September 1, 2018 Week 1 · Regular Season Belt defended

Pittsburgh defends the belt, 33–7, at home over UAlbany.

Home · Defending Holder

Pittsburgh 33

Away · Challenger

UAlbany 7

AI-Written

Recap

Pittsburgh's defense set the tone early, with Damar Hamlin returning an interception 79 yards just moments after UAlbany's Maurice Ffrench had taken a kickoff back 91 yards for a touchdown. The Panthers scored on four of their first five possessions, with Kenny Pickett leading an efficient offense that accumulated 407 total yards and dominated time of possession at 27:25. Though UAlbany's Vincent Testaverde had some success moving the ball through the air, completing passes to Dev Holmes for touchdowns and consistently finding receivers downfield, Pittsburgh's defense forced three interceptions to control the game. The Panthers' balanced attack, featuring rushing touchdowns from Kenny Pickett and Qadree Ollison alongside Pickett's two touchdown passes to Rafael Araujo-Lopes, overwhelmed the visiting Great Danes in a 33-7 rout that saw Pittsburgh secure the belt.

Maurice Ffrench's 91-yard kickoff return TD for UAlbany gave the visitors an early lead before the momentum shifted
Damar Hamlin's 79-yard interception return that set up Pittsburgh's first scoring drive demonstrated defensive dominance
Kenny Pickett's back-to-back touchdown passes to Rafael Araujo-Lopes in the second quarter (3 yards and 42 yards) put the game out of reach
Three total interceptions by Pittsburgh's defense, including a Q3 interception by Neven Sussman, controlled field position throughout

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

PittsburghUAlbany

Total yards407323

Rushing yards23860

Passing yards169263

First downs2116

3rd down conv.6/95/13

Turnovers22

Penalties–yards6–557–40

Time of possession27:2530:26

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 14:48	UAlbany	+91 yd	Ethan Stark kickoff for 56 yds , Maurice Ffrench return for 91 yds for a TD (Alex Kessman KICK)
Q1 14:48	UAlbany	-79 yd	Vincent Testaverde pass intercepted Damar Hamlin return for 79 yds to the Alban 19
Q1 14:48	UAlbany	+37 yd	Vincent Testaverde pass complete to Jerah Reeves for 37 yds to the Pitt 43 for a 1ST down
Q1 11:03	Pittsburgh	+5 yd	Kenny Pickett run for 5 yds for a TD (Alex Kessman PAT MISSED)
Q1 7:46	Pittsburgh	+20 yd	Qadree Ollison run for 20 yds to the Alban 9 for a 1ST down
Q1 4:42	Pittsburgh	+9 yd	Maurice Ffrench run for 9 yds for a TD (Two-Point Conversion failed )
Q1 4:42	UAlbany	+40 yd	Vincent Testaverde pass complete to Dev Holmes for 40 yds to the Pitt 35 for a 1ST down
Q1 1:45	UAlbany	+9 yd	Vincent Testaverde pass complete to Dev Holmes for 9 yds for a TD (Ethan Stark KICK)
Q1 4:42	UAlbany	+28 yd	Vincent Testaverde pass complete to Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks for 28 yds to the Pitt 5 for a 1ST down
Q1 1:45	Pittsburgh	+26 yd	Kenny Pickett pass complete to Taysir Mack for 26 yds to the Alban 49 for a 1ST down
Q2 10:17	Pittsburgh	+3 yd	Kenny Pickett pass complete to Rafael Araujo-Lopes for 3 yds for a TD (Alex Kessman KICK)
Q2 10:17	UAlbany	+23 yd	Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks run for 23 yds to the Pitt 43 for a 1ST down
Q2 1:08	Pittsburgh	+42 yd	Kenny Pickett pass complete to Rafael Araujo-Lopes for 42 yds for a TD (Alex Kessman KICK)
Q2 1:08	Pittsburgh	+21 yd	Alex Kessman kickoff for 65 yds , Donovan McDonald return for 21 yds to the Alban 21
Q3 15:00	UAlbany	+0 yd	Vincent Testaverde pass intercepted, touchback. Damarri Mathis return for no gain
Q3 10:22	Pittsburgh	+8 yd	Kenny Pickett run for 8 yds to the Alban 48 Kenny Pickett fumbled, forced by Eli Mencer, recovered by Alban Kareem Gibson
Q3 7:43	Pittsburgh	+0 yd	Kenny Pickett pass intercepted Neven Sussman return for no gain to the Alban 19
Q4 8:07	UAlbany	+40 yd	Vincent Testaverde pass complete to Dev Holmes for 40 yds to the Pitt 20 for a 1ST down
Q4 8:07	UAlbany	+20 yd	Vincent Testaverde pass complete to Dev Holmes for 20 yds to the Alban 28 for a 1ST down

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Kenny PickettPittsburgh	16/22	154	7.0	2	1
Ricky TownPittsburgh	1/1	15	15.0	0	0
Vincent TestaverdeUAlbany	18/29	263	9.1	1	2

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Qadree OllisonPittsburgh	7	73	10.4	0	20
A.J. DavisPittsburgh	13	46	3.5	0	14
Kenny PickettPittsburgh	6	42	7.0	1	12
Darrin HallPittsburgh	4	22	5.5	0	12
Shocky Jacques-LouisPittsburgh	3	21	7.0	0	9
Maurice FfrenchPittsburgh	2	17	8.5	1	9
Rafael Araujo-LopesPittsburgh	2	17	8.5	0	12
Elijah Ibitokun-HanksUAlbany	14	57	4.1	0	23
Karl MoforUAlbany	7	22	3.1	0	11
Dev HolmesUAlbany	1	8	8.0	0	8
Jerah ReevesUAlbany	1	6	6.0	0	6
Will BrunsonUAlbany	1	-2	-2.0	0	0
Vincent TestaverdeUAlbany	4	-31	-7.8	0	0

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Rafael Araujo-LopesPittsburgh	3	50	16.7	2	42
Taysir MackPittsburgh	3	44	14.7	0	26
A.J. DavisPittsburgh	2	19	9.5	0	16
Jim MedurePittsburgh	1	15	15.0	0	15
Tre TiptonPittsburgh	2	14	7.0	0	8
Aaron MathewsPittsburgh	1	9	9.0	0	9
George AstonPittsburgh	2	8	4.0	0	6
Maurice FfrenchPittsburgh	1	4	4.0	0	4
Tyler SearPittsburgh	1	3	3.0	0	3
Shocky Jacques-LouisPittsburgh	1	3	3.0	0	3
Dev HolmesUAlbany	9	148	16.4	1	40
Jerah ReevesUAlbany	3	58	19.3	0	37
Elijah Ibitokun-HanksUAlbany	1	28	28.0	0	28
Donovan McDonaldUAlbany	4	26	6.5	0	12
Karl MoforUAlbany	1	3	3.0	0	3

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	TD
Saleem BrightwellPittsburgh	5	3	0	0	0
Jazzee StockerPittsburgh	4	4	0	0	0
Anthony McKee Jr.Pittsburgh	4	3	1	1	0
Dennis BriggsPittsburgh	4	3	0	0	0
Elijah ZeisePittsburgh	4	1	0	0	0
Quintin WirginisPittsburgh	3	3	0	1	0
Damarri MathisPittsburgh	3	3	0	0	0
Keyshon CampPittsburgh	3	2	2	2	0
Rashad WeaverPittsburgh	3	2	1	1	0
Dewayne HendrixPittsburgh	2	2	0	0	0
Bricen GarnerPittsburgh	2	2	0	0	0
Damar HamlinPittsburgh	2	2	0	0	0
Paris FordPittsburgh	2	2	0	0	0
Oluwaseun IdowuPittsburgh	2	1	0	0	0
Therran ColemanPittsburgh	2	1	0	0	0
Deslin AlexandrePittsburgh	2	0	0	0	0
Rashad WheelerPittsburgh	1	1	1	1	0
James Folston Jr.Pittsburgh	1	1	0	0	0
Michael SmithPittsburgh	1	1	0	0	0
Marquis WilliamsPittsburgh	1	1	0	0	0
Chase PinePittsburgh	1	0	0	0	0
Maurice FfrenchPittsburgh	0	0	0	0	1
Levi MethenyUAlbany	13	7	0	0	0
Eli MencerUAlbany	8	5	0	0.5	0
Tyler CarswellUAlbany	7	4	0	0	0
Josh WynnUAlbany	6	3	0	0	0
Kareem GibsonUAlbany	5	2	0	0	0
Danny DamicoUAlbany	3	3	0	0	0
Nick GriffinUAlbany	3	2	0	0	0
Kareem BrownUAlbany	3	2	0	0	0
Brian DolceUAlbany	2	1	0	0	0
Hayden SpechtUAlbany	2	1	0	0	0
Roberto RoenaUAlbany	2	0	0	0.5	0
Jack DudzinskiUAlbany	1	1	0	0	0
Griffin ClancyUAlbany	1	1	0	0	0
Neven SussmanUAlbany	1	1	0	0	0
Ty TobiasUAlbany	1	1	0	0	0
Isaiah WatsonUAlbany	1	1	0	0	0
Dante MountUAlbany	1	1	0	0	0
Nick DillonUAlbany	1	0	0	0	0
Mazon WalkerUAlbany	1	0	0	0	0

Fumbles

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Kenny PickettPittsburgh	1	1	0
Kareem GibsonUAlbany	0	0	1

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS
Damar HamlinPittsburgh	1	79
Damarri MathisPittsburgh	1	0
Neven SussmanUAlbany	1	0

Kick Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Maurice FfrenchPittsburgh	2	98	49.0	91	1
Donovan McDonaldUAlbany	1	21	21.0	21	0

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Alex KessmanPittsburgh	0/0	0.0	0	3/4	3
Ethan StarkUAlbany	0/0	0.0	0	1/1	1

Punt Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Rafael Araujo-LopesPittsburgh	2	2	1.0	4	0

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Kirk ChristodoulouPittsburgh	2	93	46.5	0	2	56
Ethan StarkUAlbany	5	181	36.2	0	2	42

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back.

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