PISCATAWAY, N.J. — On a day the offense tried to give away Rutgers' bowl hopes, the defense put the Scarlet Knights on the road to a third straight postseason trip.

Devin McCourty intercepted a pass in the end zone with 11 seconds to play and the defense helped Rutgers survive four turnovers deep in its own territory in a 20-16 victory over Pittsburgh on Saturday.

"Without a doubt (we escaped)," quarterback Mike Teel said after Rutgers (7-4, 3-3) let its seniors walk away with a win in their final home game. "You shouldn't win football games when you turn the ball over four times. That's a credit to the way the defense played."

Pittsburgh managed only 13 points off the turnovers despite getting the ball at the Rutgers 23, 12, 31 and 21-yard lines.

"It was one of the more gutsy defensive performances I've been a part of," Scarlet Knights coach Greg Schiano said after beating Pittsburgh (4-6, 2-3) for the third straight time and all but ending the Panthers' bowl hopes.

The defense had to make a final stand in closing minutes after quarterback Pat Bostick drove the Panthers to the Rutgers 6-yard line with 26 seconds to play with a 28-yard pass to Darrell Strong.

After spiking the ball, Bostick completed a pass to Oderick Turner in the corner of the end zone for an apparent go-ahead touchdown with 19 seconds to play.

And as soon as Turner came down, so did an official's flag. Turner was called for offensive pass interference for pushing off McCourty.

McCourty didn't know which way the call was going, saying he was simply fighting for the ball.

"I thought they were going to call defensive pass interference," he said. "It's rare they call offensive pass interference."

Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt didn't see the play, so refused to say anything until he saw it on videotape.

On the next play, Bostick went to the end zone again from the 21-yard line and McCourty was unchallenged making the game-saving interception.

"I just want to thank the seniors," defensive tackle Eric Foster said. "To send them off with a win, you can't thank them enough."