The Backyard Brawl is here, and in this week's 3-2-1 Column we're thinking about Pitt-West Virginia, Heather Lyke's firing, the offense and a lot more.

THREE THINGS WE KNOW

The Brawl is great

That’s it. That’s the point.

I’m restating something that every person who reads this already knows, but sometimes you just have to say it one more time with feeling.

The Backyard Brawl is great.

Maybe the greatest.

I mean, there are great rivalries all over this wonderful and nonsensical sport. Not as many as there used to be, but there are great ones, and they truly are what make college football great.

But they’re dwindling, so when they come around, it seems like we should make a point of recognizing them.

Slowly but surely - and maybe not all that slowly - all of the things that make college football the wild, amazing, befuddling, utterly confusing and ultimately beautiful spectacle that it is are being stripped away in favor of whatever makes the most cash.

That’s normal and natural. Chase the dollars at the expense of everything else, and in all decisions, the deciding factor is what has the greatest positive impact on the bottom line.

That’s life, and whereas college football was once defined and guided by its own occasionally-unintelligible principles, now it, like everything else, is guided by one thing.

That’s fine. Complaining about it won’t change anything, so we all cynically accept it because, well, what else can you do?

I know one thing you can do.

When something like the Backyard Brawl comes along, you can embrace it. You can enjoy it.

Now, let’s not pretend like the people who scheduled this series didn’t have money as a motivation. Of course they did, and this game on Saturday will make lots of money.

But a rivalry game like this can serve as a little reminder of what the sport used to be, of what used to drive the sport and what it used to mean.

It’s not about championships or conferences or TV contracts.

It’s about your school vs. a school you hate. It’s about a longstanding rivalry, fueled by proximity and familiarity, superseding any other motivation that could exist.

You want to win this game because you want to beat the other team. Period.

I see people talk about the impact of this game on the season, and I have to be honest: with the Backyard Brawl, I’m not thinking about the remaining nine games in the least.

This is Pitt and West Virginia. It’s three-plus hours of football completely removed from any implication, devoid of any bigger picture or meaning, dedicated solely, exclusively and whole-heartedly to the destruction of the team on the other side.

Why? Not for money or playoff positioning or rankings or anything like that.

Simply for the power of unadulterated dislike. For three or four hours tomorrow, pure disdain will reign supreme.

70,000 crazy people will share each other’s company, intensity and insanity for a few hours, removed from the machinations and evolutions of college sports.

NIL? Revenue-sharing? Conference realignment? The transfer portal?

None of it matters tomorrow. Because tomorrow is the Brawl. And no matter what happens in the game, it’s going to be awesome.

Enjoy.

The offense works

The most remarkable development of the season is directly tied to the biggest question of the offseason.

The question: Will Pitt’s new offense work?

The answer: Yes.

So far, at least.

Look, there was nothing to like about Eli Holstein’s performance in the first 40 minutes of Saturday’s game at Cincinnati. With about five minutes left in the third quarter, Pitt’s redshirt freshman quarterback had completed 8-of-21 passes for 94 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.

We’ll talk more about Holstein’s day in a second, but in the grand scheme of things, I have to say:

This offense looks pretty good.

I’m talking about the scheme specifically here. I mean, I like the players they have and I’m looking forward to seeing what some of these guys do over the next 10 games. But that one big question this offseason - the biggest question of all - was whether or not the offense would work. And it sure seems like it has.

There was no guarantee of that. Pat Narduzzi took a risk in going to the FCS ranks for his latest offensive coordinator hire (his sixth in 10 years), and given the way the offense tanked the 2023 season, it’s safe to say there was a whole lot riding on Narduzzi getting that hire right.

Narduzzi’s legacy at Pitt took a major hit with the 3-9 record last year; rebounding from that record was essential to recovering some of that legacy, and getting it right with the offense was essential to rebounding from that 3-9 record.

Faced with the decision of trying again to succeed with a pro-style offense or swinging big with something a bit bolder, something with a higher ceiling but possibly a lower floor, the Panthers’ coach opted to take a big swing.

And for the nine-plus months since Bell was hired, we’ve all been waiting to see if that swing would make contact.

Through two games, it sure has.

It’s not just about the numbers, which are impressive. Pitt is top-25 in scoring offense and total offense nationally - a far cry from where the Panthers were after two games last season (and it was only downhill after that) - and the offense is fourth in the ACC in scoring and third in yards per game.

That’s all well and good. But even more impressive than the numbers has been the eye test. Because even when Holstein was missing his throws in the first 40 minutes last Saturday, there was something else to see:

The throws were missing open receivers.

It wasn’t that guys weren’t getting open. It was that Holstein wasn’t hitting them. He eventually would hit those open receivers, but the point about the scheme remains.

The receivers were open. The plays were there. Because the offense has been working.

We were told quite a bit this offseason that Bell has a knack for “scheming guys open,” and I, probably like you, wondered how much of that talk would translate to action when the games actually started getting played.

I have to say, it seems to have translated. Bell’s scheme in the passing game and feel for the running game, not to mention his sense for when and how to push tempo, have all been really, really good through two games. Good enough that I think you’d have to give him an A for his performance so far.

Of course, there are 10 more games to find out if the offense really, really works. But so far, so good.

Youth and growth

The offensive scheme is working. Receivers are getting open. Plays are being made in the running game. It all looks really good.

So why the long faces during the first 40 minutes of Saturday’s game?

Well, for all the things that were working rather well, there was a big one that wasn’t:

The quarterback.

I already mentioned the numbers. The win at Cincinnati broke down rather cleanly into The First 40 Minutes and The Final 20 Minutes, and the Final 20 were a whole lot better than the First 40.

The biggest change was the play of Eli Holstein, who went 8-of-21 for 94 yards and an interception in the first 40 minutes and 12-of-14 for 208 yards and three touchdowns in the final 20 (including a near-perfect 10-of-11 performance in the fourth quarter, when Holstein threw for 189 yards and two scores).

What led to the change in Holstein’s performance? And what can we take from it going forward?

I think a big part of it is Holstein’s trust.

Trusting his teammates and trusting the scheme. And that second part might be the biggest part.

I just talked about how it really seems like this offensive system is working. Bell’s scheme is getting guys open and creating opportunities for plays to be made, and the biggest reason more plays weren’t made in the first 40 minutes was that Holstein was missing open receivers. He overthrew a few and under-threw a few, but the plays were there.

When I asked Bell on Wednesday what he thought were Holstein’s biggest issues in that stretch - and, by extension, what changed for Holstein in the final 20 minutes - he talked about needing to trust the scheme.

Now, we’ve heard coordinators (and head coaches) talk before about how the players just need to trust the scheme and trust the game plan. More often than not, it sounds like the coordinator has a God complex: “I’ve done everything right; you just need to do what I am telling you to do.” And some of Bell’s language maybe kind of could have been taken that way.

Save for one thing:

You could see it.

You could see the open receivers. You could see the scheme working. You could see the plays that were there. Holstein simply had to make the throws.

And to do that, he had to trust the offense. Bell said that Holstein was hesitant early in the game, and there were a few reasons for that, ranging from Cincinnati’s use of a three-safety look to the environment and the fact that, you know, it was his second career start.

But as the game progressed, Holstein grew to trust the offense and trust his teammates, and you saw the result.

I don’t think we can overstate the importance of that. We won’t know how it will carry over until we see the next game, but I think it’s especially notable that a young quarterback started a game without that trust but was able to grow into it not on a week-to-week basis but within a game.

For Holstein to develop that trust over the course of the game is big, in my view.

TWO QUESTIONS WE HAVE

What is Heather Lyke’s legacy?

The Backyard Brawl provides enough storylines for a given week, but Pitt added another layer of intrigue on Monday with the news that chancellor Joan Gabel had fired director of athletics Heather Lyke.

That one came as a surprise, to say the least. I think we all knew that the situation was in something of a tenuous spot after Lyke’s interview for the Northwestern job didn’t end with her getting that position. Throw in a contract nearing its end and no strong interest from the University in extending Lyke long-term, and just about every potential outcome was on the table.

Still, I don’t know if I believed she would get fired. But that’s what happened, and we probably don’t need to dig too deep into the reasons why (we’ve done that a lot; if you’ve missed any of the context we’ve provided, check out the multiple videos we’ve done on YouTube this week as well as the things we’ve written over the last two weeks. I think most of the questions are answered there).

Instead, let’s close the book on the Lyke era by discussing it one last time:

What will Heather Lyke’s legacy be at Pitt?

There’s no denying some of the wins. The volleyball program has ascended to the level of a national powerhouse. The football team won an ACC championship. Both soccer programs have reached new heights. The men’s basketball team emerged from its near-decade slumber and is competitive and relevant again. The wrestling program has consistently turned out some of the nation’s best.

We can set aside the fact that Lyke didn’t hire some of the coaches for those programs (football, volleyball, men’s soccer) and that context and background are relevant with some of the others (men’s basketball, wrestling) because, ultimately, she was the director of athletics when those successes were achieved.

It’s like the times when a new coach’s success is held against him or her: “Well, they won with somebody else’s players.” Sure, fine, but they still won.

Similarly, Lyke was in charge when the ACC Championship trophy was hoisted in Charlotte three years ago, so that goes on her resume. And her resume will also reflect that she was in charge when the Pitt Olympic sports operation collectively took a giant leap forward.

We can debate the motivation and practicality of the Victory Heights project, but there’s no doubting that it was an ambitious undertaking, and Lyke was able to get it done.

There’s also no doubting that Lyke’s resume will have some holes from the last seven years. She hired 12 head coaches at Pitt - four of them for two sports after she found herself having to fire a few coaches she had previously hired - and the track record of those coaches isn’t exactly glimmering.

Randy Waldrum has succeeded with the women’s soccer program, and Jeff Capel seems to finally be on the right track with men’s basketball. But the big step forward still hasn’t come for baseball, softball or women’s basketball, despite those sports being prioritized early in Lyke’s tenure.

Then there was an inability - or outright refusal - to adapt to the new world of college sports. This won’t show up on the resume, but to keep the influence of NIL at arm’s length well past the point of being able to be legally involved is borderline malpractice in this day and age.

Throw in a lack of planning for revenue-sharing, general financial mismanagement and a few other issues that likely didn’t sit well with the new chancellor, and what seemed to be a surprising firing makes a little more sense.

When it comes down to it, Lyke has a good deal in common with her predecessors at Pitt:

Her legacy, like theirs, is complicated. Her missteps may not have been as public as the others - she didn’t tear down Pitt Stadium or hire Kevin Stallings - but they were missteps all the same, and they created a wealth of challenges for the next athletic director.

Speaking of which…

What does Pitt need in its next athletic director?

We’ve talked about this a few times this week, but let’s lay it on the table here.

Pitt’s next athletic director will have a very specific, very important job.

Forget all of the usual responsibilities and duties for an athletic director. Yes, the new AD will have to improve fundraising and build the donor base and sell more tickets to Acrisure Stadium. That’s what they all have to do.

But Pitt’s next AD is going to be tasked with something else. Those other things are automatic; you have to be able to do them. This AD hire, though, needs to very clearly reflect the new world of college sports.

The new world of college sports is going to be shaped - is being shaped - by the development of NIL and revenue-sharing. Period.

There are roughly one million tentacles that stretch out from those two elements, but that’s where it will all start, and the new AD has to get it.

Has to get it.

He or she has to walk into the job on Day One with a very clear understanding of how to leverage NIL and how to do it with the full support and backing of the athletic department. We are well past the point of cutting a 45-second video for Twitter saying “Donate to Alliance 412.” That needed to be done two years ago.

It’s not 2022 anymore.

In 2024, you need to dive into NIL with great vengeance and furious anger, throwing the weight of the athletic department behind those efforts in every way possible - including ways that are already in practice at schools across the country and in new ways the athletic director needs to conceive of him or herself.

There’s a whole lot that Pitt can be doing on the NIL front that simply isn’t being done. That’s step one, and it has to be addressed head-on from the jump.

Step two is formulating a concrete, workable plan for revenue-sharing. It’s coming. Everyone knows what it will look like. And the new AD has to walk into the job with a knowledge of what the system will be - and how Pitt can approach it.

There’s no time for learning on the job here. No time to ease into it. No time to get the lay of the land. Pitt needs these very specific challenges to be addressed, and the new AD needs to show the chancellor and the advisory committee how those challenges will be addressed in a hyper-specific way during the interview process.

Like a coordinator candidate walking into an interview with a playbook, ready to get on the whiteboard and show how his offense will beat the defenses that stymied the team a year ago, the new AD needs to come to this interview prepared with facts, figures and, above all else, a plan.

Not a hypothetical. Not a general overview. A Plan.

Time is not on Pitt’s side, and Pitt can’t afford to waste any more of it.

ONE PREDICTION

Pitt will have five players record 100-yard receiving games this season

Through two games so far, Pitt’s passing attack has produced three 100-yard receiving games.

Kenny Johnson got the season started with 105 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions in the opener against Kent State. Last week, Desmond Reid and Konata Mumpfield both topped the century mark; Reid had 106 yards and a score on six receptions, while Mumpfield put up 123 and two touchdowns on five catches.

For Mumpfield, Saturday was his first 100-yard game since he did it three times in 2021, when he was a freshman at Akron.

Reid topped 100 receiving yards on one prior occasion in his career - he had seven catches for 101 yards in Western Carolina’s season opener against VMI last year - while Johnson’s performance in this year’s opener was the first 100-yard game of his career.

Not surprisingly, the last time Pitt had that many 100-yard receiving games in a single season was 2021. Powered by Mark Whipple’s offense, led by Kenny Pickett’s Heisman campaign and riding the ability of Jordan Addison, Pitt had 10 100-yard receiving games that season.

Last year, Pitt had a player hit the 100-yard mark just once (Bub Means caught nine passes for 109 yards and a touchdown in the loss at Wake Forest). Two years ago, Jared Wayne did it three times (7/161/0 at North Carolina; 6/102/0 vs. Syracuse; 11/205/3 at Miami).

So the Panthers had four 100-yard performances in the last 25 games prior to the start of the 2024 season, and they’ve got three already just two games into the season.

But I digress.

The point here is the total number of players who will put up a 100-yard game this season. They’ve already got three - Reid, Mumpfield and Johnson - which matches the total from 2021, when Addison’s seven 100-yard games were complemented by a pair of games from Taysir Mack (4/100/0 at Tennessee; 5/121/1 at Georgia Tech) and one from Jared Wayne (5/100/0 vs. Western Michigan).

In 2019, Pitt had four players record 100-yard receiving games. That year Mack had two (12/125/0 at Penn State and 5/124/1 vs. Delaware), Maurice Ffrench had two (10/138/1 vs. Ohio and 12/165/1 vs. Eastern Michigan), Shocky Jacques-Louis had one (4/104/1 vs. North Carolina) and Wayne had one (6/100/0 vs. Boston College).

As far as I can tell, Pitt has never had five players record 100-yard receiving games in a single season.

My prediction is that history will be made this year.

So who will do it?

I think Raphael “Poppi” Williams is a likely candidate. He has six catches for 57 yards and two touchdowns so far this season, but he played 21 games in Kade Bell’s offense at Western Carolina and had eight 100-yard receiving games among those 21. Williams might not often be a primary target ahead of Mumpfield and Johnson (or Reid), but he’s explosive enough that he could have a game like Jacques-Louis did against North Carolina in 2019, where he gets over 100 on the strength of one or two long plays.

If Williams can put up a 100-yard game, Pitt just needs somebody else to get one, and the top two candidates are Censere Lee and Gavin Bartholomew. Lee did it three times playing for Bell at Western Carolina, including a 5/164/2 game at Furman two years ago and a 7/127/1 game against East Tennessee State last season. Like Williams, Lee is capable of breaking a big play anytime he touches the ball, and that sets him up to get to 100.

Bartholomew is a dark horse candidate here, but I’m betting on volume giving him a shot to reach 100. He has been targeted 10 times in two games this season, so there’s an emphasis on getting him the ball. I could see the game plan working out for a big volume game at some point - maybe eight or even 10 targets - and that would give him a chance for the century mark.

With Williams, Lee and Bartholomew, I think there are options to get two more players over 100 receiving yards in a game. And I think it will happen.