Heading into Thursday’s game featuring Pitt and North Carolina, more attention was probably spent on North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell than on Pitt's Kenny Pickett.
Howell is in the midst of a brilliant season, as he leads the ACC in passing yards and passing touchdowns as a true freshman. As expected, Howell was very good on Thursday as well. The freshman threw for 322 yards and three touchdowns, but ultimately he was not able to lead his team to a win.
Pickett on the other hand, made winning plays and had one of the best performances of his career. The junior was 25-of-41 for 359 yards and threw for a touchdown. He also rushed the ball 12 times for 53 yards and two scores. Probably most importantly, Pickett did not turn the ball over once.
“Kenny was outstanding,” Pat Narduzzi said in his postgame press conference. “He was on target. I don't think he had a bad pass. Obviously, we had some drops in the first half which was going to happen. Jared Wayne had a couple nice catches for a young guy getting in there, made some nice catches, could have maybe had a touchdown over the middle. Shocky was outstanding. But Kenny Pickett was on fire all day long. He played outstanding.”
Outstanding indeed. All parts of Pickett’s game were on display in Pitt’s 34-27 win over the Tar Heels.
The big passing plays were working on Thursday, something that has evaded the Panthers offense this season. Pitt connected on seven passing plays of 15-yards or more, including a dazzling 74-yard touchdown from Pickett to Shocky Jacques-Louis.
“Obviously that’s a huge play, that’s what we’ve been missing all year, kind of a guy catching and taking it to the house, so I’m really proud of him and he did a great job,” Pickett said of the big second quarter touchdown.
The junior also made some key plays with his feet. He was only sacked one time, but faced pressure on more than one occasion. He turned some losses into big gains, with three runs going for 12-or-more yards on the night.
The Pitt quarterback also made some winning plays down the stretch. Pitt executed a 14-play 85-yard drive in the third quarter, while it might not be anything out of the ordinary, but for a team that struggles to sustain drives in the second half, it was a big stretch of plays.
“I think the big thing was that we finished those drives,” Pickett said. “We put it in the end zone and that’s something we haven’t done in previous weeks and we really stressed that this week of getting in the end zone and finishing drives.”
Once again, it was a one-score win for this team. Five of Pitt’s seven wins have been decided by a touchdown or less. Pickett has guided the team to game winning drives before, but on Thursday that magic had to come in overtime with even more pressure.
In the extra frame, Pitt was faced with a 3rd and 14 from the North Carolina 29-yard line. Pickett calmly stepped up and fired a dart to Taysir Mack and the junior wide receiver gained 15 yards for the first down. Pickett later rushed in the game winning score from three yards away to set the final score.
"It was Taysir coming across and I saw the corner sitting outside and I wanted to make sure I threaded it on his back hip so he didn’t get laid out by that guy,” Pickett said of the clutch play in overtime. “When I threw it and let it go I didn’t know if he was going to get the first or not. I think he did a great job of fighting for that first down, obviously that was the biggest play in the overtime, I think.”
Whether it was extending plays with his feet, connecting on some deep passes, or executing a game-winning drive, throughout the game Kenny Pickett was sharp and efficient. He may not have set any career highs, but on Thursday night Pitt’s junior quarterback found a way to win a game in crunch time.
