Pitt picked up a key non-conference win by knocking off Tennessee by a score of 41-34 over the weekend. The win propels Pitt to a 2-0 record early on in the 2021 season. The offense came up big on Saturday, and now the Panthers are averaging 46 points per game and the offense has generated a total of 12 touchdowns on the season.
The offense has been very good at large, but Pitt entered this season with concerns about its running game, and through two games those question marks persist.
Pitt is averaging 159.5 rushing yards a contest through the first two games of the season. The Panthers are posting 3.71 yards per carry. In comparison to the past two seasons, it’s actually an improvment, but looking beyond the numbers some of the same issues from prior years remain.
Pitt’s total rushing numbers are likely aided by playing UMass in week one, and also some running plays by quarterback Kenny Pickett and some wide receiver sweeps in both games. The Panthers two-man tandem at running back of Israel Abanikanda Vincent Davis combined for 76 rushing yards on 31 carries in Knoxville. Davis received a team-high 19 carries and averaged just 1.7 yards per rush, but did find the end zone just before halftime to put Pitt up 27-20, a lead it would not relinquish.
Davis checks in at 5’8” and 175-pounds, and was the back in the game for short-yardage situations and key moments in the game. The junior has plenty of game experience, and the coaches trust him in those moments.
“We talked about it Thursday right before I met with you guys,” Narduzzi said following the Tennessee game. “Like who is your short yardage back? Who is the guy you’re going with? And without any hesitation Coach Powell and Coach Whipple said Vincent Davis.”
Davis rewarded the coaches for that decision with the touchdown late in the first half. He and Abanikanda helped drain the final 4:52 off the clock in the fourth quarter to preserve the victory.
“Vince ran hard, Izzy ran hard,” Narduzzi said. “I’m awful proud of the offensive line blocking for them.”
The offensive line, of course, is the other key component to the running game. The veteran line proved to be very good against the Tennessee pass rush and gave Pickett time to operate the offense. The senior quarterback threw for 285 yards and two scores on Saturday, and has had a relatively clean pocket for the first two games of the season.
“It’s a great feeling blocking for Kenny Pickett,” Pitt senior left tackle Carter Warren said. “He’s an amazing player and we love blocking for him.”
The line struggled to create running lanes most of the game, but did come up with that big drive in the final minutes. Davis and Abanikanda each rushed for 13 yards on that final possession as Pitt kept the clock and chains moving on the way to a road victory.
“I think they did a great job on the run game,” Pickett said of his offensive line. “It takes time on the road to get the running game going and we know we had to wear them down a little bit, but they showed up on that last drive when we needed them.”
Marcus Minor is in his second game with the Pitt program as the starting left guard. The Maryland graduate transfer said they wanted to be responsible for closing out the game, which they ultimately did.
“It was a team effort,” Minor explained of that final drive. “We couldn’t do it without all 11 of us. We all know what was going to come down to. We knew from the beginning of the game that it was going to be a fight and we had to put it on our backs and we were just happy we were able to finish it that way.”
Pitt has a lot to iron out with its running game still, but a pair of rushing touchdowns in the red zone and a game winning drive are good building blocks for the rest of the season.
“This whole offseason we worked for moments like this,” Warren said after the win. “We gave it all we got man, and we buckled down and got the job done.”
