Pitt lost to No. 24 Tennessee 34-27 in overtime at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday in a game that lasted over four hours. It was a marathon, much like Pitt's opener against West Virginia. The Panthers were down 24-17 at halftime and lost starting quarterback Kedon Slovis to injury, but the team found a way to take the game to overtime. The Panthers gave up a score on Tennessee’s first possession, and they failed to match it when they got the ball.
Here are five takeaways from the game.
Early missed chances cost Pitt
Pitt played great in the opening minutes of Saturday’s game with Tennessee. The Panthers marched down the field, but had to settle for three points. Konata Mumpfield had a costly drop that would have given them a first down and put Pitt closer to the goal line, and potentially having that drive result in a touchdown. That drop was almost a foreshadowing moment for the remainder of the game.
Pitt left chances on the field throughout the game, but the early ones seemed to matter most with the momentum the team had. Following a 76-yard touchdown run by Israel Abanikanda and another three-and-out by the Pitt defense, Pitt once again moved the ball down the field. Kedon Slovis hit Bub Means in the back of the end zone, but it fell off his hands and then went for a Tennessee interception. For all the early swing plays that seemed to go in their favor, all Pitt had to show for it was a 10-0 advantage.
Tennessee weathered that early storm by Pitt, and subsequently took over the game as well. The Volunteers put up touchdowns on three consecutive drives late in the first quarter and extended it into the second. Tennessee actually led at the break 24-17. Pitt threw a great haymaker in the opening moments of the game, but didn’t quite land it fully, and that proved to be a missed opportunity for the Panthers in this game.
The missed chances in the beginning of the game stand out, but they persisted throughout Saturday's contest. Pitt did not score on a blocked punt, they missed two field goals, and a penalty that negated a Nick Patti touchdown run, heck even throw in Jared Wayne’s near catch at the 8-yard line in overtime. He was out of bounds by a hair, football is a game of inches as they say, and it showed there.
2) Quarterback concerns
Kedon Slovis did not play at all in the second half in Pitt’s loss on Saturday to the Tennessee Volunteers. The Pitt quarterback was injured on Pitt’s final offensive play in the second quarter. Slovis was sacked with :14 seconds left in the half and the play resulted in a fumble, which led to three points for Tennessee. Given the commotion following the play, his injury almost went unnoticed at the time until he did not make his way onto the field after halftime.
In standard Pat Narduzzi protocol, he did not disclose the status of Slovis in the post game press conference. Overall, Slovis looked fairly sharp in the first half. He went 14-of-24 for 195 yards and a touchdown. He did throw one interception, but it may have been more on the receiver not making a play. The problem with Slovis’ outing on Saturday wasn’t that he took a hit at the end of the half, but the Pitt quarterback was hit far too many times. Last week, it felt like Slovis was slow getting the ball out, but today it seemed like the offensive line was not pass blocking well, or receivers weren’t getting to where they needed to be. Saturday was a clear indication as to why Slovis won the starting job, and I am not taking anything away from Nick Patti’s effort, as he almost led a second half comeback on a bad ankle. Patti played a gutty football game, like everyone knew he would if ever given the chance this season. Having said that, his throws were certainly off in the third quarter, and there is a difference in his delivery and Slovis’.
The offensive play calling went conservative when he entered the game, and it grew even less ambitious when Patti injured his ankle. Again, Patti is a gamer. He threw the game-tying touchdown on fourth down. Patti completed another fourth down pass in overtime to Konata Mumpfield. He’s a tough guy, there is no denying that, those type of things were almost expected.
Pitt having two injured quarterbacks heading into week three is less than ideal. Patti can give them a chance to win some games if he’s healthy, but Slovis gives them a chance to win the ACC if he is good to go, and we’ll await how that plays out in the next week.
3) The defense struggled, but figured things out in the second half.
After stopping Tennessee on its first three possessions of the game, the Pitt defense struggled a bit after that. The Volunteers scored touchdowns on three straight drives to eventually take the lead in the first half. In the second quarter alone, Pitt allowed 138 yards of offense including a 32-yard touchdown from Hendon Hooker, and another 61-yard play that was ruled down at the one-yard line.
Given the state of Pitt’s play on defense, it may have altered how Pitt played the game on offense. Pitt went for a fourth and three in the second quarter at the Volunteers’ 27-yard line, which resulted in a sack. The Tennessee offense was starting to cook a bit, which may have forced Pitt’s hand to take a risk there. That even extends to Pitt running a play just before halftime rather than taking a knee. Pitt played like it needed to score more points, because it may have felt like the defense wasn’t going to get enough stops.
Something changed, however. Pitt had its back up against the wall with the quarterback situation, but the defense rose to the occasion. In the second half Pitt only allowed three points. They surrendered just 115 yards of total offense, as well. Pitt got two sacks in the second half, and limited Tennessee to 1-of-7 on third down conversions. It was a surprising turn of events because it felt Hooker and the Tennessee offense had some rhythm going, and ultimately it kept Pitt in the game. Pitt got back to its bread and butter of stopping the run, and allowed just 91 rushing yards on Saturday after letting West Virginia run for 190 yards in the first game. It was not a perfect defensive effort for four quarters, but it was a very good second half and showed improvements from last week, and also in-game adjustments to what Tennessee was doing. It’s hard to knock the defense in the second half, because that group almost won them the game.
4) Abanikanda comes up big
Rodney Hammond stole the show in last week’s win over West Virginia. The sophomore back made multiple splash plays and overshadowed the starter Izzy Abanikanda. Heading into Saturday’s game with Tennessee, it was expected that Hammond would not play, and that Abanikanda would have to step up and perform better, which he did in a big way.
The junior tailback rushed 25 times for a career-high 154 yards and a touchdown. He ran away from the Tennessee defense on a career-long 76-yard touchdown run in the first half. Abanikanda also made a 21-yard catch and run on a screen pass that eventually set up the game-tying touchdown. Abanikanda entered this season with some high expectations and in the opener, there were some doubts. He erased those this week with a big performance against a tough SEC defense. Abanikanda has had two of the most impressive plays of the season to date, and he may be showing enough consistency to do that for the rest of the season.
5) The Goals are still on the table
It’s a cliche, but it is also true: The 2022 Pitt football team has everything there for the taking still, even with a loss to Tennessee on Saturday. Pitt can still have a big season, they can still win 10 games, and can also repeat as ACC Champions. Nothing about the loss to Tennessee has altered those plans, at least in the mind of the coaches and players.
Having said that, Saturday’s loss to Tennessee is a frustrating one on many levels. Not just because of the missed opportunities in the game itself, but because what a win would have done for this team heading into next week and beyond. Pitt would have jumped in the rankings with a win on Saturday, and with a winnable slate ahead, there could have been some serious momentum. The team squandered opportunities on the field on Saturday, and also some chances for national perception as well.
Pitt has a lot left to play for this season. There are now challenges ahead with the state of the quarterback situation and other injuries surrounding the team. I have concerns with the offensive line, the wide receivers, and the consistency of the defense. But on Saturday I saw some positives from Abanikanda and sophomore tight end Gavin Bartholomew. There was a fight in this team with some things stacked against them at the time, and we’ll see how they respond next weekend when the team heads to Kalamazoo to take on Western Michigan.
