MORE FROM PITT'S WIN OVER WEST VIRGINIA - Pitt wins the wild return of the Brawl | The Panther-Lair Post-Game: Breaking down Pitt's win in the Brawl | Box score: Pitt 38, WVU 31 | Slideshow: Photos from the Backyard Brawl | Five takeaways from Pitt's win over WVU | Narduzzi: 'That was a brawl, for sure'

We are a day late, but there was plenty to digest from Pitt’s 38-31 win over West Virginia on Thursday night. The Panthers did not play their best football, and we’ll touch on that, but they found a way to gut out a memorable win in the Backyard Brawl.

There is a lot to talk about in this Saturday edition of the 3-2-1 Column.

THREE THINGS WE KNOW

Pitt is 1-0 and that is all that really matters
I think anytime when a football team comes into season with high expectations, those feelings can turn somewhat unrealistic, or take on a life of their own. Perhaps there was a little of that among the Pitt fanbase heading into the 2022 season. The Panthers were coming off an 11-win campaign and won the ACC title in 2021. The team entered this year as a preseason top-20 team. It’s the most hyped up offseason I can remember this program having in my time covering the team.

The players themselves are claiming that they are shooting for a national championship, and whether that is realistic or not, they believe it when they say it.

I think when there are those type of expectations, you naturally think everything is going to click right off the bat, and for the 2022 Pitt football team that was not the case. There were mental errors, miscues, and sloppy play in Thursday night’s opening game against West Virginia.

There are now questions about the quarterback, the play calling, the offensive line, the run defense, and special teams after Pitt’s 38-31 win over the Mountaineers.

That’s all fair, but here is the thing: Pitt is 1-0.

That’s the reality, and that’s all that really matters for this team. Pitt engineered a fourth quarter comeback win at home in front of a packed stadium on national TV. It was as exciting of an opening game as there could be.

I did not walk away from the game thinking anything more or less of the 2022 Pitt football team than I did on Thursday morning. The reason being was the opponent. West Virginia came to play. They are a power-five team. There is a reason Pitt has opened with Albany, Youngstown State, UMass and Austin Peay through the years. It gives you a cushion to work some things out before the bigger games start. Thursday did not present that opportunity, nor should it have. It was a great atmosphere and it was way better than watching Pitt clock an FCS program.

Any thought that Pitt would roll over West Virginia was not met in reality.

Pitt as a program has not played in many rivalry games through the years. This current group of players, save for a few that saw the Penn State rivalry, hadn’t really either. They saw it firsthand on Thursday. The Mountaineers punched them in the mouth at times, their fans showed up, and there was a whole state believing they were going to spoil Pitt’s highly anticipated 2022 season.

The Backyard Brawl is just different. It’s the greatest equalizer there is when Pitt and West Virginia meet on the football field. The better team (quite famously) has not always won the game. Crazy things happen in this rivalry, and they did on Thursday.

You have to appreciate what the game is, and how Pitt overcame it and a way to win. There were times West Virginia had momentum, some breaks were falling their way, and Pitt seemed to be on the ropes. A rivalry game does that.

Pitt did not look sharp on Thursday, and you wonder where the team is ultimately heading this season, but at the same time you have to remember the opponent. I wouldn’t make any grand proclamations after what unfolded on Thursday. Style points do not matter in rivalry games, results do, and Pitt got the one it needed against West Virginia.

Kedon Slovis was fine, but has room for improvement
Pat Narduzzi was asked to evaluate Kedon Slovis’ performance after Pitt’s 38-31 win over West Virginia. On one hand, Slovis was efficient. He was 16-of-24 for 308 yards and a touchdown. He did not turn the ball over, and led an impressive drive late in the game to tie the game.

Looking at it the other way, Slovis was sacked five times. Some of those were on the quarterback, as the protection gave him time, and he was either slow to read the play downfield or not quick to feel the pressure in the pocket.

“You know what, I thought he was a little late with the ball at times,” Narduzzi said of Slovis’ debut. “16-of-24, pretty good. I think one TD, five sacks, don't like the sacks but we'll look at that; why, what. Don't like the sacks at all.”

It was a mostly fine and effective showing for Slovis in his debut, a winning performance no less, but it left some question marks from the quarterback, the line, and the play caller.

I think the biggest takeaway is that it is all a work in progress for the offense under first-year coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. The offense can and likely will adapt and find the right combinations and play calling sequences to best suit their personnel. They did not have that warm up game to figure it out as the Pitt offense was staring down a hungry West Virginia defense led by potential All-American Dante Stills.

Slovis seemed more comfortable in shotgun situations, and finding receivers in open spaces. They did not attack the middle of the field a ton, and that’s an option moving forward, as would be going for some deep shots, though they did take a few on Thursday.

The way the offense looked to be set up was to have a strong running game to help set up the pass, and that wasn’t really an option on Thursday. Pitt was in a lot of 2nd and 8 scenarios, as the running game wasn’t generating much, aside from some big plays from Rodney Hammond.

I think there is more to unlock for the whole group, but the biggest takeaway was that it wasn’t sharp in the first game and there are some valid reasons to have some hesitations about Slovis and the offense heading into next week and beyond.

It was a Pitt home game, like we knew it would be
I did not count all 70,622 fans on Thursday to see if they were wearing a Pitt shirt or a West Virginia shirt. Having said that, it was painfully obvious all week that the weird ESPN College Football Live segment claiming there would be 75% West Virginia fans at Acrisure Stadium was bogus. On Thursday it proved to be true.

There were West Virginia fans there. They made noise during West Virginia's big plays, but come on. The whole thing was stupid from the start.

It was an incredible atmosphere on Thursday night for Pitt and the fans played a factor in the win. West Virginia was hit with multiple false start penalties. The press box itself was shaking in the aftermath of MJ Devonshire’s pick-six. That just wouldn’t have been possible if the vast majority of fans in the building weren’t cheering for Pitt.

This was the sixth time Pitt and West Virginia have met at the Heinz Field/Acrisure Stadium compound, and the games have always been spirited. The West Virginia fans have made that short trip every time, but there has never been a majority of Mountaineer fans in the past. So on the channel the game was being broadcast, the network pushed a story from an unreliable website that after Pitt’s best season in 40 years...with the highest preseason expectations they’ve had in 10 years...that they were going to get outnumbered in the stands at their own home field?

It was always a silly notion from the start.

TWO QUESTIONS WE HAVE

What happened with the run defense?
Teams rarely run the ball with much success against the Pitt defense. Stopping the run is a staple of the defensive philosophy for Pat Narduzzi, and something his teams hang their hat on as a unit. In 2021, Pitt was sixth nationally in run defense and allowed only 89.2 yards per game.

On Thursday night, West Virginia gashed the Pitt defense for 190 yards. The Mountaineers received 125 yards from CJ Donaldson, a true freshman that was listed in the program as a tight end. Tony Mathis chipped in with 71 yards himself. As a team, West Virginia ripped off six runs of 14 yards or more against the Pitt defense.

For a team that is geared towards defending the run, the way the game played out on Thursday was a big surprise to many. I don’t know if the performance was an aberration, good scheming by the West Virginia offense, or some real deficiencies on Pitt’s end.

During one sequence, Donaldson ripped off a 39-yard run in the fourth quarter. The Pitt defensive line seemingly clogged most of the holes, but there was a gap that needed filled by a linebacker. Donaldson slipped through that opening for a big run, and you could see senior SirVocea Dennis talking to first-year starter Bangally Kamara after the play.

Kamara sort of hugged the end, rather than fill the open space. It was one mistake in particular, but one that seemingly came up all night. I think coming into this season, the Pitt linebackers were a cause of concern. Dennis is a pretty good one, but you weren’t quite sure what to expect from Kamara and Notre Dame transfer Shayne Simon.

Pitt had such a veteran group at linebacker in 2021. On Thursday, it felt like Pitt missed that consistency from those veterans. Narduzzi, the architect of this defensive scheme, was clearly upset about it in the post game.

“I'm hot. That doesn't usually happen. I'm not happy. I'm not happy about our run defense. We'll get it cleaned up and see again. We have two young outside linebackers playing their first game. Probably SirVocea was good inside but we'll clean that up. That's a fact. I'm in charge of that.”

Again, it’s all first game stuff and there’s room to get better, but that was a way West Virginia found some success that was not really expected going into this game and it proved to be a difference maker in how the game was played. Narduzzi vowed they can fix the issues, and that will likely be a focus for the next opponent...

What is Pitt up against in Tennessee?
One thing that struck me in the postgame was that senior captain SirVocea Dennis was mindful and aware of an issue the 2021 Pitt team had. When Pitt had some of its biggest, most emotional wins last year, the team faltered the very next week. It was true of Pitt’s win over Tennessee, which was followed by a loss to Western Michigan. The big home win over Clemson was backed up by a loss to Miami.

“That’s something we struggled with last year,” Dennis said. "It’s really about handling success and adversity.”

That’s a fair point, but while Pitt may have overlooked Western Michigan a year ago, that would be hard to do with the Panthers next opponent on the schedule this year. Tennessee is coming to Acrisure Stadium next weekend for a nationally televised 3:30 kick on ABC. It is the first time ever that an SEC team is traveling to play a game in Pittsburgh, which is a crazy stat considering Pitt started fielding a football team in 1890 and the SEC was founded in 1932.

Nonetheless, it is once again a big showcase for Pitt against a team from the premier league in the sport. Last season, Pitt went into Neyland Stadium and took down the Volunteers 41-34. That alone should create some sense of familiarity between both sides, but there is more to it than that.

The Vols are coached by Josh Heupel, who is in his second year with the program. He started his coaching career at UCF and this upcoming matchup will already be the fourth head-to-head meeting between Heupel and Pat Narduzzi in five years. Narduzzi holds a 2-1 edge in the individual series.

Tennessee is led by quarterback Hendon Hooker, who is yet another familiar face for this Pitt team. Hooker came into the game last season after starting on the bench and threw for 188 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 49 yards. Hooker began his career at Virginia Tech and squared off with Pitt with the Hokies prior to his stint in Tennessee.

Hooker propelled that performance against Pitt into the best season of his career. He has carried that over into this year, and there is some optimism around him and Tennessee. On Thursday night, Hooker passed for two touchdowns and rushed for two more in a convincing 59-10 win over Ball State.

So despite Tennessee being a foreign opponent in terms of traveling to Pittsburgh, there is plenty of familiarity. Pitt has seen Heupel and Hooker multiple times. The Volunteers, like many SEC schools, recruit at a very high level. This is a roster that is filled with four-star type players.

Tennessee presents a lot of challenges with the tempo they will play with on offense, and the sheer talent they possess on defense. We’ll talk plenty of Tennessee throughout the week, but it’s never too early to start thinking about next week’s challenge as we continue to recap the memorable Backyard Brawl.

ONE PREDICTION

Gavin Bartholomew makes a bigger impact next week
I am not sure if it was first week jitters by the entire team and they were trying to get everything in all at once, but the lack of usage for tight end Gavin Bartholomew on Thursday seemed like a missed opportunity. Bartholomew was a valuable weapon for Pitt in 2021 and entered this season with high expectations. He seems like he can be a difference maker and has a chance to be one of Pitt’s most productive tight ends in a long time.

In Thursday’s game against West Virginia, Bartholomew recorded just one catch for nine yards. It came at a crucial moment, as it was one of the big plays during Pitt’s game-tying drive in the fourth quarter. Aside from that, he was targeted only once. That just doesn’t seem like it will be a trend moving forward for this offense.

Pat Narduzzi admitted that the absence of Karter Johnson, Pitt’s number two tight end who was out on Thursday with an infection and maybe played a role in the lack of production for Bartholomew. Not having Johnson may have been a contributing factor into Pitt using six, sometimes seven offensive linemen. Again, it just seemed like a scattered game plan from the start.

My call is Bartholomew plays a much bigger role in Pitt’s game with Tennessee, and also moving forward. He is too good to not utilize in the passing game. I think everything sort of comes back to the first game being a tough test, but I would expect to see a lot more Bartholomew next weekend.