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Most Important College Football Game for Each Top 25 Team During 2016 Season

By Zach Bigalke

Sep 17, 2016; Oxford, MS, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide running back Bo Scarbrough (9) moves past Mississippi Rebels linebacker DeMarquis Gates (3) during the fourth quarter of the game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Alabama won 48-43. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 17, 2016; Oxford, MS, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide running back Bo Scarbrough (9) moves past Mississippi Rebels linebacker DeMarquis Gates (3) during the fourth quarter of the game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Alabama won 48-43. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 12, 2016; Clemson, SC, USA; Clemson Tigers linebacker Dorian O'Daniel (6) attempts to bring down Pittsburgh Panthers running back James Conner (24) during the second half at Clemson Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 12, 2016; Clemson, SC, USA; Clemson Tigers linebacker Dorian O’Daniel (6) attempts to bring down Pittsburgh Panthers running back James Conner (24) during the second half at Clemson Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports /

23. Pittsburgh Comeback Stuns Clemson 43-42 (Nov. 12)

Pittsburgh had already knocked off one conference winner when they took down Penn State at home in non-conference play in September. They nearly defeated another team that contended for a Power Five crown when they narrowly lost to Oklahoma State in Stillwater. Yet few people gave the Panthers any shot of taking down Clemson in South Carolina on the second weekend of November. Pitt, coming off losses to Virginia Tech and Miami, entered the game as a 22-point underdog against the College Football Playoff contender.

Instead, Pat Narduzzi’s squad scored the first point and the last points en route to dealing Clemson its only loss so far this season. Nathan Peterman threw for 308 yards and five touchdowns, James Conner rushed for 132 yards and a score, and Pitt held the Tigers to just 2.0 yards per carry and 50 total rushing yards. Late in the third quarter, Wayne Gallman’s third short-yardage TD run of the day put Clemson up 42-34. Conner scored his touchdown with 5:17 remaining, but a failed two-point conversion nearly derailed the comeback attempt. But the defense held to get the Panthers offense one last chance with 58 seconds remaining.

Peterman ran for nine yards before completing passes of 21 and four. Two incompletions later, Chris Blewitt was launching a 48-yard attempt with six ticks on the clock:

The win gave Pitt a second win over teams ranked in the top five of the final College Football Playoff Top 25. Though they didn’t make it into the Top 25 themselves until after Thanksgiving weekend games, there was no way the selectors could possibly leave the Panthers off their final list because of their high-impact wins.

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