There were four decisive plays that led to the Bearcats blowing a 21-point lead in the second half against Pitt on Saturday.

When I was a sports intern at WLWT News 5 in Cincinnati, Mike Dardis told me that a football game can be decided by three to four plays. It's crazy to think that there are so many plays within a football game, but just three to four of those plays can be the plays that decide the outcome of the game.

In the Bearcats 28-27 loss to Pitt this past Saturday, there were definitely three to four plays that changed the outcome of the game. As you'll see, and you may already know or be aware, most of these plays went against the Bearcats and contributed to them blowing a 21-point lead. Here are the four decisive plays in the Bearcats 28-27 loss vs. Pitt in this week's Turning Point Tuesday.

1. Josh Minkins Jr.'s interception: 9:14 1st Qtr, 2nd&7 at CIN 26-yard line

This was a terrific play by Minkins, continuing his strong start to his Bearcats and college career. Pitt quarterback Eli Holstein, making just his second career start, threw a deep ball into the end zone and into double coverage. Minkins flew into position and skied for the interception, ending a strong Pitt opening drive. The Panthers had already moved 54 yards to the Cincinnati 26-yard line, but Minkins's interception stalled their momentum and kept Pitt's offense in check for much of the remainder of the first half. Minkins's interception was the Bearcats first takeaway of the season.

2. Corey Kiner's personal foul: 11:05 2nd Qtr, 1st&10 at PITT 17-yard line

Even though this play came early in the second quarter and the Bearcats remained in control through the end of the third quarter, this play prevented the Bearcats from delivering an early knockout punch. Brendan Sorsby took the snap and ran the ball down to Pitt's two-yard line. The Bearcats looked poised to go up 21-3 and put Pitt on the ropes.

One problem, though: there was a flag on the field. It was for a personal foul on Bearcats running back Corey Kiner. That 15-yard penalty moved the Bearcats all the way back to Pitt's 30-yard line. Even though Carter Brown made the 49-yard field goal to give the Bearcats a 17-3 lead, you can't help, but think that it could have been a 21-3 lead.

3. Carter Brown's missed field goal: :25 2nd Qtr, 4th&6 at PITT 7-yard line

This is the biggest turning point of the game. It started a six-point swing just before halftime. In a one-point game, that adds up and then some. The Bearcats had taken nearly six minutes off the clock just before halftime, and all Carter Brown had to do was boot in a 25-yard field goal. He missed it. And worse, Pitt moved 45 yards in 22 seconds to get in position for a 53-yard field goal. Pitt kicker Ben Sauls made it to cut the lead to 17-6. What should have been a 20-3 Bearcats lead was just 17-6 going into halftime. Points were left on the field. You can say the officials shouldn't have put a second back on the clock before Pitt's field goal attempt- ask Alabama fans about one second being put back on the clock. But Brown should have made the chip-shot field goal in a one-point game.

4. Konata Mumpfield's touchdown on 4th&3: 10:48 4th Qtr, 4th&3 at CIN 38-yard line

This play was the beginning of the unraveling. If the Bearcats get a stop on this play, they probably start to put the game away. That's especially true considering Corey Kiner had 140 rushing yards on 20 carries, and he could have milked the clock himself.

Instead, Holstein found Pitt's wide receiver Konata Mumpfield, who made several big plays in the second half, for a conversion and touchdown to make it a one-score game. That play was when I started to get nervous. After controlling the entire game, it was now just a one-score game. This was a Pitt team that had also gone 3-9 in 2023. Letting them come back at Nippert Stadium is not a great look for the Bearcats. We all know what happened last year after the home loss to Miami. This year's game at Miami, this Saturday, will tell us a lot about the resiliency of this year's Bearcats team.