Whatever happened in the South Side to develop Pitt’s passing game over the last four weeks wasn’t enough.

Because when the Panthers’ new offense made its debut under the guidance of Mark Whipple Saturday night at Heinz Field, the results weren’t refined or very effective. And when time ran out on the season opener against Virginia, Pitt found itself looking at an offensive stat line that was unfortunately familiar:

263 yards of offense and two touchdowns.

That looks an awful lot like the stat lines Pitt produced under Shawn Watson last season. Pat Narduzzi fired Watson in the offseason and hired Whipple to improve those stat lines. So far, though, Whipple’s record is the same as Pitt’s: 0-1.

“Basically - we’ll go back and watch the tape, but we didn’t make enough plays,” Narduzzi said after the game, a 30-14 loss to the Coastal Division foes. “We miss throws, we drop balls, we don’t protect the quarterback, we don’t tackle as well as we need to and it starts with me. I have to do a better job getting them ready.”

Narduzzi threw in the part about not tackling well for balance, but the reality was clear for anyone who watched the game. After an offseason of talking about how they were going to improve the passing game from last year’s dismal performance, Pitt’s players and coaches failed their first test.

“It was a sloppy game for a Week One game,” junior quarterback Kenny Pickett said after the game. “We have to focus on our offense and our timing and get back to it this week.”

Pickett himself has plenty of work to do. He completed 21-of-41 passes for 185 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. The attempts were by design; Narduzzi said after the game that the goal was to emphasize the passing game, and Whipple certainly has a history of attacking through the air.

But the results fell well short of expectations. Pickett missed at least four open receivers downfield was an intercepted twice on passes he forced into coverage. He was under pressure throughout the game as Pitt’s rebuilt offensive line struggled with the way Virginia blitzed out of its 3-4 defensive scheme.

And when Pickett did find time, he was hurt by three drops on crucial passes downfield.

All in all, it was an ugly performance in front of a home crowd of 47,144 fans who were looking for something more from the passing game.

There were flashes in the second quarter. After opening the game with three yards on 1-of-7 passing in the first 15 minutes, Pickett completed 11-of-13 passes for 119 yards and a score in the second quarter.

Those efforts plus 45 yards on the ground had Pitt leading 14-13 in the locker room at halftime. But things went downhill again in the second half. Pickett hit on just nine of his 21 attempts for 63 yards and two interceptions while getting sacked three times.

It was no surprise, then, that the Panthers were shut out after halftime.

“We showed glimpses, but if you show glimpses, you’re not going to win the game,” Pickett said. “You have to be consistent all game. At the end of the day, Coach said it best: there were plays to be made, we just didn’t make them.”

“We had guys open, you know, in the passing game,” Narduzzi said. “We had what we wanted - we have to connect.”