Five takeaways from the Panthers’ win vs. Miami
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — A dominant effort on both sides of the ball allowed the Panthers to finish the month of November and their season as a whole on a high note, defeating Miami 42-16 Saturday evening at Hard Rock Stadium.
With the victory, Pitt enters bowl season on a four-game winning streak.
The Panthers will officially find out their next opponent Sunday, Dec. 4, after all conference championship games are decided. Until then, let’s take one final look at Pitt’s blowout win over the Hurricanes.
1. Sunshine State disposition?
Throughout the two program’s distinguished histories, Pitt and Miami have faced off 41 times total on the gridiron. But Saturday night marked only the third time the Panthers have defeated the Hurricanes in the Sunshine State.
Pitt’s first win against Miami came in 1963, when the infamous “No Bowl Team” took down a struggling Hurricanes team 31-20 en route to a 9-1 season.
The Panthers’ next road win in the matchup wouldn’t occur until 2014, which happened to be the final game in Paul Chryst’s short stint as Pitt’s head coach.
After Saturday’s 2022 regular season finale, Pat Narduzzi mentioned how much the win against Miami meant to his players, especially his seniors, as Pitt entered the contest on a four-game skid against the Hurricanes.
“That was a long time coming, beating Miami,” Narduzzi said after the win. “We’ve come close a few times. ...This was great for our kids.”
2. Wayne’s World, party time
Has there been any player in recent Pitt history to have a successful season more quietly than Jared Wayne? Overshadowed by teammates like Israel Abanikanda, who led the ACC in rushing, or Calijah Kancey, who is a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Wayne has continued to fly under the radar all the way into the Pitt record books.
With his 199-yard effort Saturday, which included three touchdown catches, Wayne ended the regular season with 1,006 yards
receiving, which is only the 11th 1,000-yard season by a Panther in program history.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but I’m just honored,” Wayne said Saturday night when asked about eclipsing 1,000 yards. “I looked up to a lot of guys that came before me — you know, Larry Fitzgerald and Tyler Boyd. Just to kind of be in that conversation with that stat, it’s truly an honor.”
A 1,000-yard season for any player is significant, but the context behind Wayne’s efforts make what he achieved far more impressive.
Last offseason, Pitt lost the top receiver in the country when 2021 Fred Biletnikoff Awar winner Jordan Addison transferred to USC.
Wayne was forced to step up and become Pitt’s top target — a role he didn’t plan on having to fill entering his senior campaign.
Add in the fact that the Panthers brought in a new offensive coordinator, starting quarterback and two starting receivers, and Wayne was truly the only person returning from last season’s excellence in the air.
Plenty of people within the Pitt locker room appreciate Wayne’s high-end production, but none more than his quarterback, who in the midst of his struggles was able to rely upon No. 5 as a safety blanket from September through November.
“Jared is a really hard worker,” Kedon Slovis said after the win. “It wasn’t like he transformed himself into a great player, I think he was already a great player and took himself to the next level. Obviously there were some other great players here last year who I think kind of overshadowed how special he is. It’s a heck of an accomplishment. The guys I’ve been around that have that kind of output, they’re all in the NFL. They’re all excelling at a really high level.”
3. Buckling down
After the win, Pitt senior linebacker and captain SirVocea Dennis was asked about his team’s most recent loss, which came on the road against North Carolina on Oct. 29. Matched up against Heisman Trophy candidate Drake Maye, the Panthers defense struggled to contain the star redshirt freshman and his talented surrounding cast, resulting in a 42-24 loss.
Since that blunder, the Panthers defense has been strong, leading the way in each of the team’s four wins.
In the month of November, Randy Bates’ group has sacked the quarterback 22 times, forced six turnovers, scored three touchdowns and tallied a safety.
Dennis says those big numbers were inspired by frustration.
“We felt a little embarrassed as a defense,” Dennis said when asked about the North Carolina loss. “Some people might ask why, but [North Carolina] putting 42 points up against us, that didn’t sit well with us. They had a big passing game — we felt embarrassed and we knew we didn’t want that to happen with any other team moving forward. We really buckled down and we got to business.”
4. What could’ve been
The Pitt football program has had more than its fair share of tough losses over the years, but a few shortcomings this fall will perhaps sting a bit extra as time goes on.
Narduzzi’s team finished 5-3 in ACC play this fall, which was a game behind Coastal division champion North Carolina. The Panthers led at one point in the second half in each of their conference losses. While football games are of course won and lost in a handful of pivotal moments, an argument can be made that Pitt was truly just a few mistakes away from once again reaching the ACC title game — at least that’s how the head coach sees it.
“We had a couple of rough games there,” Narduzzi said. “This team should’ve been a 10-win football team, really. If we don’t turn the ball over ... we just had some things not go our way.”
As both the Tar Heels and Clemson — the two participating teams in this year’s ACC final — limp to the finish line, a Panthers team that ended the regular season playing its best football will sit at home next weekend, watching the conference championship undoubtedly thinking about the opportunity that slipped away.
5. Something to play for
Although another ACC championship is off the table, the month of December isn’t meaningless to the Pitt football program. Regardless of what bowl bid Pitt receives, it still has plenty to gain from its final contest.
In his eight seasons at Pitt, Narduzzi has led the Panthers to just a single bowl victory — the Quick Lane Bowl in 2019, which was a 34-30 win against Eastern Michigan.
Bowls like the Military, Pinstripe, or Sun Bowl might not carry the same weight as a spot in the College Football Playoff or even a New Year’s Six Bowl appearance, but ending the year on a win is always good.
A win in a bowl game this season would provide a bit of extra significance to Pitt, as it would be the first time the program had backto-back nine-win seasons since 2008 and 2009.