5 takeaways from Panthers’ victory
Although it was far from pretty, the Pitt football team was able to gut out its third straight victory Saturday afternoon, edging Duke by a final of 28-26 at home in ACC play. The win came thanks in large part to another strong defensive effort, which featured a big score early in the fourth quarter from Brandon Hill and a clutch stop on a two-point-conversion that would’ve tied the game.
Before we advance to Pitt’s regular season finale against Miami, let’s take one final look at Saturday. Here are five takeaways from the Panthers’ win against Duke:
1. Slovis accountability
Once again, Pitt’s offense fell apart in the second half.
Although Kedon Slovis and company were far from the top of their game in the opening two periods, there were moments — like in the final drive of the second quarter — where the unit displayed some sort of rhythm.
After coming out of the locker room, all of that positive momentum vanished. Slovis threw a pair of interceptions on Pitt’s first two possessions in the third quarter. The quarterback admitted both balls were bad choices on his end.
Later in Slovis’ postgame availability, he was asked what his team needed to do in order to finish drives more efficiently late in games. The senior quarterback provided an honest answer, pointing the finger at himself.
“We just have to execute better,” Slovis said. “I think the other thing is we have to give coach the confidence to keep calling [passes], too. In a game where we have two picks, I don’t blame him for not calling as many passes. We have to give him a chance to call it and we have to execute better.”
2. Injuries
In its final possession of the game, Pitt relied upon senior running back C’Bo Flemister to carry the ball on first and second down while Israel Abanikanda watched from the sidelines. The decision to use Flemister instead of Abanikanda puzzled many until Narduzzi explained the decision after the win.
“He was not [available],” Narduzzi said. “He would have been in there if he was; I can promise you that.”
Abanikanda has missed time this season because of his heavy workload. The junior tailback missed the entire contest against Syracuse earlier this month, along with the second half in Pitt’s loss to Georgia Tech on Oct. 1.
Although the Panthers have shown the ability to win without their star in the backfield, having him next week against Miami will certainly help the group complete its quest for a perfect November.
In addition to Abanikanda, senior defensive end Habakkuk Baldonado is also dealing with injuries. Despite dressing for Saturday’s game, the veteran pass rusher didn’t play a single snap against the Blue Devils.
“I’m hoping for next week,” Narduzzi said when asked if Baldonado will return this season. “You saw him get banged up a week ago. So we’ll just keep an eye and we’ll keep him healthy. He was not available, unfortunately.”
3. Fourth-down woes
All season long, the Panthers have struggled on fourth down. Saturday, however, was a new low. Mistakes by the punt team and punt return team allowed the Duke offense to be placed in a favorable field position numerous times throughout the contest.
A blocked punt, a roughing the punter call and a fumbled snap from Caleb Junko led to three of Duke’s four touchdowns. After the win, Narduzzi had little answers for his team’s fourthdown woes.
“Yeah, you tell me,” Narduzzi said when asked about the punting problems. “I’m going to ask you guys on Monday. Maybe you can help me out because I’ve tried and tried. We’ve rotated through three punters. Junko, we really felt like he was the guy.”
4. Returners?
Although 19 Panthers were honored Saturday afternoon for senior day, there is still no word on how many of Pitt’s veterans will be back for another year. Erick Hallett, Jared Wayne and David Green all told reporters that their decision to return is “up in the air.”
However, it should be noted that Hallett was the only one of those three who took part in the senior day festivities. Other key seniors who didn’t walk include Slovis, Wayne, SirVocea Dennis, Shayne Simon and Marquis Williams.
While some have provided reasons as to why they didn’t walk, none have confirmed if they’ll be with the Panthers in 2023. Only eight members have no eligibility remaining. The rest, if they wanted, could all be back for another season.
Perhaps a strong finish in November paired with a bowl game victory would convince a few to stick around.
5. Up next
Earlier this season, the Panthers were vocal about their quest for revenge in the week leading up to their matchup against Western Michigan. With Miami — the other team Pitt fell to in the 2021 regular season — next up on the schedule, at least one Pitt player claims the group will approach the contest with a similar mentality.
“It’s definitely payback time,” David Green said after Saturday’s win. “I know we all just want to go out and win each and every week.”
The Panthers’ defense as a whole will likely approach the battle against the Hurricanes with something extra to prove following last year’s loss, when they allowed quarterback Tyler Van Dyke to throw for 426 yards and three touchdowns.