Despite clean game, Pitt's offense still struggles

Clean up the offense by cutting down on penalties and turnovers and the production would improve. When Pitt had played “clean” in the first four games of the season, the offense had been relatively productive. That was especially true in the first half of games, when the offense had scored the bulk of its points on the season with just two turnovers and four penalties in four games.

So it made sense to think that if the offense avoided penalties and turnovers, the points would follow.

That logic was tested on Saturday at Spectrum Stadium, and unfortunately for the Panthers, the test was failed.

“Obviously, we didn’t do a whole lot on offense today,” Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said after his team lost to UCF 45-14. “It was a little disappointing.”

That phrase - “a little disappointing” - doesn’t seem to do justice to the situation. The Panthers scored just one offensive touchdown in the loss and managed just 272 yards of offense. While that was the second time this season Pitt has been held to one score, it was the lowest total offensive output since the loss to Georgia Tech in Week Four last season.

Through the first four games this year, Pitt’s offense had been hamstrung by self-inflicted wounds, particularly after halftime. The Panthers came into Saturday’s game having scored just 10 total points in the second half of games, and that seemed to coincide with penalties and turnovers. Of 14 total penalties that had been called on Pitt’s offense through the first four games, 10 came after halftime.

The same goes for turnovers; the Panthers committed seven prior to Saturday, and five of those were in the second half. 11 of Pitt’s 20 second-half possessions (aside from three end-of-game drives) had included a penalty or a turnover, and that seemed to be directly related to the fact that just 10 of the Panthers’ 98 total points scored came in the third and fourth quarters.

So, again: clean up the penalties and turnovers and the points would follow. But on Saturday, Pitt committed just one turnover and two offensive penalties and finished with its lowest output in more than a year.

“We couldn’t get it clicking today,” sophomore quarterback Kenny Pickett said. “You have to give a lot of credit to that team; that’s a really good football team. They have a lot of speed, a lot of athletes in the secondary who can make a lot of plays.”

There’s some truth to that. Central Florida does have speed all over its roster, including on defense. But the Knights had given up more than 400 yards of offense in two of their first three games this season, with UConn going for 486 and FAU hitting 447 (and scoring 36 points).

“I haven’t watched the tape,” said redshirt senior receiver Rafael Araujo-Lopes, who accounted for half of Pitt’s points on Saturday with an 85-yard punt return in the first quarter, “but I’m sure it’s a block away, it’s a catch away, it’s probably not everybody just doing their assignment. We just didn’t make enough plays.”

Araujo-Lopes is correct in that regard, and it applies to every position on the team. Pickett completed 16-of-26 passes for 163 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Senior running backs Qadree Ollison and Darrin Hall did a nice job, combining to run for 93 yards on 18 carries - 5.2 yards per carry - but the running game was never able to produce consistently enough to sustain drives.

The receivers, who played without top option Taysir Mack for the final three quarters, were led by junior Maurice Ffrench, who had three catches for 78 yards and a touchdown. Redshirt freshman Dontavius Butler-Jenkins was the only other receiver with three catches, and his receptions went for a total of eight yards.

And while Pickett was ineffective, he was also hurt by multiple drops from his receivers and tight ends.

All in all, it was a mess for Pitt’s offense on Saturday, a step back when a step forward was needed as much as ever.

Narduzzi declined to offer too much evaluation immediately after the game - “I’m not going to sit here and talk about how he played until I watch the tape,” the head coach said of Pickett - but he seemed to lack for answers in the postgame press conference.

“It’s hard to tell. You’ve got plays to be made.”