Picked fourth and finished first: Pitt surpasses expectations in Coastal
Pitt wasn’t picked to win the ACC’s Coastal Division in 2021.
Pat Narduzzi’s group came in fourth in the preseason voting for the Coastal, trailing North Carolina, Miami and Virginia Tech. Three teams in the Atlantic Division - preseason favorite Clemson, N.C. State and Boston College - received more preseason votes than Pitt.
That’s six of the ACC’s 14 teams, all picked to finish ahead of the Panthers, whose projection had them somewhere in the dead middle of the Coastal Division.
And yet, on Saturday night, in front of an announced crowd of 45,183, there were the Panthers, celebrating on the team’s logo in the center of Heinz Field after their 48-38 win over Virginia clinched the Coastal and a spot in the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 4 in Charlotte.
Pat Narduzzi said he knew in spring ball that this year’s Pitt team had the potential to win a division. And Kenny Pickett said he wouldn’t have come back for an extra year with the Panthers if he didn’t believe they could succeed at this level.
But Pitt’s head coach and star quarterback weren’t in a group of many with those opinions. A team that went 6-5 in 2020 with an offense that had struggled for a couple years and lost multiple All-Americans plus several more starters to the NFL…that’s not a resume that generates a lot of expectations or optimism.
And yet, there they were, Narduzzi addressing the crowd and Pickett signing autographs, the coach and quarterback of a division champ.
Pickett was a big part of it, of course. His record-setting senior season added a few more notches on Saturday - he is now No. 1 on Pitt’s all-time list for single-season passing yards (3,857) and single-season touchdown responsibility (40) - after throwing for 340 yards and four touchdowns to beat the Cavaliers.
His top target, as always, was Jordan Addison, whose impressive freshman season has turned into a superlative-laden sophomore campaign. After catching 14 passes for 202 yards and all four of Pickett’s touchdown passes, Addison has 74 receptions, 1,272 yards and 15 receiving scores on the season.
Addison is one of the best in the country and arguably the best in the ACC.
Just like Pickett is one of the best in the country and arguably the best in the ACC.
Just like Pitt is one of…
Maybe that’s a bridge too far, at least right now.
The Panthers are 9-2 overall and 6-1 in the ACC with one regular-season game to play plus the aforementioned conference title game. There are plenty of opportunities for Pitt to add to its win total and further push itself into the national conversation. The Panthers were No. 18 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings; none of the teams directly ahead of them lost this weekend, so they might not get a big jump up.
But the opportunity is there. With a road trip to Syracuse and an ACC Championship Game set and a possible New Year’s Six bowl hanging in the balance, Pitt has an opportunity to play itself higher in the rankings.
Just as the Panthers had an opportunity to play themselves into the Coastal title, they will have a chance to keep building on this season that has been, to date, the program’s best since…
I suppose we can save the historic comparisons for the final outcome. When this season is over, when the final game has been played, we can stack up 2021 alongside the years that have come before it and measure its success.
After 11 games, it’s standing up pretty tall.
So maybe Pitt wasn’t picked to win the ACC or win the Coastal Division. Maybe these Panthers were expected to finish fourth, at best. Maybe they weren’t considered as much more than a six or seven-win team.
Nine wins and one division title later, they’ve exceeded expectations. And they’ve got more games left to play.