SALT LAKE CITY -- Dion Lewis needed only two words to summarize the Pitt Panthers' 27-24, overtime loss against Utah Thursday night before a hostile crowd of 45,730 of Rice-Eccles Stadium.

"Missed opportunities," Lewis said quietly after the game.

Those missed opportunities added up to another heartbreaking loss for the Panthers, who seem to make a habit of mounting a valiant effort at winning big games before falling just short.

Consider the Panthers forced three turnovers and blocked a punt inside the Utes' 10 but scored only 10 points from them. The Panthers also had 23 plays in the red zone but scored two touchdowns and settled for three field goals -- including one at the end of regulation when, trailing by three, they drove to the Utes' 13 and then had to kick a tying field goal that forced overtime.

And perhaps most troublesome is that Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt admitted the Panthers played for the tie instead the win by never taking one more shot into the end zone on the last possession in regulation.

The critical decision and play came on third-and-10 from the Utah 14, Pitt quarterback Tino Sunseri handed off to Dion Lewis, who ran for a yard and set up Dan Hutchins' tying, 30-yard field goal.

"We thought they were going to blitz," Wannstedt said. "We wanted to keep ourselves in field-goal range. I thought tonight our lack of maturity showed up; we were undisciplined and we did not handle things well. We knew we had to play a clean game that meant avoiding penalties and turnovers and, when you do those things, you give yourself no chance."

The Panthers certainly shot themselves in the foot a number of times, taking 12 penalties for 75 yards and allowing two sacks. And yet as bad as they were at making mistakes, the Utes were worse with 11 penalties for 99 yards and three turnovers.

Hutchins also missed a 42-yard field goal early, and the Panthers had an apparent touchdown pass to wide receiver Jon Baldwin called back because of an illegal shift by Baldwin, who was not set when the ball was snapped.

Pitt, however, could not make the Utes pay for their errors, and instead of a grand opening the Panthers absorbed a hard-to-swallow loss that leaves them with more questions than answers.

The Panthers showed some fight, improved as the game wore on and battled back against a very stacked deck to at least be in position to win the game.

"None of that matters," said cornerback Antwuan Reed, who had a stellar game with a blocked punt and a fumble recovery. "We lost the game."

Still, it looked bleak for the Panthers when DeVonte Christopher put Utah ahead by a seemingly comfortable 24-13 margin with a 61-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Wynn in the fourth quarter. The Utes caught the Panthers on a blitz that left Christopher wide open over the middle.

The Panthers were not done. They needed just three plays to travel 63 yards, scoring on a 44-yard pass from Sunseri to Baldwin. The two then hooked up on a two-point conversion pass to pull the Panthers to 24-21 with 7:11left.

Pitt's defense forced the Utes to punt, and the Panthers took possession at the 50 with 2:39 left. That drive came up short, and Hutchins kicked the tying field goal -- actually he had three kicks at it as the first two (one made, one missed) were wiped out by Utah timeouts just before he kicked -- to send the game into overtime.

The Panthers took possession first in overtime, but Sunseri made his first major mistake and threw a bad pass that was intercepted by safety Brian Blechin and the Utes won the game on Joe Phillips' 21-yard field goal.

A great example of the many mistakes on both sides came late in the third quarter with the Panthers trailing, 17-7, and in desperate need of a spark, which they got in the form of a blocked punt by Reed that was recovered by Nate Nix at the Utes' 8.

But the Panthers could not move the ball -- in fact, a penalty and a sack moved them back 12 yards -- and they ended up having to settle for Hitchins' 37-yard field goal that cut the deficit to 17-10.

To that point -- if you count the blocked punt as a Utah turnover -- the Panthers had four takeaways to the Utes' one, but somehow Pitt was trailing by seven points.

The Panthers' defense, however, rose to the occasion and forced a Utah punt on the next possession. Then, Pitt's offense came to life and moved the ball to the Utes' 6. Pitt, though, got no further and, on third-and-goal, Sunseri was sacked. Pitt settled for a 28-yard field goal -- which only brought them within 17-13 with 9:48 to play.

The Utes then scored on Christopher's long touchdown, and the Panthers began their comeback. Lewis was his usual workhorse self, carrying 25 times for 75 yards and a touchdown, but yards were tough to come by against a stacked defense and he never shook loose for a long run. Utah was able to stack the line because the Panthers had no passing game in the first half while falling behind. Then, they had to pass and, by that point, it was too late to establish the run.

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