Pitt beat Virginia Tech 45-29 at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday to improve to 4-2 on the season. It was a record-breaking day for Pitt tailback Israel Abanikanda. The win also got the Panthers back on the right track following last week’s loss. Pitt now heads into a bye week with a little bit of momentum and here are five things that stood out from Saturday’s game.
A Record breaking day
36 carries, 320 yards, six touchdowns.
No need to bury the main story here, Saturday’s game was all about the play of Israel Abanikanda. The Pitt junior tailback broke Tony Dorsett’s single-game rushing record of 303 yards that has stood since 1975. Abanikanda also tied the single-game school record for rushing touchdowns in a game with six scores. He broke loose on an 80-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to tie Norman Bill Budd, who scored six touchdowns in a game against Ohio way back in 1910.
Needless to say, Abanikanda was on a roll on Saturday. He was effectively Pitt’s entire offense against the Hokies and I’m not sure if that’s a bad thing. Look, this Pitt offense has struggled to find a rhythm in the passing game all season long, but Abanikanda has now rushed for over 100 yards in four of the team’s six games this season. He is a source of consistent offense and production. The team has seemingly been fighting with reverting back to a run-first offense, but with a player like Abanikanda, is that a bad thing? At this point, it feels like the smart plan of attack for this offense.
Abanikanda has accounted for 13 of the team’s 24 offensive touchdowns to this point of the season. He is having an All-American type season through six weeks. If Pitt is going to repeat as ACC Coastal champions, I think riding the hot hand of Abanikanda is the best way to get there.
Never Apologize for a win
Abanikanda’s performance ultimately masked a lot of the complaints from the Pitt fan base on Saturday, understandably so, because he was terrific. Having said that, there were obviously some miscues on Saturday that need addressed. The passing game seemed out of sorts, Pitt was penalized nine times, and the defense surrendered 11 explosive plays. There was a blocked punt on special teams, and Pitt's two-touchdown lead was down to two points early in the fourth quarter.
We’ll touch more on the passing game in a second, but yea it was a sloppy game yet again. Pitt talked all week about starting fast, and Pitt’s first drive of the game was a three-and-out that netted -4 yards. There are a lot of underlying issues with this team that have bubbled up this season that just weren’t there a year ago. They don’t look as sharp or focused to me, which is strange because this is a veteran group and it’s virtually the same team as last year minus Kenny Pickett and Jordan Addison.
The biggest thing on Saturday, above all else is that Pitt got a win.
The Panthers had a really terrible performance last week against Georgia Tech, and they bounced back and won a conference game by 16 points. In the grand scheme of things, sure you want things to look better and play a complete game, but winning a league game by two scores is never a bad thing however you break it down. Pitt has a lot to clean up if it wants to reach its larger goals for this season, but in the meantime beating Virginia Tech is a positive. It’s a win, they can head into the bye week with momentum. That counts for something.
Slovis doesn’t seem right
The Pitt offense generated 45 points, 496 yards, and it resulted in a conference victory over Virginia Tech. All in all, that’s a net positive for the day, but yet again the passing offense seemed to be a bit out of whack.
Kedon Slovis was 15-of-28 for 170 yards. He did not throw a touchdown pass and was picked off once. Pitt leaned on its rushing game, rightfully so, but it was another uninspiring effort from the passing attack.
Pitt was without leading pass catcher Konata Mumpfield, and in his place was Jaden Bradley, who made his first career start. Bradley made some plays, but showed his inexperience at times as well. Slovis was with his two top targets in Jared Wayne and Gavin Bartholomew, but the trio never clicked fully.
Slovis guided the team on 11 play and 95-yard drive and was 4-of-5 passing on Pitt's first scoring drive. He seemed to find an early rhythm, but had trouble replicating that later in the game. In the second half, Pitt dialed up a couple of deep shots and Slovis held onto the ball too long and eventually checked down for safer throws.
At first glance on those two play calls, it appeared there were open receivers that Pitt’s quarterback simply missed. This offense has been missing a deep element all season and they haven't taken many shots downfield. The times it was called for on Saturday were missed chances.
Pitt was able to get away with the struggling passing game today thanks to Abanikanda, but they might not always have that benefit later in the season. Teams will adjust to Abanikanda, and they will need their quarterback to make plays.
Slovis has not looked right since the first half of the Tennessee game. There are some hitches and hesitancy in his throws, and does not look to be seeing all of his progressions either. I’m not sure what the answer or the fix is, but they have two weeks to prepare for their next game to try to build some confidence in the passing game.
Too many explosive plays allowed by the defense
Pitt generated two turnovers, recorded three sacks, and held Virginia Tech to 4-of-16 on third down conversion attempts. After taking the lead in the second quarter, the Hokies were forced to punt seven times, turned it over twice, attempted a field goal in 10 of their next 11 possessions.
Overall, that’s a solid day for the Pitt defense. The Panthers started slow, but eventually put it together and held down Virginia Tech for the majority of the game.
My issue with Pitt’s defense on Saturday was the ‘explosive’ plays it allowed. Pat Narduzzi always mentions how he would like to limit opponents to under 4-5 explosive plays, but on Saturday the Hokies came up with 11 of those.
Virginia Tech had seven passing plays that went for 16 yards or more, and Pitt also surrendered four rushes of 12 yards or more. In total, the Hokies rushed for 126 yards, which is another number the Pitt defense tries to avoid. Virginia Tech wide receiver Kaleb Smith also generated 152 yards, a career-high for him.
The Hokies came into Saturday averaging 332 yards of offense per game, but they posted 403 against the Panthers. I think Pitt has a good defense, but the penalties (which some were very questionable today), big plays, and allowing a mediocre offense to have some continuity were concerning to me in this game against Virginia Tech. Pitt was mostly fine on that side of the ball, but the team also has plenty to clean up as well, particularly with explosive plays.
A Week to get healthy and adjust
Pitt gets a much-needed bye week coming up here as the team has officially hit the halfway point of the season. The Panthers are 4-2 with a 1-1 record in ACC play. The consensus is that this Pitt team has underperformed relative to its preseason ranking, but through six games the team still controls its own destiny in the ACC Coastal.
Pitt is not figuratively limping into the bye week as they did reverse the course and picked up a much-needed win on Saturday, but physically that is very much the case. The story of the 2022 season for Pitt has largely been defined by injuries on both sides of the ball.
There have been some players to return to the lineup here and there, but now with two weeks until the team’s next game they should have a chance to rest up and prepare for Louisville on October 22nd.
Pat Narduzzi said in his postgame press conference that his team may be close to getting guys like Rodney Hammond, Carter Warren, and Owen Drexel back on the field. He also seemed confident that SirVocea Dennis will be back out there after not playing in the second half against the Hokies, and that’s not to mention the players that have been playing through injuries as well. They could also use the rest.
This next week will certainly be a physical reset, but it can be a mental one as well. This season is not going as planned on some levels. The passing game is not what it was expected to be, some defensive players have left a lot on the field, there are always things to clean up, and I think the bye week comes at an opportune time and allows the teams a chance to make a second half push.
Let’s face it, this 2022 Pitt team came in with serious expectations and they have not lived up to them yet. With that in mind, they can still make a push to win the ACC again. Both things are true. The bye week should present the team with chances to get healthier, adjust some things schematically, and also refocus on what lies ahead, which is a six-game gauntlet against league opponents to finish the year.
