The 3-2-1 Column: Training camp starts next week

We finally made it. The 2023 college football season is upon us as fall training camp is set to begin next week. The Pitt Panthers are coming off of back-to-back top 25 finishes and will look to continue that upward momentum this season and we take a look at all the biggest storylines surrounding the team with training camp right around the corner.

The Zoo Crew, Pitt’s alumni basketball team, had a brief stay in The Basketball Tournament, but it was a fun week reminiscing about the past and Jeff Capel’s efforts to connect it to the present. We discuss their journey and what it means for Pitt basketball.

All of that and more in this week’s 3-2-1 Column.

THREE THINGS WE KNOW

Training camp starts next week
It has felt like a long time since Pitt wrapped up spring ball, but the wait is over and 2023 college football season is finally upon us. The 2023 Pitt Panthers will converge on the city’s South Side next week and will work out there for the next month in anticipation of the season opener against Wofford on September 2nd at Acrisure Stadium.

The Pitt football program has been able to brush shoulders with the top teams in the ACC over the past two years, but the 2023 season will say a lot about the program’s staying power as an annual contender in the league.

Pitt is certainly enjoying one of its best stretches in years. Pat Narduzzi, who is set to begin his ninth season with the program, has seemingly turned the proverbial corner with his team. Over the past two seasons the Panthers have racked up 20 wins, back-to-back top 25 finishes, and claimed an ACC Championship back in 2021.

The individual accolades have been there as well. Pitt has produced a Heisman finalist, a Biletnikoff winner, multiple ACC players of the year, plus several All-Americans. The success at the college level has translated to the NFL as well with back-to-back years with a first round pick. In fact, over the past three years Pitt has had the most players drafted in the entire ACC.

But that is all in rearview mirror for now. Momentum is real in college football and you want to be able to stack multiple good seasons on top of each other and nobody is taking away from what the program accomplished the past two years, but this 2023 season will certainly represent a challenge to keep that positive streak going.

The 2023 Pitt squad will still feature plenty of returning experience. For a program that does not regularly recruit top-level talent, having veterans has been a great equalizer because Pitt’s on-field development has been pretty remarkable of late. There is a good core group in place to make noise once again, but like any team on the eve of training camp, there are questions that need answered.

Pitt is turning to a transfer quarterback for the second year in a row, will it work out differently this time around?

Israel Abanikanda has moved on to the NFL, so where will those explosive offensive plays come from this year?

Does Pitt have enough talent at wide receiver to improve the passing game?

The defense has experience, but can they really overcome the losses of guys like Calijah Kancey, SirVocea Dennis, Erick Hallett, and Brandon Hill?

Evergreen question here, but why are they playing three power-five opponents in the non-conference schedule again?

Were the ’21-22 teams just a good run of players or has Narduzzi finally transformed the program in what he always envisioned it being?

These questions, along with many more, are all on the table and after a long summer they will start to get answered next week when training camp begins.

All eyes will be on Jurkovec
I will fully admit I was pretty high on the transfer of Kedon Slovis at this time one year ago. He made a lot of sense for the 2022 Pitt team because he was a one-time highly thought of player and he was walking into a good situation with an experienced team coming off of an ACC Championship. It made a lot of sense he could revive his career personally and help elevate Pitt to contend for a second straight ACC title.

As we know, the marriage never worked out here in Pittsburgh. Slovis did not look comfortable running a pro-style offense and after sustaining a big hit in week two, he never looked quite right either. Pitt still managed to win 9 games despite its starting quarterback only throwing ten touchdown passes, but it felt like there were multiple games the team left on the table due to a lack of offensive production.

So what did Pitt learn from going with a transfer at starting quarterback? Well, they brought in another one for this season.

Everyone reading this probably knows Phil Jurkovec’s story by now. He was a superstar recruit in the Pittsburgh area, but ultimately chose Notre Dame. He did not work out in South Bend and resurrected his career at Boston College in 2020, working with current Pitt offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti. Jurkovec was at a point where he entered the 2021 season as a potential NFL prospect, but injuries and poor offensive line play at BC derailed his success and he comes 'home' to Pittsburgh for one last chance to make a name for himself in college football.

Given the familiarity with Cignetti and the element of returning home, there are plenty of reasons to think this reunion of sorts can be favorable for both Pitt and Jurkovec.

There are also causes for concern.

Jurkovec has been hit a lot the past two years, he really only has one good college season to his name, and there is also that not-so-distant reminder of Slovis that transfer quarterbacks are kind of a gamble.

Factoring all of that into the equation, I think there will be more of an unknown about what to expect from the quarterback position this season. Many were high on what Slovis could do last year at this time, but by the end of September it was not what anyone had envisioned. I don’t know if what happened last year is clouding my judgment a bit, but I am certainly more reserved in my expectations with Jurkovec. This is also a completely different football team, so what really constitutes a successful season for him?

Pitt had the 79th ranked passing offense in 2022, so is simply improving on that, even marginally, enough to be considered successful season? It is hard to say because not only is Jurkovec still a bit of an unknown, the rest of the offense is kind of in the same boat with so many question marks surrounding the skilled players.

The early rumblings around Jurkovec’s return home have been positive, but with the understanding that no games have been played yet. Still it sounds like he is comfortable running the Cignetti offense, he has meshed well with the team, and most importantly he is healthy. Those are all things Pitt fans would want to hear as of today I’m sure, but the spotlight gets a little bigger next week.

Zoo Crew has brief stay in TBT
The Zoo Crew had a brief stay in The Basketball Tournament with an 86-71 loss to Herd That. If that sentence does not make any sense at all, I do not blame you. The Zoo Crew is a basketball team made up of Pitt alumni players like Sam Young and Levance Fields. The Basketball Tournament, or TBT, is a 64-team tournament with a million dollar cash prize. The Pitt alums were bounced in the first round on Tuesday night, however.

Now that we are caught up on the logistics, let’s kind of break it down a little further.

For the game itself, the Zoo Crew did not really seem up to the task. They looked slow and old, and the opposing team looked much more athletic and the results showed. Zoo Crew fell behind 16-2 to start the game, but made multiple runs throughout the game, but trying to play catch-up for so long eventually wore them down. For the ten guys playing for a million dollars, obviously it was not how any of them wanted it to play out, but for Pitt I saw a cool thing happen over the past week.

While Pitt just wrapped up its tenth season in the ACC, the program’s best achievements came while still a member of the Big East. Over the course of the past week, Pitt head coach Jeff Capel had a unique opportunity to sort of bridge the two eras.

The Zoo Crew roster had guys like Fields, Young, Jamel Artis, Gary McGhee, but also recent Pitt stars Nelly Cummings and Greg Elliott were on the roster. During the week leading up to the game, those guys were hanging around the Petersen Events Center and the current team got to experience being around them, playing against them, and picking their brain.

Capel has tried to instill that sense of pride around Pitt basketball since he got here, but with four losing seasons to start his tenure, I wonder how much it really resonated until now.

After being around it this week, however, it did feel a little different. The past players looked excited to be back working at The Pete and the current team was interested in their results. The alumni Panthers scrimmaged the current ones and then a few days later Capel brought the whole team to Wheeling to watch their TBT game, where they were vocal in their cheering on the Zoo Crew.

Is it worth anything? It’s hard to say because in the environment of today’s college basketball it is hard to build a program with the transfer portal running the sport and rosters having to be built from year to year. Having said that, every coach in the country is still trying to build something — a sense of community, togetherness, brotherhood — whatever cliché you want to use, and I think this past week, results withstanding, accomplished that for the Pitt basketball program.

TWO QUESTIONS WE HAVE

Who are three players that need to step up this season?
Pitt has enjoyed some legitimate success over the past two seasons but a lot of the key players that helped the Panthers win 20 games over the past two years have moved on either due to graduation or leaving for the NFL early. The sign of a good program is having a ‘next man up’ mentality, and we’ll see if Pitt has built up the roster to withstand some of those losses. Pitt starts training camp next week, and I think there are certain players I will be tracking more than others to see if they are ready to take on that next level.

I think one of the keys to this season will be for Pitt to resurrect the passing game, and while most of the eyes will be on Jurkovec, the wide receivers will also be under the microscope as well. Given the youth at this position, Pitt really needs Konata Mumpfield to live up to the billing as a high-level transfer when he arrived last offseason. Mumpfield chose Pitt over about 12 power-five offers after he posted 63 catches, 751 yards and eight touchdowns at Akron. He did not match that production in his first year in the ACC. He managed to record 58 catches, but his yardage was down, and finished with only one touchdown. There is hope for a bounce back with potentially a better fit at quarterback and a second year in this offensive system, but with Jared Wayne not around, the Panthers will need more from Mumpfield in year two.

Pitt had four defensive ends who played the bulk of the snaps the past two seasons, and Dayon Hayes is the only one still with the team. Hayes, a one-time four-star recruit out of Pittsburgh, has seen the field the past three seasons and produced at times. Pitt is going to need a lot more from him this season. He is the elder statesmen among the defensive ends when it comes to playing time and his fourth season is his ‘money year’ so to speak. The time is now for Hayes to be Pitt’s best pass rusher and in return the Panthers need him to harness that talent and put together a full season.

The last player I will really have my eye on when camp begins next week is Javon McIntyre, and really all of the safeties for that matter. Pitt lost Erick Hallett and Brandon Hill to the NFL last season after they manned the back end of this defense for the past two seasons. McIntyre played in all 13 games last season, made one start, and finished with 17 tackles, two interceptions, and five pass deflections. He definitely showed some promise, though the coaches were quick to point out he still has a long way to go in terms of development which will be a storyline during camp. Three of the last four starting safeties at Pitt have been drafted, so all eyes will be on this next pairing to see if McIntyre or someone else can follow in those footsteps.

Where will (and should) Pitt be ranked in the preseason ACC poll?
The Atlantic Coast Conference held its media days in Charlotte this past week with all 14 teams sending representative for television interviews, press conferences, and photo opportunities. Pitt was represented by Pat Narduzzi along with players MJ Devonshire, Mattg Goncalves, and Phil Jurkovec. Like usual Narduzzi stole some headlines with some choice comments, so pretty much a normal media session for the Panthers head coach.

The other objective while in Charlotte was for the media to vote on the conference’s order of finish for the upcoming season and the preseason all-conference team. The question is: Where will be Pitt be projected to finish?

We will see on Tuesday of next week when the preseason poll is revealed.

Between reading the annual college football preview magazines and cruising around the internet, I have seen Pitt picked as high as third and as low as tenth, so some pretty broad numbers there. There are mixed feelings on this team, and I don't necessarily disagree with there being some skepticism. But on the other side, I do feel like the past couple of seasons should have built the Pitt program some credit, right?

I think if I were projecting it, I would have Clemson and Florida State as the top two teams. Given the return of Drake Maye, I would have North Carolina third. After that, for me at least, I would probably slot the Panthers fourth. There is experience on both sides of the ball and Pitt has generally been the most consistent team across the board in the ACC after Clemson since Narduzzi arrived.

I can understand being excited about an upstart team like Duke, the arrival of Jeff Brohm in Louisville, and of course we all know Miami is in a perpetual state of maybe being ‘back’ and sometimes voters have fallen for those type of things, and maybe they will again this year.

In the end, I’m expecting Pitt to be slotted to finish sixth by the media, which is probably fair. I think if things go well, Pitt will be a top-four team contending for a league title, but if things go poorly then they may be closer to a 6-6 type team. We all know preseason polls are meaningless, but they give us something to talk about before the season. There are a lot of ways to look at this Pitt team, but today, a month before the season starts, they really shouldn’t be picked to finish in the bottom half of the league. We’ll see if the voters agree.

ONE PREDICTION

Pitt will be top 5 nationally in sacks…again
Pitt has amassed 199 team sacks over the past four seasons, which is the most of any team in the FBS during that stretch. Clemson is the next closest with 178, followed by Alabama with 163. Essentially, nobody gets after the quarterback quite like Pitt, and the numbers over time support that.

Since 2019 Pitt has finished second, first, third, and second over a four-year period in the national lead for sacks. The Panthers are one of the elite pass rushing defenses in all of college football and my prediction is that they will maintain that high level of play for a fifth consecutive season.

It will certainly be a different challenge this season because there will be a lot of new faces who have to step up and produce at a higher level than they ever have in the past. Following the 2022 season Pitt lost Deslin Alexandre, Habakkuk Baldonado, SirVocea Dennis, Calijah Kancey, and John Morgan. Those five players combined for 83 sacks over their respective careers. Calijah Kancey was the top defensive player in the ACC last season and SirVocea Dennis was one of the best linebackers in the conference during his time at Pitt, so losing that kind of firepower will certainly hurt the Panthers on defense heading into the 2023 season.

The thing is the names change, but the philosophy and mindset is still there. Pitt kept chugging along following the departures of Patrick Jones, Jaylen Twyman, and Rashad Weaver and I believe they will be able to keep that momentum with a new set of pass rushers this year. Charlie Partridge is one of the best defensive line coaches in the business, Ryan Manalac has elevated the play of the linebackers, and defensive coordinator Randy Bates has really helped transform this defense since he arrived ahead of the 2018 season. Not to mention having solid cornerback play over the years has allowed the Panthers front seven to play the aggressive and that should still be a factor in 2023.

It does come down to those guys in the front seven actually getting home and making the plays. Pitt has four experienced interior players with Tyler Bentley, Devin Danielson, David Green, and DeAndre Jules who have provided 14 sacks over their respective careers, but will be counted on to have more production this season with Kancey off to the NFL. There are some younger players looking to break through as well with Elliot Donald, Sean FitzSimmons, and Isaiah Neal, and all three may have more playmaking elements to their games than the upperclassmen.

The ends are mostly inexperienced, but Dayon Hayes has flashed potential through the years and will be counted on to be the anchor here. There are promising former four-star recruits like Nahki Johnson and Samuel Okunlola who look poised to make an impact in 2023.

The linebackers have been a big part of the success at sacking the quarterback as well, and the Panthers are certainly breakout seasons from Solomon DeShields, Bangally Kamara, and Shayne Simon to aid in those efforts as well.

There is no denying there has been a lot of turnover in the front seven, but the results have been there through personnel changes before and I think the Panthers can once again be one of the elite pass rushing teams in college football in 2023.