What could be worse than getting off to a 7-0 start before losing the final five games of your regular season and then accepting a bid to play Toledo in the GameAbove Bowl at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan?

How about losing that game?

That was the Panthers’ fate on Thursday, as they lost to Toledo, 48-46, in six overtimes.

Eli Holstein was ruled out as the starting quarterback with a lingering leg injury. Since Nate Yarnell entered the transfer portal, that meant that freshman Julian Dugger got the start behind center.

How did he do?

He was okay. He completed seven of 13 passes for 72 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

Pitt lost to the Rockets mainly because its defense was shredded for 416 yards despite only being on the field for 23:48 of action.

OK, so Toledo did score when Braden Awles intercepted a pass and returned it 42 yards to give his team a 20-12 advantage midway through the first half.

The Rockets scored a second defensive touchdown halfway through the final period when Darius Alexander returned a Dugger interception 58 yards for a score to cut Pitt’s 30-20 advantage to just three points.

Maybe it wasn’t just the defense. I guess you could say it was a total team effort.

The biggest story of the day for the Panthers on offense was running back Desmond Reid, who carried 32 times for 165 yards and a touchdown. Reid was dealing with some injuries down the stretch of the regular season, so it was good to see such a dynamic and explosive weapon back on the field for Pitt. Also, Reid is a junior, meaning he has some eligibility left. The fact that he played in such a meaningless bowl is evidence that he likely won’t enter the transfer portal, and he surely isn’t thinking about declaring for the 2025 NFL Draft.

Other than Reid, what positive notes could one take from the Panthers’ overtime loss to an underwhelming Toledo squad in an underwhelming bowl game in Detroit on the day after Christmas?

None, that is the answer.

There is nothing good to say about the end of Pitt’s season. As I’ve said many times in this space already, what started out as the most magical of seasons–the likes of which fans hadn’t seen since the days of Tony Dorsett and then Dan Marino–turned into one of the most devastating endings imaginable.

This feels worse than the time Pitt blew a huge lead to Cincinnati at Heinz Field back in 2009 and lost out on the Big East title AND a trip to a BCS bowl game.

Hey, at least the Panthers won their consolation bowl prize weeks later–they actually defeated North Carolina in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

Dave Wannstedt, Pitt’s head coach at the time, immediately proclaimed “We’re back!” while talking to a reporter on the field after the game. Wanny was wrong, but at least he had a reason to be optimistic heading into 2010.

What does current head coach Pat Narduzzi have to be positive about heading into 2025?

If Narduzzi would have dejectedly said, “We’re back to Pitting” after Thursday’s loss, that would have been fitting.