Orndoff’s game-changing TD sparks Pitt comeback
Pitt tight end Scott Orndoff, a Waynesburg native, catches a 74-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter against Georgia Tech Saturday at Heinz Field.
Pitt wide receiver Quadree Henderson, center, is congratulated by teammates after scoring a first-half touchdown.
PITTSBURGH – On Saturday afternoon, Scott Orndoff stayed ready.
The senior tight end, like any player, has had to regularly do as much over his career at Pitt. But this time, the Waynesburg native had just one reception for 12 yards through the first 56 minutes of the Panthers’ 37-34 win over Georgia Tech.
The Yellow Jackets had taken their first lead, 34-27, with 5:22 left in the game. A couple minutes later, Pitt quarterback Nathan Peterman made eye contact with the 6-5, 255-pound Orndoff as the latter streaked downfield. Peterman launched a pass that a Yellow Jackets defensive back nearly broke up, only to have the ball deflect off his hand and right into the midstride path of Orndoff at the Georgia Tech 45 yard-line. Orndoff collected the carom and continued into the end zone.
“I didn’t see him come in,” Orndoff said. “Just lucky that when he tipped it, it tipped back towards me.”
Orndoff’s quick reactions, and the resulting extra-point by kicker Chris Blewitt, tied the contest at 34 with 3:50 remaining. It was the longest Pitt scoring pass since 2012.
“A big-time play when we needed it,” said Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi. “You want to jump out of your shoes.”
Two additional clutch plays later – a Pitt defensive stop on fourth-and-one in Georgia Tech territory on the subsequent drive and a field goal that bounced off the post and through the uprights with no time remaining – would wrest control of the game back to the Panthers for a three-point win.
“We fought and clawed our way back into it,” said Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson. “And then they score on a tipped pass.”
Georgia Tech (1-3 ACC, 3-3) was 2-for-3 on fourth down until failing to convert on its final drive. The Yellow Jackets punted just once. Pitt also punted once and succeeded the one time it went for a fourth-down conversion. Though their biggest lead all-game was only 11 points in the second quarter, the Panthers (1-1, 4-2) led for almost 51 minutes.
Orndoff finished with five targets and two catches for a game-high 86 receiving yards, including the 74-yard touchdown. He said Pitt doesn’t regularly practice catching deflected passes, but the coaching staff preaches maintaining focus for the whole time a ball is live in case anything happens.
“If the ball’s in the air, it’s ours to get,” Orndoff said. “We expect to come down with it.”
His first catch came late in the third quarter. Despite having the ball in his hands only one time prior to his game-changing play, Orndoff said he didn’t enter that drive discouraged.
“If you don’t do your job, you’re going to let your team down,” he said. “When it comes down to crunch time like that, no matter what the call is, what your assignment is, you’ve got to focus in a little bit more.”
Peterman felt like his teammate did that well.
“I told him that I’m still in awe of it,” Peterman said.
Senior kicker Chris Blewitt became Pitt’s all-time leader in field goals with 51 when he made his second of the game early in the fourth quarter. His game-winner was the 52nd. The previous record holder was Conor Lee (2006-08), who made 50. … Junior cornerback Avonte Maddox left the game in the second quarter and didn’t return. Pitt led 21-20 at halftime and scored the first points of the game when offensive lineman Brian O’Neil caught a lateral behind the line of scrimmage and ran 24 yards into the end zone.