Pitt’s streak of putting players on the ACC’s weekly honor roll continued this week, as defensive end Jimmy Scott and kicker Ben Sauls were both recognized by the conference for their performances in the Panthers’ 17-15 win over Cal at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday.

Scott earned Defensive Lineman of the Week honors after recording six tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and three sacks in the win. All of those were career highs for Scott, who is in his first season as a starter for Pitt, and his three sacks were the most by a Pitt defender in a single game since Calijah Kancey had 3.5 sacks at Virginia in November 2022.

Sauls was named Specialist of the Week on the strength of one very long field goal against the Bears:

A 58-yard kick that cleared the crossbar with room to spare early in the second quarter. It was the longest kick of Sauls’ career, and it tied the Pitt record for field goals as well as breaking the Pitt record for longest field goal at Acrisure Stadium/Heinz Field.

Sauls has now made four field goals of 50-plus yards in his career, and three of them have come this season. Prior to 2024, he was 1-for-5 on kicks of 50+, having made a 51-yard field goal against Duke in 2022.

So far this season, Sauls is 3-for-3 on kicks of longer than 50 yards, with a 50-yard kick against Kent State, a 53-yard make at Cincinnati and Saturday’s 58-yarder that ended up being the game-winning difference against Cal.

Sauls is one of nine kickers in the country who have made every one of their field goal attempts this season (minimum one attempt per game). At a perfect 10-for-10, he is tied with UAB’s Jonah Delange and Texas Tech’s Gino Garcia for the second-most field goals made without a miss; Kentucky’s Alex Raynor is 11-for-11. Dating back to last season, Sauls has made 12 field goals in a row, with his last miss coming on a 52-yard attempt against Boston College in the penultimate game of the schedule.

This was the second ACC Specialist of the Week honors for Sauls this season; he was previously recognized after going 3-for-3 in Pitt’s win at Cincinnati. All told, Pitt players have received weekly honors from the conference on 15 occasions this season - the most of any team in the ACC by almost double. Syracuse and Miami have the second-most with eight each.

Of course, the Panthers’ success in the weekly honors department has been buoyed, to some extent, by quarterback Eli Holstein, who has been named ACC Rookie of the Week five times this season. But even if those honors are set aside, Pitt players have still be recognized 10 times by the conference.