Just one week after their first loss of the season–a 48-25 road shellacking by the Mustangs–the Panthers were looking to get back on the horse against a Virginia program that arrived at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh on Saturday night with a 4-4 record.

Pitt came into the game with a 7-1 overall record and a 3-1 mark in the ACC. The Panthers didn’t drop out of the top 25 after their loss to SMU; instead, they slipped to 23rd in the latest AP poll. Furthermore, the program was seeded 18th in the first-ever 12-team playoff rankings.

And the best news of all? The undefeated Miami Hurricanes suffered their first loss when they fell to Georgia Tech earlier in the day.

What a golden opportunity for the Panthers. How did they respond? You guessed it, they Pitted it away by a score of 24-19 before a shocked home crowd that probably wasn’t as shocked as you may think based on the program’s history since the day Dan Marino threw the game-winning touchdown pass in the final seconds of the 1982 Sugar Bowl.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Cavaliers jumped out to a 7-0 lead early in the second period on a one-yard touchdown run by running back Xavier Brown.

The Panthers tied the game two possessions later on a 12-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown by Daniel Carter.

Following an interception by linebacker Kyle Louis on the Cavaliers’ next series, Pitt took its first lead of the day on a 44-yard field goal by kicker Ben Sauls with just under two minutes left in the first half. The Panthers’ defense quickly forced a three-and-out, and the offense parlayed that into another field goal by Sauls with just eight seconds remaining in the second quarter, as the home team headed to the locker room with a 13-7 advantage.

The Panthers had survived Virginia’s early momentum and had a lot of their own heading into the second half. How would they respond? Pitt’s defense forced consecutive three-and-outs to start the third period, while the offense got rolling midway through the period and had a first and 10 at the Cavaliers’ 33 following a five-yard run by quarterback Eli Holstein, along with a 15-yard penalty for targeting. Unfortunately for the Panthers, Holstein suffered a head injury during the play and was forced to leave the game. Nate Yarnell came on to play quarterback, but the drive quickly stalled at the Virginia 27. A 45-yard field goal attempt by Sauls was blocked, and this seemed to take the air out of the Panthers and give new life to the visitors.

Virginia quickly drove 73 yards on five plays and took a 14-13 lead on a 24-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Anthony Colandrea to Brown with 5:39 left in the third quarter.

Jonas Sanker intercepted Yarnell on Pitt’s next offensive play and returned it 45 yards to the 20. Four plays later, running back Kobe Pace scored on a three-yard touchdown run to give the Cavaliers a 21-13 lead.

The two teams then traded punts to finish out the third quarter before the Panthers embarked on a 12-play, 86-yard drive early in the final period that ended with a four-yard touchdown pass from Yarnell to tight end Gavin Bartholomew to make it 21-19 with 10:32 left in regulation. Pitt then went for two and failed.

Pitt’s defense needed to step up big and quickly get the ball back for the offense. Instead, the Cavaliers went on a 16-play drive that covered 60 yards and ate up 8:26 of the clock. The drive ultimately stalled at the Panthers 15, but Will Bettridge kicked a 32-yard field goal to make it 24-19 with a little over two minutes left.

Did the Panthers have another magical finish in them? Obviously not. Instead, a deep pass from Yarnell was intercepted by Correy Thomas with 1:42 remaining, and that was pretty much that.

The Panthers are now 7-2 and 3-2 in conference play. I suppose there is an outside chance they can still play in the ACC title game, but they would have to run the table and hope that Miami collapses. The good news is that Pitt gets a shot at a 7-2 Clemson team that will arrive at Acrisure Stadium next Saturday with a 6-1 mark in the ACC. The bad news is the Panthers may be without Holstein, who completed just 10 of 23 passes for 121 yards before suffering the head injury. Receiver Konata Mumpfield also exited the contest with a head injury, and his status for next week’s game remains unclear.

While the odds of the Panthers playing in the ACC Championship Game and earning a spot in the 12-team playoff are long, they still have much to play for–including a 10-win regular season and a decent bowl berth.

But the odds of achieving so much more seemed higher just two weeks ago.