Pitt’s 34-27 overtime loss to Tennessee was all about missed opportunities. The Panthers had chances throughout the game to score more points, and maybe even put Tennessee on the ropes in the first quarter.

Those squandered chances by the team resulted in a loss.

From an individual standpoint, however, some players received bigger roles this week than they did in the first game and they ran with them. The talk all week had been about sophomore tailback Rodney Hammond likely being out for this game. Hammond ran impressively in Pitt’s win against West Virginia, but came down with an injury in the fourth quarter. Israel Abanikanda, the listed starter going into the season, struggled in week one with just 15 rushing yards.

With Hammond unavailable on Saturday against Tennessee, Abanikanda got the bulk of the carries and looked like the back many expected him to be this season with his best game in a Pitt uniform. He finished with a career-high 154 yards on 25 carries. Abanikanda broke off a 76-yard touchdown in the first quarter and also added 21 receiving yards on the afternoon.

“He was outstanding,” Pat Narduzzi said of Abanikanda’s performance. “He ran hard. I just kept saying when the team went down, just keep feeding the horse. Just keep giving it to him. He had some nice runs out there today.”

Abanikanda’s 76-yard run was the longest for Pitt since Qadree Ollison went 97 yards in the 2018 season.

“Right when I made that first cut I just saw green, and when I see green I just got to make stuff happen,” Abanikanda said of the long run in the first half.

Abanikanda did not dwell on the low output from the West Virginia game, because after all his team got the win, and he still made a great play in crunch time on a catch to tie the game against the Mountaineers.

“Throughout the week I just tried to get better, running and finishing because I knew I didn’t do that good last week, but I knew myself and I just kept training harder and harder,” Abanikanda said of his mindset. "I don’t keep stuff in my mind, I just focus on the next week.”

Gavin Bartholomew did not really have a poor performance in week one, more so he just never really got a chance to make an impact with only one catch in the game against the Mountaineers. That all changed in the game against Tennessee. The sophomore tight end showed why the Pitt coaches were so high on him in the offseason. He finished with five catches for 84 yards and a touchdown.

The touchdown was one of the highlight plays of the entire college football Saturday. Bartholomew made a catch along the sideline and as the Tennessee defender came bearing down on him, he simply leaped over him on the way to a 57-yard touchdown.

“It happened so fast,” Bartholomew said of his second quarter score. "I just knew we was going to tackle me low. So I’m like, ‘screw it, I’m jumping him’ and I was in the end zone.”

Pat Narduzzi was impressed with the play as well.

“That was a big-time play,” he said. “Again, you guys wanted to get the tight end some catches, and we did. That was a big-time play. We knew Gavin could do that.”

Bartholomew and Abanikanda both emerged in this game for the Pitt offense, which should be a good sign for the remainder of the season. Pitt lost the game on Saturday, but having more weapons perform should only elevate the offense as the schedule eases up a bit in the coming weeks.

“There were some things we could have done better, but the game is in the past and we’re worried about next weekend,” said Bartholomew.