Keith Srakocic / AP

Cincinnati players celebrate after the No. 5 Bearcats defeated No. 14 Pittsburgh 45-44 to win the Big East championship on Saturday.

Lewis, whose 1,640 yards are 46 shy of Dorsett’s freshman season total of 1,686 yards in 1973, had 116 yards on 29 carries and three catches by halftime.

Cincinnati also failed to convert an extra point but made up for it with a 2-pointer. Pike was held to 8 completions in his first 22 attempts, but went 4 of 4 on the final drive and finished 22 of 44 for 302 yards despite throwing three interceptions.

“He had to fight through it,” said Kelly, who briefly warmed up backup Zach Collaros early in the third quarter. “He made some mistakes he normally doesn’t make, but he was the guy.”

Before that, Lewis sliced through Cincinnati’s defense with speed and power, running three times for 17 yards ahead of his 15-yard scoring run that restored Pitt’s two-touchdown lead at 38-24 with 12:26 remaining. Woods’ score got the Bearcats close again, and they tied it at 38 with 5:46 left on Isaiah Pead’s 1-yard run and Pike’s conversion pass to Gilyard.

Gilyard made five catches for 118 yards and also had 256 yards on seven kickoff returns.

“I don’t know what their scheme was, but they kept kicking it to me,” said Gilyard, who has 2,442 all-purpose yards this season, an average of 203 per game.

Pitt, which lost 19-16 to rival West Virginia on Nov. 27 to fall out of the top 10, had everything going in the first half — the running game, the occasional deep pass and, for a change, special teams. Nate Nix’s blocked punt led to Bill Stull’s 3-yard TD run that made it 31-10 with 1:26 left before halftime.

It was Pitt’s biggest regular-season game since the then-No. 1 Panthers, led by Dan Marino, took a 14-0 lead before losing to Penn State 48-14 in 1981, costing them a chance to play for the national title. Pitt beat Georgia Tech in the Sugar Bowl that season.

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