PITTSBURGH — The ultimate path of their team’s uneven season potentially hanging in the balance, Pittsburgh senior running backs Qadree Ollison and Darrin Hall made a request to head coach Pat Narduzzi as the clock wound down against Syracuse on Saturday.

“We asked for the game to be on our backs,” Ollison said. “Just put it on us. Put it on the backs. Put it on the offensive line. Put it on the seniors really. I think that’s what we did.”

Over and over and over again.

Pitt survived another typically slow start, a 75-minute weather delay that zapped all of its momentum and a second-half surge by the visiting Orange to finally put Syracuse away 44-37 in overtime, snapping a two-game losing streak and giving the Panthers (3-3, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) a serious confidence boost.

“Our kids needed that one,” Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said.

Especially after enduring a humbling 31-point loss to No. 12 Central Florida on the road last week, a game in which the Panthers rarely looked competitive. Pitt regrouped behind Hall, Ollison and an offensive line that did whatever it wanted whenever it wanted.

Hall ran for 107 yards and two touchdowns, including a 3-yard burst on the opening possession of overtime that provided the difference. Ollison rolled up 192 yards on 24 carries, including a 69-yard sprint in the first quarter that zapped the Panthers back to life after they fell behind by 14 in the opening 10 minutes.

Narduzzi stuck with Hall and Ollison even after Pitt fell behind 37-34 with 5:53 to go. The Panthers snapped the ball 13 times on their next possession. Eleven times quarterback Kenny Pickett gave it to Hall or Ollison, setting up Alex Kessman’s tying 45-yard field goal with 8 seconds remaining in regulation.

“It’s just playing with an attitude,” Hall said. “They know what’s coming. They know what plays we’re about to run and they can’t stop us. That’s the mindset we had that whole second half, `Hey, we’re just going to run it down their throat until we win.”’

It was much the same in overtime. Hall and Ollison accounted for all 25 yards on the clinching touchdown drive, the last 3 coming from Hall, who stuck his right elbow just across the goal line.

“Those two backs are unbelievable,” Pickett said. “They showed it today. They’ve been showing it all year. I think everyone knows we had a two-headed monster backfield with those guys.”