No. 22 Pitt secured a thrilling 17-15 win over Cal on Saturday at Acrisure Stadium. The win propelled the Panthers' record to 6-0 on the year. Here are some notables about Pitt's season following the Cal game.
Dynamic Desmond
In the history of Pitt football, the Panthers may have never had someone quite like Desmond Reid. On Saturday, Reid totaled 139 all-purpose yards: 120 on the ground and a 19-yard catch. Reid remains second in the nation in all-purpose yards, with 182.6 per game, trailing only Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty in that department.
Saturday marked Reid’s third 100-yard rushing game this season. Last week, he went over 100 yards receiving against North Carolina. That’s the thing that makes him so different than any other player in Pitt history, however. He won ACC Wide Receiver of the Week honors last week, and after rushing for two scores, could be named the league’s top running back tomorrow.
Reid now has three games of 100 yards rushing, and two 100-yard receiving games this season. He’s one of the most electric players in college football, but wants it made clear what position he actually plays.
“Even though I won receiver of the week, I was like, ‘man, I’m a running back’ so I’m trying to run the ball,” he said.
Gutsy call
Pitt was looking like it was ready to go for it from its own 28-yard line at the very end of the first quarter. The clock struck zero, and even after the break between quarters, the Panthers seemed keen on going for it on a fourth and one. As Pitt lined up, Kade Bell had trips left, leaving the right side of the field pretty much unguarded. As we’ve seen this season, Reid really only needs a crack, and that’s all it took.
The Panthers’ speedy tailback broke loose for a 72-yard touchdown on fourth and one. A game altering play in many respects. Even though Pitt had time to think over the decision, Narduzzi said he never really doubted it.
“Those are calls you've got to make as a head coach. You guys yell at me if we don't get it, but we were 2 for 2. I think they were maybe 0 for 1.But our defense continues to be good on 4th down, and again, we tell our guys we're going to go for it on 4th when the time is right, and we've got a lot of faith in our offense converting.”
“I played like a freshman today”
Pitt freshman quarterback Eli Holstein has still not lost a college football start in his young career, but for the first time, he will wake up Monday morning and not be named ACC Rookie of the Week tomorrow.
And that’s OK.
Holstein was bound to have a humbling experience at some point in his career, fortunately for him, it happened when Pitt’s defense had its best showing of the 2024 season. The Panthers got a win, despite their quarterback going 14-for-28 for 133 yards, no touchdowns, and two bad interceptions.
Pitt produced its lowest point total and yardage output of the season against Cal. In fairness to Holstein, Cal does have a pretty good defense. The Golden Bears are tied for the national lead with 13 interceptions on the season. Holstein took blame himself, but did make it a point to credit the Bears.
“That’s a great defense we played right there. They played every coverage in the book and gave me different looks. It was hard to really tell what they were playing in certain situations.”
Big Ben
Ben Sauls proved on Saturday he is capable of being an All-American this season. Pitt’s senior kicker tied the school record with a 58-yard field goal previously set by Alex Kessman. It was also one off the Acrisure Stadium record held by current Steelers kicker Chris Boswell.
When a Pitt second quarter drive Pitt stalled at the Cal 40-yard line, Narduzzi confidently went with his kicker for a 58-yard attempt. Sauls lined up and had plenty of leg, looking like it would have been good from over 60 yards into Acrisure Stadium’s closed end zone.
“That was crazy right there,” said Pitt tailback Desmond Reid. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a college kicker make that. That just shows a lot. He’s a dog, too. He’s ready to go out there and make something happen and he’s another reason we won this game.”
Bumps and bruises
Pitt basically lost the left side of the line seemingly right away in this game. Both Ryan Jacoby and Branson Taylor exited the game in the first half. Jason Collier came in at left guard, while Terrence Enos manned the left tackle spot. Pitt’s offense obviously struggled against Cal, and Narduzzi felt the two missing linemen made an impact.
“It had a little bit of a factor, there's no question about it. I think Coach Bell kind of maybe got a little bit conservative, was just worried how we'd hold up over on that left side. But you live and learn, and we'll watch the videotape and see what happened.”
A few small steps
Konata Mumpfield recorded three catches on Saturday, giving him 128 for his Pitt career. Mumpfield is tied with Jon Baldwin on the school’s all-time receptions list with 128. The Pitt senior is closing in on finishing top ten in school history. Former trammate Jared Wayne is currently sitting at No. 10 with 146 grabs.
Gavin Bartholomew inched ahead of JP Holtz on Pitt’s tight end receptions list. Bartholomew hauled in three catches against Cal, giving him 84 for his career. He is within range to become the first Pitt tight end to ever record 100 career catches.
Sacks are back
Pitt is now one of 18 teams in the country averaging three sacks per game this season. After recording zero against Youngstown State, and only one versus North Carolina, the Panthers exploded for six in the team’s win over Cal on Saturday. At the center of it was Jimmy Scott, who finished with three, giving him four for the season. Braylan Lovelace added two, and of course Kyle Louis had one himself.
Lovely Day
Braylan Lovelace saw an extended role in Pitt’s 17-15 win over Cal. The sophomore linebacker had sort of taken a backseat this season. Despite starting four games this season, Rasheem Biles has played more in this spot, and has had the bigger season to date. With Biles sidelined with an injury, there was no drop-off with Lovelace out there. The sophomore from nearby Leechburg posted seven tackles, one off of his personal best. He also recorded the first two sacks of his career, and had another TFL on Cal QB Fernando Mendoza. Narduzzi was pleased with how Lovelace stepped up against the Golden Bears.
“But I'm fired up for Lovelace. Braylan needed that. He's played good, but he hasn't played great. But he got two sacks today. He played the whole darned game pretty much.”
Stopping the run
Pitt limited Cal to only 63 rushing yards on 40 carries on Saturday. Of course the six sacks are weighed in there, but Cal’s sack adjusted rushing total was still only 99 yards. The Panthers benefitted from Jadyn Ott not playing, but Cal still had Jaivian Thomas, who was the team’s leading rusher entering the game, not Ott. Following that performance, the Panthers are now 31st in the country in stopping the run, surrendering 108.5 yards per contest.
Mr. Reliable
Donovan McMillon is often Pitt’s last line of defense, so it’s a good thing he’s probably the team’s most reliable tackler. McMillon recorded yet another double-digit tackle performance, providing 11 stops against Cal. It was the fourth double-digit tackle showing he has had this season, and all of them have come in Pitt’s four games against power-four competition. McMillon’s 56 tackles are tied for the second most in the ACC currently. He posted 105 tackles last season, and is slightly ahead of that 12-game pace.
Closing the door
Pitt did allow Cal to score a fourth quarter touchdown on Saturday, but that was also only the second time that has happened this season. In six games, Pitt has only allowed 16 points in the game’s final quarter. Teams 4-of-24 against the Panthers on third downs, and 10 of Pitt’s 18 sacks this season have come in the fourth quarter.
Ending with a stop
Part of closing the door is making sure you finish out the game in the last few plays. Pitt’s defense has done that quite a bit this season. Javon McIntyre recovered a fumble to close out Cincinnati. Kyle Louis had a game-ending interception against West Virginia. On Saturday, Rashad Battle held Cal’s Mason Starling four yards short of the first down marker. That is three instances where the opposing team had the ball in a one-score game in their final possession, and Pitt has generated a stop.
"We like when the game is in our hands,” said Braylan Lovelace. "We like the pressure.”
Perfect all around
Pitt’s 6-0 start is drawing headlines, but the Panthers are now 2-0 in the ACC following the win over Cal. There are four teams who stand unbeaten: Clemson is 4-0, while Miami, SMU, and Pitt all check in at 2-0. In the second half of the season, the Panthers will see SMU on the road, and will get Clemson at home. It’s still early to get too far ahead in the ACC race, but Pitt is near the top two games into the conference campaign.
“This is Pitt’s best start since…”
We have been typing out this sat quite a bit in recent weeks. The latest update for Pitt’s undefeated surge is that this is the program’s best start since 1982, when that set of Panthers opened the year 7-0. Pitt is 6-0, and after being ranked No. 22 the week, the team has a chance for some slight advancement in this week’s AP Poll.
Both No. 18 Oklahoma and No. 16 Utah lost this week, giving both teams two losses. While some teams behind Pitt and a few unranked ones scored some big wins, the Panthers should leapfrog at least those schools.
A big game…with Syracuse?
It’s hard to remember the last time both Pitt and Syracuse had a game this late in the season where the two schools have this much at stake. The Orange are 5-1 (2-1 ACC) and have had a resurgence under first-year coach Fran Brown. Syracuse is riding the magic of Ohio State transfer Kyle McCord at quarterback, who looks unburdened and comfortable getting out of the lights of Columbus.
Pitt and Syracuse have played every year since 1955. The Panthers are 18-4 over the last 22 meeting, though Syracuse won last year in Yankee Stadium. Despite being ‘rivals’ and this being a constant on the schedule for both teams, rarely do the meetings hold much significance.
Syracuse has struggled since the turn of the century, and the 1990s were a forgettable decade for Pitt football. On October 19, 1991 both teams were ranked, marking the last time that has happened for one of these meetings. No. 24 Syracuse edged No. 20 Pitt 31-27 at Pitt Stadium.
Pitt should stay in the rankings until that October 24th Thursday night game at Acrsiure Stadium, though Syracuse may just be on the cusp.
