When Pitt lines up against Austin Peay for its season opener at Heinz Field this Saturday at 4 p.m. it will be Kenny Pickett's 28th start at quarterback for Pat Narduzzi's Panthers.
Sounds impressive, right?
Well, the time for excuses for the Panthers' offense ranking among the bottom of the ACC over the past few years has run out. The program finally has a quarterback with two full years to his name, now with a second year under the same offensive coordinator in Mark Whipple, and with an offensive line complete with returning starters and several familiar weapons.
"Having a year under my belt with Coach Whipple and going into the offseason being able to watch myself and our offense was a huge help for me," Pickett said Friday on Narduzzi's radio show on 93.7 The Fan. "I think I took a next step this camp. Going into last season I just watched the UMass film. It's a little different when it's not your guys running. It's not watching yourself, going through your progressions and all your reads. But overall, as an offense, we'll take the next step with just having that experience."
Pickett's reference to UMass was how he tried to study the team Whipple was a head coach for prior to joining Pitt's staff as offensive coordinator in 2019. That required more guessing and theory to understand the concepts Whipple would get him to grasp.
But now he has his own plays to watch from being in Whipple's offense, and he sees that as a big difference. There's less wondering about expectations and more executing. Last year, he wondered about how that plan would integrate into an offense with players he only had one year of experience playing alongside.
Whipple said back in August that he's excited about where Pickett was headed after seeing him early in training camp.
"He works hard at it and takes coaching really well," Whipple said of Pickett. "He's a really good leader. The way we were able to be with him more in the Summer this offseason was very helpful. I expect a big jump. Overall from what I asked him to do [last year] was maybe too much, but that's the way I do things. But I'm excited about where he's at now. We've put a lot more on his plate this year, but I'm really excited about him. Most importantly is that the guys around him have a lot of confidence in him. He's proven he can make plays and he runs the offense well."
Pickett's journey from his first start as a true freshman in 2017 to where he needs to be for Pitt's best chances in 2020 is what could give the program its best chances for a nine-win season as Narduzzi prepares to begin his sixth season as head coach. In three of those seasons, Pitt totaled eight wins in 2015, 2016 and 2019.
His first start came against the tallest of odds when Pitt faced an undefeated Miami team in 2017 that was on a collision course with Clemson for the ACC championship game. Pitt spoiled Miami's chances of an undefeated season with a 24-14 win where Pickett completed 18 of 29 passes for 193 yards and a touchdown to go along with 13 carries for 60 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
The sky was the limit after the huge upset. The combination of Pickett's toughness as a runner and ability to throw from outside the pocket gave Pitt an edge at Heinz Field against Miami, and put him in position to be the team's starter moving forward.
Since that upset, Pickett has started in all but one game for Pitt and totaled 508 completions on 845 attempts for 5,576 yards, 26 passing touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Since 2000, the only Pitt quarterbacks to throw for more yards than Pickett were Tino Sunseri, Tyler Palko and Rod Rutherford.
But his efforts on the ground have not continued since his first win as a starter. After averaging 4.6 yards per carry against Miami, Picket has averaged only 1.8 yards per carry over his 27 starts. The part of his game that looked like it would make a difference for his collegiate career has turned out to not have any impact on his game.
He's much more of a passer now, after his 469 passing attempts in 2019 was the second most of any quarterback in the ACC. But it's that experience, combined with the talent around him and familiarity with his teammates and his offense that makes 2020 different than his other years. Pickett has to be much more than an asset that simply outweighs his liabilities to a Pitt team that projects to have one of the best defenses in the ACC.
Shawn Watson was the team's offensive coordinator when Pickett took over as a freshman in 2017 and stayed on with the program through 2018. But Pickett's best year came in 2019 when he threw for 3,098 yards, far more than the 1,969 he threw in 2018, and settled into the offense under Whipple.
It's not just about having the same coordinator as last year, Pickett sees a lot more leadership from the players as a big part of what will make Pitt's 2020 team better.
"The biggest thing I've noticed is the player leadership," Pickett said when asked about the biggest difference in 2020. "Coaches don't have to say much. A lot of the players take their leadership role seriously. We've had great captains before, but as a whole this team is moving in the right direction. There's no cancers on this team, no bad apples, because those guys have all been weeded out in the four years I've been here. I'm just grateful to be on a team like that."
If Pickett simply repeats the yardage from last season in Pitt's 2020 campaign, he will have the second most passing yards in the history of the program, only behind Alex Van Pelt's 10,913. But Pickett says there's much higher expectations than just repeating last season for the offense, when they averaged 21.5 points per game and were next to last in the ACC.
"We have really high expectations for ourselves," Pickett said last week. "We underperformed last season. We've put a lot of work in since the Winter and these guys have been really dedicated to our job. We're playing with a chip on our shoulder this season."
Pickett is familiar with multiple receivers returning from last season. Shocky Jacques-Louise and Jared Wayne both caught touchdown passes from Pickett in 2019, and the leading receiver, Taysir Mack caught the game winning pass from Pickett in the Quicken Lane Bowl to beat Eastern Michigan, 34-30, in both Pickett's and Narduzzi's first bowl win for the program.
Pickett also gets a transfer senior receiver in D.J. Turner from Maryland, and freshman wide receiver to start in the slot in Jordan Addison. Addison is the newest addition at wide receiver that has Narduzzi excited, who's compared the true freshman to Antonio Brown from the days Narduzzi coached at Michigan State. He's also already earned favor with Pickett.
"Jordan's done a really good job," Pickett said last week of the freshman's training camp. "He's one of my favorite teammates to play with because he shows up and does his job at a really high level. You never really have to worry about Jordan and what he's doing because he works really hard, doesn't say much, really quiet guy, and you can always count on him. As a freshman, it's really impressive to see."
The appreciation is reciprocated from Addison, who shared how Pickett's helped his quick development to become a starter as a true freshman.
"Just talking to him about everything," Addison said in early September about Pickett's help in training camp. "From routes to details, we try to get on the same page. I talk to him before practice and after practice about where he wants to be any given play so we can start clicking. He's a great leader."
Pickett has the talent that he knows from previous years on top of the new talent at receiver, not to mention the addition of transfer Lucas Krull at tight end.
Add an offensive line that features five starters who've all had starting experience with Pitt in Jimmy Morrissey, Carter Warren, Bryce Hargrove, Gabe Houy and Jake Kradel, and you have an offense that Pickett can be more comfortable working within than at any point in his career.
"Everyday you're seeing improvement there," Pickett said last Friday of his offensive line. "We're the deepest we've been in that position group in a long time. Jimmy's obviously the leader up front. The guy who's really stepped up who I was happy to see is Carter Warren. He's had a great camp, great offseason, a guy who changed his attitude since he's been here. I'm really happy for him. They're moving in the right direction."
That comfort must behind that improvement must lead to more efficient games, and a more efficient season for Pickett. His career high 13 passing touchdowns from last year won't cut it, and only having four more touchdowns than interceptions like last year won't cut it.
Pickett doesn't have to lead the ACC in touchdown passes, but 2020 has to be the year he gets close to 20 touchdown passes while keeping his interception numbers down. Him being a bigger asset to the team could be the piece that finally propels them to the elusive nine-win season that hasn't happened since Pitt won 10 games under Dave Wannstedt in 2009.