The 2016 Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh football game was a regular-season

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game between the Syracuse Orange and the Pittsburgh Panthers, played on November 26, 2016 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The game held the record for the most combined points scored in an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) regulation game with 137 total points, breaking the previous record (136 points, set in a 2007 game played between Navy and North Texas) by a single point. The record was broken on November 5, 2022 when the SMU Mustangs defeated the

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77–63 for a combined 140 points.

Before the game

Syracuse

With first-year head coach Dino Babers in command, the Syracuse Orange entered their final game of 2016 with a record of 4–7, 2–5 in ACC play. The Orange had experienced ups and downs throughout the 2016 season, with peaks including wins against seventeenth-ranked Virginia Tech and rival

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a week later. However, the lows of the season tended to outweigh the highs, as the Orange defense had allowed at least 20 points in all but two games, and the team had suffered blowout losses at the hands of nationally-ranked Louisville (No. 13), Clemson (No. 3), and Florida State (No. 17). The aforementioned loss to Florida State was Syracuse's seventh of the season, which put a bowl game out of reach coming into their final game.

Pittsburgh

Under second-year head coach Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh entered this game 7–4, 4–3 in ACC play, having clinched a bowl game berth the week prior. The Panthers entered their final regular-season with a few very impressive wins on their schedule, namely an early-season win against eventual Big Ten champions

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and a road win against eventual national champions Clemson. These two victories proved to be the only two against ranked opponents, however, as they lost at home to No. 25 Virginia Tech on October 27. The Panthers offense had been doing its job throughout the 2016 season, scoring no less than 28 points in each of their previous 11 contests.

Rivalry series

Coming into the game, the Pitt–Syracuse series stood 37–31 in favor of Pitt, with three ties; previously, the highest-scoring meeting in the series was a 45–28 Syracuse win in 1998, totaling 73 points. Pittsburgh had won the last three matchups; furthermore, Syracuse's last victory in Pittsburgh against the Panthers came in 2001, as their two victories in the series since then had come in

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Game summary

Game information

Scoring summary

Game statistics

Team statistics

, Pittsburgh , - , style="text-align:left;", First Downs , , 38 , , 20 , - , style="text-align:left;", Rushing , , 14 , , 12 , - , style="text-align:left;", Passing , , 21 , , 7 , - , style="text-align:left;", Penalty , , 3 , , 1 , - , style="text-align:left;", Total Offense , , 668 , , 644 , - , style="text-align:left;", Rushing , , 228 , , 393 , - , style="text-align:left;", Passing , , 440 , , 251 , - , style="text-align:left;", Rushing Att–TD (Avg.) , , 45–4 (5.1) , , 40–6 (9.8) , - , style="text-align:left;", Passing Comp/Att (TD–Int) , , 43/61 (5–1) , , 9/19 (4–1) , - , style="text-align:left;", Fumbles–Lost , , 0–0 , , 1–1 , - , style="text-align:left;", Penalties–Yards , , 7–50 , , 7–64 , - , style="text-align:left;", Punts–Yards , , 6–268 , , 3–129 , - , style="text-align:left;", Avg per Punt , , 44.7 , , 43 , - , style="text-align:left;", Time of Possession , , 35:42 , , 24:18 , - , style="text-align:left;", 3rd Down Conversions , , 9/20 , , 7/11 , - , style="text-align:left;", 4th Down Conversions , , 4/4 , , 0/0 , - , style="text-align:left;", PATs–Attempts , , 7–9 , , 10–11 , - , style="text-align:left;", Field Goals–Attempts (Long) , , 0–0 , , 0–0

Game leaders

Aftermath

This game was Syracuse's last of the season, as they finished the 2016 campaign with a 4–8 record. Pittsburgh improved to 8–4 and accepted an invitation to the

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at Yankee Stadium. The Panthers were favored by five, but lost to Northwestern, 31–24 and finished their season with a record of 8–5.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh football game 2016 2016 Atlantic Coast Conference football season vs. Syracuse 2016 vs. Pittsburgh 2016 2016 in sports in Pennsylvania November 2016 sports events in the United States