The Pitt football season started with modest outside expectations. The Panthers were picked to finish fourth in the ACC Coastal, and long-time starting quarterback Kenny Pickett was back to improve his draft stock for a fifth season. That was the book on Pitt entering the 2021 season, but it became so much more with each passing week.
Kenny Pickett started to receive national attention before the season for some of endorsement deals set forth by the new NIL opportunities given to college athletes. Pickett’s charitable endorsements raised his national profile entering the year.
Pickett’s personal story was well documented before the start of the season. He was a three-year starter with an opportunity to get drafted in 2020, but he chose to use his extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA. He turned down an opportunity to participate in the Senior Bowl, and had also sought out advice from NFL legend Peyton Manning about his future.
It laid the foundation for what was to come. Time to look back on Pickett's ride to the Heisman Trophy ceremony tonight.
Tennessee
Pitt did what it was expected to do by handling an overmatched UMass team in the opening game of the season. Tennessee was the measuring stick game for this team. There was a chance for a statement for Pitt and Kenny Pickett against an SEC team on the road on national TV.
After a slow start, Pickett found it in the second quarter. After falling behind 10-0 in the first quarter, Pitt outscored the Volunteers 27-10 in the second to grab a touchdown lead at halftime. Pickett led Pitt to five straight scoring drives. His first touchdown pass was a dime, as he evaded the Tennessee rush and scrambled and found Melquise Stovall in the back of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown. In past years, Pickett may have kept running and tried to score with his feet, but that throw indicated early on that there was a progression in Pickett’s game this season.
Pickett engineered two more second half scoring drives to extend Pitt leads, the latter of which was a 6-play 75-yard drive capped off with a five-yard dart to Jordan Addison to give Pitt a 41-27 lead in the fourth quarter.
Pickett finished the day with 285 passing yards and two touchdown passes, and also a score on a one-yard sneak. That rushing touchdown was set up by a gutsy Pickett scramble on fourth and two earlier in the drive. He dropped back and changed directions before picking up the first down with a five-yard run.
Pickett has always made plays with his feet, and that run showed it would continue to be a big part of his game in 2021.
Western Michigan
The most head-scratching and disappointing loss of the season is part of the story for Pitt football and Kenny Pickett in 2021: Western Michigan happened.
Did losing 44-41 to a MAC program after knocking off Tennessee feel very, well, Pitt? It sure did.
Pickett did his part. He tied a school record for six passing touchdowns in a single game. The offense hummed right along against Western Michigan, but it was still a loss, and a humbling one at that for Pickett, Narduzzi, and the whole program.
There was reportedly a ‘players only’ meeting talked about following this game. There was a sense that what happened in that meeting changed the focus and tone for the remainder of the season. Did a loss propel Pitt to a greater season? It’s hard to every really know, but this loss happened and it’s part of how this whole thing took shape.
Georgia Tech
After crushing New Hampshire to move to 3-1, Pitt got a chance to open ACC play on the road against Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets had just played Clemson tough, and were coming off an upset win over North Carolina and they shut down Tar Heels star quarterback Sam Howell in that game.
The Georgia Tech game, especially with it being on the road, felt at least like a challenge, until it wasn’t.
Pat Narduzzi got the Heisman train rolling before anyone else in his postgame press conference after Pitt dismantled Georgia Tech 52-21.
“He should be a Heisman candidate,” the Pitt coach said after his quarterback threw for 342 yards and four touchdowns.
Pickett and Pitt made a statement opening ACC play with a blowout to move Pitt to 4-1.
Virginia Tech
Pitt had a second straight road test to open ACC play. The Panthers had to travel to Lane Stadium, a house of horrors to them and also Pickett personally. Pitt’s last trip to Blacksburg resulted in a 28-0 loss in 2019 under poor weather conditions with Pickett struggling that game.
It was another less than ideal day in Blacksburg weather wise, but unlike prior years Pickett seemed in control. He did not have a gaudy stat line like previous games, but calmly led Pitt to a 28-7 victory with 203 yards and two touchdowns.
Pickett’s Heisman Trophy push didn’t get a boost, but this win vaulted Pitt into the rankings setting up the biggest home game for the Panthers in recent memory.
Clemson
Pitt was 5-1, ranked, and had the premiere program of the ACC coming to town. It was given a national TV spotlight, and this felt like the start of the national Heisman campaign.
Pat Narduzzi was featured on SportsCenter leading up to this game, Pickett was highlighted on College Gameday that morning, and the national attention that was moving slowly started to pay more attention all of the sudden.
Pickett delivered against Clemson and guided the team to a 27-17 victory over the six-time reigning ACC Champs. The Pitt quarterback showed his toughness with some gritty first down runs, and also shot up draft boards with two perfect touchdown passes in the second quarter to give Pitt the lead.
Pickett was on point all afternoon, right down to the postgame interview. Pickett said the famous line he’s now known for, “I’m going to go have a cold one.”
Pickett had his Palko interview moment, and his place as a Pitt folk hero was all but solidified in that one interview. The attention grew exponentially on this day. More stories about Pickett surfaced, more Heisman buzz was created, and more NFL draft attention came his way. This one game shot him from an outside candidate to squarely in the race.
Duke
All the added feel good around the Pitt program after the win over Clemson came to a screeching halt with a 38-34 loss to Miami. The talk of Pitt making the College Football Playoffs died with that loss to the Hurricanes. Pickett threw for a school record 519 yards in the loss, keeping himself in the Heisman conversation, but Pitt’s outside hopes of sneaking into the College Football playoffs were gone.
Duke presented a winnable game for this team to get back on track, and that’s exactly how it played out in Durham. Pitt cruised to 54-29 win after a bit of a slow start. Pickett threw for 416 yards and three touchdowns, and also had a then season-long 22-yard touchdown run. He looked the part, and Pitt checked off an easy win.
It set the stage for another National TV spot, opposite preseason player of the year Sam Howell and North Carolina.
North Carolina
“It has nothing to do with me and Sam,” Pickett said after the Duke game as he prepared for a game on short rest against another top NFL Draft prospect in a national TV spotlight.
Only this game was entirely about Pickett and Howell.
36 NFL scouts came to Heinz Field to watch the two battle it out, and ESPN did its best job hyping up the game. As the lone college game of the night, it got attention and the game was a good one.
Pitt outlasted North Carolina for a 30-23 win in overtime. Pickett threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Lucas Krull in the extra frame. Pickett broke Pitt’s all-time passing yardage mark along the way with a deep bomb to Addison in the first quarter. He finished with 346 yards yards and three touchdowns.
The showdown lived up to the hype, as Howell kept up on his end as well. He had 296 yards and two scores plus a rushing touchdown. In the end, Pickett got the better of Howell in the win column, as the eventual ACC Player of the Year had his team going in a different direction than the ACC’s preseason Player of the Year.
Virginia
Pitt’s game with Virginia was the de-facto championship game for the ACC Coastal. Pitt could clinch it with a win, while Virginia could take the lead heading into the final weekend of the season.
The talk all week was not about Pickett, but rather another quarterback: Virginia’s Brennan Armstrong, and whether or not he would play. Armstrong came to Heinz Field to play, and another quarterback showdown was in the making.
The Virginia quarterback had a superb game, and thrashed the Pitt defense for 487 yards and three touchdowns. Pickett did his best to match, and he came up with a four-touchdown game all going to his favorite target Jordan Addison. The final touchdown toss put Pitt up two scores late in the game in a third and short situation. Pickett made a play on third down and delivered an ACC Coastal title to his teammates.
Wake Forest
Pitt went out and finished the regular season strong, with a workmanlike effort over Syracuse. The Panthers won 31-14 and Pickett made a four-touchdown game look routine. The win gave Pitt its first 10-win regular season record since 1981, when Dan Marino led the Panthers.
Pickett, with Marino in attendance and a national TV audience watching, got to break his all-time Pitt touchdown record in the ACC Championship game against Wake Forest this past weekend. Pickett’s toss in the flat to Rodney Hammond broke Marino’s record with his 80th touchdown pass, and his red zone strike to Jared Wayne added to it in the second quarter.
The story of this game will forever be remembered for a run of Pickett's, and not one of his touchdown passes.
The fake slide, as it will forever be known as across college football.
Pickett broke down and scrambled on Pitt’s fifth offensive play of the game. After picking up a first down, he appeared to be giving himself up only to stop his sliding motion and keep on running for a 58-yard score.
You’ve all seen it a hundred times by now.
The play has caused a stir nationally and debates have sprung it as to whether it was legal, or at the very least legal moving forward. Just days after the play, the NCAA changed the rule
Pickett’s quick thinking and execution of it in real time is what stands out. He made a improvised play at full speed.
“I didn't really know, I’ve never done that before,” Pickett said of the play. “So I just kind of kept going after I was initially starting to slide.”
Whatever happens with a new rule being implemented because of this play is not relevant. In a big moment, it gave Pitt an electric start in a championship game and showcased Pickett on a big stage.
As for the game itself, Pickett had yet another big quarterback showdown again in this one, this time against Sam Hartman. The veteran Wake Forest quarterback had also pieced together an incredible campaign and 10-win season, but as the game wore on he struggled, and Pickett had his team surge ahead in the second half to claim the ACC championship.
Pickett’s one last push for a Heisman was a strong one, as he led his team to a championship and made record-breaking throws, and made a career-defining play on a national stage.
The aftermath
All the stats, and the records, and wins are now over with for Pickett. He can take his deserving place as one of the four finalists in New York for college football’s most prestigious individual honor on Saturday night.
Pickett will leave Pitt as the program’s leader in nearly every statistical category. He guided his team to its best season in 40 years and brought home the first ever conference title in the new league. As his time at Pitt comes to an end, one of his final milestones is to become Pitt's second-ever Heisman winner. The fact he even has a chance, looking back on his career, is pretty remarkable.
