Heisman talk has surrounded Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett for a few weeks now. Following Pitt’s 27-17 win over Clemson on Saturday, it got that much more real. The Pitt quarterback threw for 302 yards and two touchdowns on a national stage against one of the best defenses in college football.
The hype following Pickett has been growing week after week. He continues to break all-time records left by former Pitt greats like Dan Marino and Alex Van Pelt, and he has his team out to a 6-1 start, the best for this program since 2009.
It took a little while for the Pitt offense to get going on Saturday, but Pickett and his team eventually found a rhythm. He showed the poise you would expect from a fifth-year player, even with the growing hype trailing him.
Pickett has always been quick to deflect the attention. The national media has been talking about his play for weeks, he was featured on ESPN’s College Gameday on Saturday morning, but once the lights came on, Pickett played through it.
“I can’t really explain it; I'm just feel really comfortable out there and I don’t really think about all that stuff,” Pickett told reporters after his 43rd career start. “It’s great for the media and I’m grateful for all the kind words, but once I get out there I’m ready to play.”
Pickett’s play did the talking on Saturday. He found Jordan Addison for a 23-yard score in the second quarter to tie the game at seven. Minutes later, he connected with Taysir Mack on a 39-yard bomb on a fourth down attempt to give Pitt the lead, one it would not relinquish.
“It was one of the plays pre-snap I knew I had it,” Pickett said of that fourth down throw. “I just had to make sure I didn’t overthrow it because he was so wide open.”
The Pitt offense was sidelined for much of the third quarter, but the Panthers added to their lead anyway. A DJ Uiagalelei interception on a shovel pass led to a SirVocea Dennis defensive score. Clemson still held the ball for over eight minutes to start the second half leaving Pickett and the offense on the sideline.
It didn’t seem to matter. Pickett was without his top target in Addison, who did not play in the second half due to concussion protocols. The senior seemed unfazed by that as well.
“He's an unbelievable football player,” Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said of his senior quarterback. “Again, we lean on Kenny. We're going to put the ball in his hands. We ride with Kenny.”
That’s exactly what Pitt did on its final drive. The Panthers possessed the ball for nearly the entire fourth quarter, a new calling card for this team this season as this is the third straight game Pitt has held onto the ball for over 10 minutes in the final frame. After Clemson cut into Pitt’s lead at 27-17 with 9:30 remaining in the game, the Panthers were facing a 3rd and 7 from its own 36. Pickett used his scrambling ability to pick up eight yards and kept the drive going. Moments later, Pitt was facing a similar down and distance and Pickett kept it on a designed run for a seven yard gain when he needed six yards for the first down marker.
“I told Whip to just keep the ball in my hands,” Pickett said of that last drive. “I wanted to go do it myself and get the first and those guys up front did a great job. It was a great call too.”
Pickett finished with 15 rushing yards, but had three runs on Saturday in which he picked up a first down, and two of them had the Pitt quarterback diving to pick up the first down. Laying out for extra yards caught the attention of his teammates, even ones on the defensive side of the ball.
“The first thought that comes to my mind is, ‘Man he’s a winner,’ Dennis said of Pitt’s senior captain. “If our head leader is doing all of that for us just to get that extra yard, fight for that extra yard…I’m just like, ‘Man if he’s doing that then I can do just a little bit extra for him’ and I think everyone else sees it as well.”
“You can tell he’s one of those players that don’t like losing," Pitt sophomore running back Rodney Hammond said of Pickett. "He’s going to do whatever it takes so we don’t lose.”
Pickett’s clutch runs helped keep Pitt on the field for the game’s final 7:56 and eventually iced the clock away for a victory. The Panthers now sit with a 6-1 record, and the talk of Pickett’s Heisman campaign will continue to grow heading into next week's game against Miami, the same program he made his first start against as a true freshman.
It has been a long road for Pickett. He has been Pitt’s starting quarterback since the season finale against the Hurricanes in the 2017 season. Pickett has seen some ups and downs in his career, but stresses that it has taken a lot of work for Pitt’s rise in the rankings this season.
“You’ve got to go get it, right? You can’t just say it’s a long time coming and just hope for it to happen, you’ve got to go do it,” Pickett answered when asked if this success was long overdue. “I’m proud of every guy that went out there and mastered the game plan which is what we needed to do and then go execute it at a high level.”
