9/16/2018 football Edit

Fast start helps Pitt put Penn State in the past

Jim Hammett • Panther-lair

Staff

Following a 51-6 loss to in-state rival to Penn State in Week Two, nobody was quite sure how the Pitt football team would respond to facing Georgia Tech in Week Three.

If the first quarter of Saturday afternoon’s game was any indication, the team was ready to move on with it’s season. The Pitt defense stepped up and limited the vaunted Georgia Tech offense to just 30 yards of offense on 13 plays in the first 15 minutes, while Pitt senior running backs Qadree Ollison and Darrin Hall each scored rushing touchdowns to give the Panthers a commanding 14-0 lead. That fast start helped fuel a 24-19 ACC victory on Saturday afternoon at Heinz Field.

The rallying cry for the team seemed simple in the post-game interviews, and that was that the focus has been shifted to the ACC portion of the schedule and starting 1-and-0 in the league.

Mission accomplished.

“Don’t remember who we played,” Ollison joked about last week’s game.

I’m not sure if anyone is quite buying that line, but the team has officially turned the page with this win and the fast start certainly indicated that.

“Our kids came to play,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said. “It was a little different. I'm not so sure, last week we were so high and so excited, and this week we weren't as excited before the game, but we came out and executed against a really good football team.”

Pitt came out firing on defense, as the Panthers forced a three-and-out on Georgia Tech’s first possession. That stop led to Pitt’s first touchdown of the game as Ollison rumbled in for a 31-yard score.

“It was really important, especially with a team like Georgia Tech," Ollison said about getting off to a fast start. “They’re going to try to win the time of possession, and they’re going to have the ball a lot. I think it was really, really important to get out to a fast start.”

Pitt’s strong defensive play continued into the next drive, as the Yellow Jackets were faced with a fourth down and Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson dialed up a fake punt. The Panthers were ready for it and stuffed Georgia Tech. Pitt then used the short field to set up a touchdown run for Darrin Hall to give the Panthers that 14-0 advantage that held through the first quarter.

“Last week, it hurt for a couple days but we flushed it,” Pitt sophomore defensive end Rashad Weaver said. “We were going into ACC play, which maybe not to the fans and other people, but this game is bigger to us - maybe bigger in a different sense.”

Finally the dust has seemed to settle following last week's game, and Pitt is now 2-1 on the young season and are 1-0 in the ACC. In the eyes of the team, that is the most important thing. The proclaimed goal for this team all year long has been to win the ACC Championship, and while the 51-6 loss still lingers for many, it is out of mind in the locker room it appears.

“Nobody said you had to go undefeated to go to the ACC Championship, or national championship,” Ollison said. “If we win the rest of our games, nobody will even remember what happened last week.”