Usual problems plague Panthers in loss
Injured QB Pickett stays at school as team drops its third in a row
What quarterback Kenny
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES Pickett watched from his couch in south Oakland, 1,100 miles from Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium,should have felt familiar.
Penalties, dropped passes, coverage busts, a lackluster running game. It didn’t matter who was starting Saturday at quarterback. Pitt’s deep-rooted issues
MILWAUKEE BREWERS PITTSBURGH PIRATES made it through security, boarded the Panthers’ flight to
SouthFlorida, hopped on the team bus and made their presence felt yetagain.
Evenwith Pickett sidelined due to an ankle injury and Joey Yellen starting in his place, Pitt was in
WASHINGTON NATIONALS Saturday’s game with a chance to upset No. 13-ranked Miami. But the Panthers couldn’t get out of their own way in a 31-19 loss, their third in a row in a campaign that nowhas spiraled out of control.
“We had a lot of hopes for this season,” Pitt linebacker Phil Campbellsaid over Zoom after the
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS game. “We never would’ve expected to lose three games in a row. I’m still in shock about it. It’s atough one to swallow.”
Pitt, after kicking off the season with three consecutive wins, now is 3-3 overall. The Panthers started the year with ACC championship appearance aspirations, but now bowl eligibility is less than a guarantee. The upcoming slate doesn’t lightenup, either, with No. 4 Notre Dame visiting Heinz Field next weekend, then four more games after an off week, including a trip toNo. 1 Clemson.
Given that brutal stretch to end
their season, Saturday ought to hurt even more for the Panthers. Entering Saturday without Pickett, some thought Pitt would have to play perfectly to win as a twotouchdown underdog to D’Eriq King and the Hurricanes. But in the end, all Pitt needed to do was not shoot itselfin the foot.
Yellen actually settled in nicely as Pickett watched from afar. Pitt’s third-year starter did not travel with the teamafter injuring his left ankle at Boston College last weekend. Pickett played through pain in New England,but was ruled out early in this week, coach Pat Narduzzisaid postgame.
The coach declined to disclose whether or not Pickett hadna procedure on his ankle, but said “there’s a chance” he will play next Saturday when the Fighting Irish come to town. If not? “I certainly hope after the open week for sure,” Narduzzi added.
At least Pitt should feel alright about Yellen if Pickett can’tgo next week.
The Arizona State transfer, getting the nod over 2019 signee Davis Beville, completed 22 of 46 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown to tight end Daniel Moraga. He had six completions of at least 19 yards, including a 55yarder to Jordan Addison. The true freshman standout was a reliable target for Yellen, catching eight passes for 147 yards, the most by a Pitt freshman since Tyler Boyd’s 173-yard showing in the 2013 LittleCaesars Pizza Bowl.
Many will remember that gamefor James Conner’s 229yard breakout performance, which featured a 45-yard gain. For some perspective, Pitt’s tailbacks accounted for 44 yards on 20 carries against Miami.
Offensive coordinator Mark Whipple actually committed to the run early and even drew up a workable play script for Yellen. A.J. Davis, back from injury, ran hard, as did Todd Sibley. But Pitt’s line struggled to get a push, and the running game failed to take the pressure off Yellen’s shoulders in his first careerroad start.
It also didn’t help that Pitt’s other receivers continued dropping passes, stunting Yellen’s growth and the Panthers’ rhythm throughoutthe game.
“Wedidn’t run the ball like we needed to. We had too manydrops. We had opportunities to make plays. ... And we just didn’t finish the game,” Narduzzi said. “It starts with the run game. We’ve got to get some movement up front. ... And when we get in the red zone, we can’tkick four field goals.”
The Panthers now shave ettled for a quartet of Alex Kessman field goals in back
-to-back meetings with Miami. Last year, he made kicks from 54, 25, 29 and 29. On Saturday, he bounced back from the Boston College missed extra point to drill field goals of 33, 24, 36 and 30 yards.
Surprise, surprise, Pitt’s red-zone offense stalled. But one could argue Kessman shouldnot have even been on thefield for the 36-yarder.
Down by 12 points with 31 seconds left in the third quarter, Narduzzi opted for a field goal instead of going for a fourth-and-3 from Miami’s 12.The coach said “you’ve got to take the points” in that situation, even though the field goal cut the Hurricanes’ lead from 12 to nine — still two scoresaway from leading.
Even if the Panthers scored a touchdown on that drive, though, it might not have mattered. Miami’s offense, playing without star tight end Brevin Jordan, did enough. King and the Hurricanes all but closed out the game with a seven-minute field goal drive in the fourth quarter, wearing down a Pitt defense that generated momentum plays but also tripped over its own shoelaces.
Miami’s first touchdown, a 35-yard, first-quarter connection from King to a wideopen Cam’Ron Harris, came three plays after a kick-catch interference on a Pitt punt. The Hurricanes’ second score, a 6-yard catch by tight
end Will Mallory, directly followed a third-and-goal stop by Pitt’s defense that was negated by a facemask penalty. And Miami’s third touchdown — a 38-yard King hookup with wideout Mike Harley — was three plays removed from another thirddown stop, canceled out by a holdingpenalty.
Pitt picked off King twice, courtesy of Paris Ford and Marquis Williams, and the pass rush logged four sacks. But all told, the Panthers racked up 10 penalties for 89 yards.
“That’s kind of been the story of our season so far,” Campbell said. “We stop them, then we shoot ourselves in the foot with a penalty, and it ends up in a score. It’s happened in several games, not just this game. ...
We have to be better with that.”
Narduzzi agreed. Though he didn’t have much of an answer as to how the Panthers willrectify the flaws.
The real answer is probablythat there isn’t one.
Narduzzi’s team has held itself back. Penalties, dropped passes, you name it. For all the preseason chatter about this team being “different,” Pitt is doing the same thing week in and week out, expectingdifferent results.
Albert Einstein would call that insanity. But anyone who has watched Pitt play the past three weeks would tell you that’s just the 2020 Panthers.