PHOTO COURTESY PITT ATHLETICS

After a hard-fought battle with the California Golden Bears, one that included another jaw-dropping explosion by running back Desmond Reid and a much-needed rise to the occasion by the Pitt defense on a rare day in which the offense was mostly MIA, head coach Pat Narduzzi opened his postgame remarks by thanking the fans.

“I thought the crowd was loud, especially in that fourth quarter,” Narduzzi offered.

It’s not the first time Narduzzi has tried to pump support for Pitt by pumping support for Pitt.

But this time the observation was legit.

It was indeed loud on Saturday at Acrisure Stadium, especially during a frenetic late-game stretch that demanded the University of Pittsburgh defense come up big twice in the final 2 minutes in preservation of a 2-point lead.

The first was a stop on third-and-9 from the Pitt 24-yard line just inside the 2-minute timeout. A subsequent 40-yard field goal attempt was missed, as can happen when a team is forced to execute the snap-hold-kick process to perfection in lieu of producing the go-ahead TD.

The second occurred after Pitt went three-and-out and Cal got the ball back with 41 seconds left in regulation, still a field goal away from stealing the game. Four incompletions later, the 17-15 deal was sealed.

Pitt’s sixth victory in six tries followed a different script, one that didn’t include a comeback or an otherwise all-world performance from redshirt freshman quarterback Eli Holstein, who was uncharacteristically mortal throughout.

The crowd, announced at 49,773, didn’t mind screaming for the defense as needed for a change on the way to 6-0.

Perhaps that’s because it really felt like something more was at stake.

PHOTO COURTESY PITT ATHLETICS

A three-win team a year ago, Pitt is now ranked No. 20 in the latest AP Top 25 as the Panthers enjoy a bye week.

The remaining schedule upon resumption of play on Oct. 24 against Syracuse includes six games against teams that are either 4-2 or 5-1 entering this weekend’s play. Two of those are ranked (No. 21 SMU and No. 10 Clemson). Two more received “others receiving votes” recognition in the latest AP listing (Syracuse and Louisville).

That’s a path to something significant, maybe even more than Pitt had a right to envision at season’s outset.

Since then the Panthers have pummeled Kent State and Youngstown State, rallied from a 21-point, second-half deficit at Cincinnati and scrapped back from 10 down in the fourth quarter against WVU, and outlasted North Carolina.

Pitt has won on the road and won the close ones.

Pitt has won by unleashing Reid and Holstein upon opponents who weren’t adequately prepared to deal with either.

And now, after Cal, Pitt has won with defense.

That’s a lot to cheer about.

And there might be more on the horizon.

Enough, perhaps, to return meaningful college football and the college football experience to the North Shore.

As loud as the crowd was at the end against Cal, the game day atmosphere at Acrisure isn’t likely to resemble Happy Valley or Tuscaloosa, Alabama any time soon, if ever.

But that doesn’t mean Pitt can’t play with regularity in front of a crowd that’s invested (and, unlike when WVU, Penn State or Notre Dame come to town, overwhelmingly in support of the home team).

The end of the Cal game was exciting.

But before the Cal game there was a vibe.

In the parking lots, with the band playing amid the tailgating, and on the way into the facility, when the anticipation was palpable.

The game didn’t deliver the offensive fireworks seen in previous weeks, but the Panthers were able to work around that and remain undefeated.

“We’re going to find a way,” Narduzzi maintained.

Pitt continuing to do so would really be something to shout about.

Mike Prisuta is the sports anchor/reporter for Randy Baumann and the DVE Morning Show. He’s also the host of the Steelers Radio Network Pregame Show and the color analyst for Robert Morris University men’s hockey broadcasts.