

For those keeping score at home, it has now been a mere 14,609 days since Pitt’s last victory in a bowl game that is today recognized as a New Years Six bowl game (Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl, and the Peach Bowl). You can say a lot has happened since Pitt last celebrated a major bowl victory, but the Panthers will always have that 2019 Quick Lane Bowl victory over Eastern Michigan to be proud of.

All joking aside, Pitt did turn in a really good season that was highlighted by the school’s first ACC football championship with a Heisman Trophy finalist at quarterback in Kenny Pickett. Unfortunately for the Panthers, Pickett opted out of the bowl game, because why bother playing one more game against one of the nation’s worst passing defenses when you can sit safely in the comfort of the coach’s box?

Pickett not playing was a downer for Pat Narduzzi and the Panthers, but things only got worse when Pitt had to play the majority of the game with a third-string quarterback. Davis Beville played admirably given the situation, but his interception on a potential game-winning drive at the end of the game landed in the hands of a Spartans defender, who put the game away with a defensive touchdown in the victory.

We’ll see where the Pitt program goes from here after an otherwise brilliant season in western Pennsylvania. Is this a growing cause for concern for Penn State? Or was this a flash in the pan for the Panthers in a year when Clemson was down? Only time will tell.

As for Michigan State? The Spartans just completed a massive rebound after a dismal 2020 campaign. The Spartans won 11 games, including their regular season finale at home against Penn State, and head coach Mel Tucker appears to have re-established Michigan State as a team nobody wants to play.

Well, except for Kenny Pickett.

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