The Panthers came into this game desperately needing a win to avoid having a losing season for the fourth straight year, and things weren’t looking good for them before the game even began. Kicker Zane Gonzalez injured his quad during warmups and was ruled out of the game, and the Panthers had to play the entire game without a kicker. That affected their game plan as they had to go for it on fourth downs and two point conversions instead of attempting field goals, and it cost them chances to score points a few times throughout the game.
The Panthers were simply outmatched by a better team in this game, and while they fought valiantly and did the best they could do in an unusual situation, they simply weren’t good enough to win this game today.