When Pitt faces Syracuse at Heinz Field this Saturday at Noon, they will officially begin their run of ten consecutive ACC opponents for the 2020 season. After dominating Austin Peay 55-0.
That performance featured six rushing touchdowns, five of which came from different carriers in senior quarterback Kenny Pickett, running backs sophomore Vincent Davis, redshirt junior Todd Sibley Jr., true freshman Israel Abanikanda and redshirt freshman Daniel Carter.
That represented the most rushing touchdowns by different players in a single game for Pitt since their wild 76-61 over Syracuse in 2016.
But Pitt has seen a roller coaster ride of seasons when it comes to their ground game in recent years. In 2016 Pitt ranked 3rd in ACC rushing offense averaging 225.1 yards per game. That ranking dipped to 12th with148.5 yards per game in 2017, then rebounded to 3rd in 2018 with 227.9 yards per game.
2018 was when Pitt won the ACC Coastal Division, its first division title since joining the conference in 2013. But the team saw another dip in its ground game in 2019 when they ranked 12th in rushing in the ACC with 129.1 yards per game.
Running backs coach Andre Powell acknowledged a big reason for that dip was that the offense needed to reload both on the offensive line and in his running back room.
"Last year, after losing some really good running backs and really good linemen," Powell said on Tuesday via Zoom. "Our team was geared to attack through the air. We had more receivers more ready to play winning football than the guys who were in my room, particularly the offensive line, they were maturing. But now we've got everyone back. We've got a good group, our quarterback back and an offensive line with experience together."
The biggest factor to building the maturity of the offensive line is team captain and starting redshirt senior center, Jimmy Morrissey. Morrissey has seen the Panthers' offense through all the ups and downs since becoming a walk-on in 2016 and a full-time starter in 2017.
In 2019, even as the offensive line struggled to find its continuity, Morrissey was recognized as the best center in the conference when he was named first-team on the All-ACC team. He didn't surrender a sack the entire season despite Pickett throwing the second most passes in the ACC and Pitt having the most passing attempts of the conference.
Morrissey is the key to consistency for Pat Narduzzi when he speaks of his offensive line. He's also a big reason why he's confident the offensive line will be ready for its first ACC opponent in Syracuse.
"Communication," Narduzzi said on Thursday via Zoom when asked about what's made his offensive line better in 2020. "Jimmy does a nice job talking up front and knowing based off of guys' stances and tipping off clues of the characteristics of a defensive lineman. There's a lot of those things we know and tips we have to utilize to know where they're coming from."
And it's not just the coaches that feel the difference this season, as starting right guard and redshirt sophomore Jake Kradel can attest. He and the other starters in Morrissey, redshirt junior left tackle Carter Warren, redshirt senior left guard Bryce Hargrove, and redshirt junior right tackle Gabe Houy all have experience starting together from last year.
"We've improved tremendously," Kradel said via Zoom on Tuesday. "We made a big emphasis of running off the ball and being more physical in the run game. With pass protection, we want to give Kenny time in the pocket so he can make plays like he did on Saturday. Honestly the experience from last year was huge for all five of us. We're just going to keep getting better each week, that's our goal."
When Kradel says, 'run off the ball,' he means for the offensive line to establish the terms of engagement and beat the defensive front to the first punch. Pitt did that against Austin Peay and wants to do it again when they play Syracuse.
Watch this power run by sophomore running back, and new starter, Vincent Davis. You can see the majority of Pitt's offensive line control the line of scrimmage and starting redshirt junior left tackle Carter Warren pull to become a lead blocker for Davis, giving him plenty of room to pick up speed and get the first down:
Pitt only had nine rushing touchdowns in the red zone in all of 2019, but accomplished more than half of that last Saturday with five against Austin Peay. It's something that Kradel acknowledged is a big part of what they're focused on making a difference in 2020.
"If we can get the ball in the red zone and score on the ground, that's huge for us," Kradel said. "That's a testament to us up front for getting the job done and opening up holes for all five running backs."
Here's a look at one of those touchdowns, which was one of two scores for Davis on the day. You can see the offensive line push Austin Peay into the end zone and Warren pulling to seal his man to the inside so Davis could bounce the run off-tackle. And maybe the most important block from the play came from redshirt freshman tight end Kyi Wright, No. 28, who got the start in place of Lucas Krull:
Narduzzi acknowledged a big part of what he needs to see from Pitt's blocking will be that every department gets into it, and not just his offensive line. Especially now that Pitt begins its ACC schedule, Narduzzi knows it will take a full team effort to establish the run and the pass against Syracuse.
"The second wave usually, backers will get some of them and it's the same thing in the passing game," Narduzzi said of his linemen and running backs getting the best of Syracuse's linebackers. "Kenny can throw somebody but he better be in the right spot, run the right route, Kenny read the coverage and know where the route should be and we better protect. It takes eleven in the pass game just like it takes eleven in the run game. Our O-line is going to continue to block better. When you talk second level, those safeties need to blocked by receivers and those guys going to the second have to help us out. It takes eleven."
It took eleven players, including Wright, to make the walk-in touchdown from Davis displayed above. But sometimes it will come down to how good a running back can be even when all of his blocks aren't there. That's what led Narduzzi to announce Vincent Davis as the new starter at running back on Thursday, taking over the job from senior A.J. Davis.
Watch this run by Davis in the third quarter last Saturday where he makes contact with six different Austin Peay defenders before he breaks several tackles and finishes with a first down:
Narduzzi acknowledged that Syracuse is not the same challenge as Austin Peay. Even in their 31-6 loss to North Carolina last week, the Orangemen showed their defensive front can make a difference.
"They do some crazy stuff up front," Narduzzi said of the Orangemen's defense. "Syracuse caused nine TFLs against North Carolina, but we have to prevent those and avoid being behind the sticks."
Davis also talked about the different kind of defense, noting that Pitt's been focused on them since early in the week.
"Those guys play physical," Davis said of Syracuse via Zoom on Tuesday. "It's a different defense that we're not used to seeing. We've got a lot of preparations for this week. Those guys are fast and physical."
The offensive line knows that too, as Kradel noted.
"They do a bunch of different stuff," Kradel said of Syracuse's defensive front. "On the guards they run 2-techniques straight up on us, with a lot of odd-tight. They use a lot of stunts for each front. It'll be interesting to see a lot of different fronts and picking up all the twists they'll throw our way. It'll be good work."
From the nine TFLs last week, senior defensive end Josh Black led the way with two, including a sack, totaling eight yards from both losses. Here you can see some of those stunts and twists Kradel mentioned with his sack on North Carolina sophomore quarterback Sam Howell.
Black comes off the left edge as No. 85, but twists to the middle of the line around the stunt coming from redshirt senior defensive tackle McKinley Williams. The result is a bullied North Carolina offensive line and a free path for a quick burst by Black to get the sack:
If Pitt wants to beat Syracuse for a third consecutive season, dominating the trenches would go a long way. It would also be the start of their climb back to the top of the roller coaster the running game has been on over the past four seasons, and may be the driving force they need to make 2020 the best year of Narduzzi's tenure.