Football

Noting the 2021 Subway ACC Football Championship Game

Postgame Notes - 2021 Subway ACC Football Championship Game
Pitt 45, Wake Forest 21

• Pitt captured its first ACC football championship since joining the conference in 2013.
 
• The Panthers and Demon Deacons are both 1-1 in ACC Football Championship Game appearances.
 
• The Panthers won their third overall conference championship after claiming a share of the Big East Conference title in both 2004 and 2010.
 
• Pitt became the first Coastal Division team to win the ACC Football Championship Game since Virginia Tech’s 44-33 win over Florida State in 2010.
 
• The Panthers are also the first team other than Clemson or Florida State to win the ACC Football Championship Game since 2010.
 
• The 58-yard touchdown run by Pitt QB Kenny Pickett in the game’s opening minutes was the second-longest rush from scrimmage in ACC Football Championship Game history, and the longest by a quarterback. Clemson RB Travis Etienne set the record with a 78-yard run versus Pitt in 2018.
 
• Pickett’s two touchdown passes versus the Demon Deacons give him a Pitt-record 81 for his career. Pickett entered the game tied for school the record with Hall of Famer Dan Marino, who threw for 79 touchdowns from 1979-82 and was honored this weekend as an ACC Legend.
 
•  Pickett’s two touchdown passes on Saturday night also gave him an ACC-record 42 for the current season, breaking former Clemson All-American Deshaun Watson’s ACC single-season record of 41  set in 2016.
 
• In addition to the four interceptions, the Panthers limited Wake Forest to 74 yards in the second half and 295 for the game. Pitt shut out the Demon Demons in the final two quarters and finished the game with five quarterback sacks. The Panthers’ 3.83 sacks per game during the regular season led the ACC and ranked second nationally.
 
• The two interceptions by Pitt junior FS Erick Hallett II gave him three for the season and five for his career. Hallett first interception set up the Panthers’ fourth touchdown of the game, and he scored Pitt’s sixth TD of the night when he returned his second interception 19 yards early in the fourth quarter. Hallett was voted the Subway ACC Football Championship Game MVP.
 
• The 73-yard interception return by junior CB A.J. Woods that set up Pitt’s fifth touchdown was the longest in ACC Football Championship Game history, eclipsing the 64-yard return by Clemson’s Bashaud Breeland versus Virginia Tech in 2011.
 
• The 39-yard punt return by Pitt’s Jordan Addison in the second quarter was the second-longest in Subway ACC Football Championship Game history. Florida State’s Willie Reid set the record with an 83-yard return versus Virginia Tech during the inaugural ACC Championship Game at Jacksonville, Fla., in 2005.
 
• Addison finished the night with eight receptions for 126 yards. It marked his seventh 100-yard receiving game of the season and ninth of his career. Addison’s 1,479  receiving yards in 2021 rank second in Pitt single-season history behind Larry Fitzgerald’s 1,672 in 2003.
 
• Addison’s seven 100-yard games are tied for the second-most in a season by a Pitt player (Jon Baldwin, 2009; Antonio Bryant, 2000). Fitzgerald holds the single-season record for 100-yard receiving games with 10 in 2003.
 
• Each of Pitt’s first four touchdown drives on Saturday night required less than 90 seconds in time of possession – 1:18 (75 yards), 1:11 (75 yards), 1:21 (32 yards) and 1:20 (45 yards).
 
• Ironically, Pitt’s longest touchdown drive in terms of possession time – 1:29 on Pitt’s final touchdown following Woods’ interception in the fourth quarter – covered only three yards.
 
• After allowing Wake Forest to score touchdowns on each of its first three possessions of the game, the Panthers stopped the Demon Deacons on each of their final 13 drives. In addition to recording a championship game-record four interceptions, Pitt forced the Demon Deacons to punt eight times and turn the ball over on downs once.
 
• The touchdown reception by Wake Forest WR A.T. Perry at the 10:48 mark in the first quarter was his 14th of 2021, adding to the school single-season record he already held heading into tonight’s game.
 
• The rushing touchdown by Wake Forest QB Sam Hartman with 6:31 left in the first quarter was his 11th of the year, second-most all-time by a Demon Deacon quarterback in a single season. Larry Russell set the school QB record with 15 rushing touchdowns in 1971.
 
• Hartman’s second touchdown pass of Saturday night’s game was the 69th of his career, extending his career school record and tying for 10th place on the ACC’s all-time list.
 
• Hartman’s 213 yards passing on Saturday night moved him up to second place on the all-time Wake Forest list with 8,962 career yards. Riley Skinner (2006-09) holds the school record with 9,762 yards.