Louisville Cardinals quarterback Miller Moss (7) pass under pressure by Pittsburgh defensive lineman Nick James (11) during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH — Miller Moss passed for 339 yards and three touchdowns — including two in the fourth quarter — and ran for another as Louisville remained unbeaten by rallying past Pittsburgh 34-27 on Saturday.

The Cardinals (4-0, 1-0 ACC) trailed by 17 points in the first quarter and 10 at halftime but dug their way out behind Moss and a defense that shut out the Panthers (2-2, 0-1) over the final two quarters.

Moss connected with tight end Jaleel Skinner for a 12-yard score to tie it at 27 with 10:49 remaining. Louisville linebacker T.J. Quinn then stepped in front of an Eli Rothstein pass in Pitt territory to give the Cardinals the ball back. It took Moss all of five plays to guide Louisville 30 yards, the last eight coming on a lob to the corner of the end zone to Nate Kurisky that gave the Cardinals their first lead of the day.

QB Quandary?

Holstein completed 14 of 26 for 226 yards with two touchdowns and two picks before being pulled in favor of Cole Gonzales after his second interception set up Louisville’s go-ahead touchdown.

“I think anytime your quarterback throws two picks it gets in his head and we’re playing to win and I wanted to see if we can get a spark,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said.

Gonzales managed to produce one first down but not another, and the Cardinals bled most of the rest of the 2:46 remaining before picking off Gonzales in the waning seconds.

Narduzzi added that Holstein is “still our starting quarterback.”

Pivotal play

The game turned early in the second quarter when Pitt punt returner Kenny Johnson signaled for a fair catch before being run into by Louisville’s Antonio Meeks.

Johnson chased after the kick as it bounded toward the Panther end zone. He touched it but couldn’t control it, and the Cardinals fell on it inside the Pitt five.

Officials initially threw a flag for fair catch interference but picked it up, saying Meeks had been blocked into Johnson.

Asked what exactly happened on that play, Narduzzi paused for several seconds before responding simply, “don’t know.”

Moss then pushed over from 1 yard out to give the reeling Cardinals a needed boost.

Up next

Pitt: hosts Boston College this Saturday.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Louisville 0 17 3 14 — 34

Pittsburgh 17 10 0 0 — 27

First Quarter

PITT–FG Butkowski 30, 11:34.

PITT–Hicks 39 pass from Holstein (Butkowski kick), 9:53.

PITT–Biles 75 interception return (Butkowski kick), 1:41.

Second Quarter

LOU–Moss 1 run (Ranvier kick), 12:32.

LOU–FG Ranvier 35, 5:03.

LOU–Bell 25 pass from Moss (Ranvier kick), 3:42.

PITT–FG Butkowski 37, 1:42.

PITT–R.Williams 38 pass from Holstein (Butkowski kick), :19.

Third Quarter

LOU–FG Keller 57, 11:44.

Fourth Quarter

LOU–Skinner 12 pass from Moss (Ranvier kick), 10:49.

LOU–Kurisky 9 pass from Moss (Ranvier kick), 7:03.

A–45,301.

TEAM STATS LOU PITT

First downs 23 14

Total Net Yards 392 339

Rushes-yards 34-53 23-80

Passing 339 259

Punt Returns 1-6 2–14

Kickoff Returns 2-35 3-52

Interceptions Ret. 3-0 1-75

Comp-Att-Int 33-51-1 17-32-3

Sacked-Yards Lost 2-20 2-8

Punts 6-36.0 3-45.333

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-2

Penalties-Yards 9-92 6-38

Time of Possession 39:22 20:38

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Louisville, Watson 14-47, I.Brown 14-20, Lacy 1-2, (Team) 1-(minus 1), Moss 4-(minus 15). Pittsburgh, Turner 6-36, Goff 7-32, Holstein 7-19, J.Williams 1-0, Gonzales 1-(minus 1), Junko 1-(minus 6).

PASSING–Louisville, Moss 33-51-1-339. Pittsburgh, Holstein 14-26-2-228, Gonzales 3-6-1-31.

RECEIVING–Louisville, Bell 10-135, Lacy 8-95, Kurisky 4-31, I.Brown 4-16, Skinner 3-25, Meeks 2-26, Hurry 1-8, Watson 1-3. Pittsburgh, Hicks 4-113, R.Williams 4-57, Johnson 3-51, J.Holmes 2-17, Goff 2-12, Thomas 1-11, Spann 1-(minus 2).

MISSED FIELD GOALS–Louisville, Keller 56.