Pitt's defense carried the team to its 21-10 victory over Syracuse on Saturday at Heinz Field. The win takes them to 2-0 but saw a regression in the first team offense that scored six consecutive touchdowns against Austin Peay a week ago and only scored on three of 13 drives against the Orangemen.
In a game with fumbles by new starting sophomore running back Vincent Davis, drops from transfer redshirt senior tight end Lucas Krull, three missed field goals by senior kicker Alex Kessman, and a red zone interception by Kenny Pickett, Pitt found a spark in its true freshman receiver Jordan Addison.
Addison made his second start for Pitt, leading the Panthers with seven catches for 57 yards and scoring his first touchdown for the program. He also ran three times for 24 yards, including a 13-yard run on a jet sweep. Four of those ten touches resulted in either first downs or a touchdown.
Addison said after this game he's starting to get his feet under him at Pitt.
"All that paid off with me coming in early," Addison said after the game via Zoom. "Learning the playbook and getting that connection with Kenny Pickett. All that was great. Now I'm feeling more comfortable, this was my second game, and everything is starting to feel like home now."
Pickett also felt comfortable targeting him, as two of the team's six third down conversions on the day came on completions to Addison, including the team's first conversion of the game. Watch how Pickett gets the ball to Addison right out of his break. Even though the throw is low, Addison goes down to scoop it:
Pitt's players were happy to see Addison make big plays against someone else, for a change, after looking good against them all training camp.
"It's great to see him finally get his chance and play against someone else instead of us," Hamlin said. "Once I saw him at practice, he was the most pure and for-sure hands I've seen in a while. I've told him I think he's going to be an ACC All-American."
Pickett also explained why he's so comfortable throwing to Addison despite being a true freshman with no experience with Pickett before this year.
"I would say early on I saw his talent level," Pickett said of what's most impressed him about Addison. "He's a special kid, even off the field with his personality. It's like he's a junior and not a freshman with the way he goes about his business. That's probably the most part of what I've seen out of him and I really love playing with him."
Addison reciprocated appreciation for Pickett, saying he was glad he got to connect with him before training camp.
"It's just communicating more off the field," Addison said of how Pickett's helped his transition to college. "He says good morning to me when I come in early and we eat breakfast and lunch. Those little things actually help a lot. When they call my number I just step up and try to make a play for my team. Once I started seeing the coverages and found my bubble, I knew I had to step up to the plate and help my team out."
Addison best helped his team out when he got behind his man and caught a 27-yard touchdown Pickett. It was the Panthers' first score on the day and Addison's first touchdown of his collegiate career:
Narduzzi expressed his appreciation for Addison after the game.
"The one touchdown to Jordan Addison was a heck of a throw and a great route by Jordan," Narduzzi said. "Just the way we drew it up and practiced it during the week and we thought that was kind of money. And again Syracuse doesn't give up many. You look at the quarterback last year I think we had more success than really he did, throwing the ball down the field. They threw some bubbles, but Kenny threw the ball down the field and was more impressive that way."
Addison said it was a play he and Pickett had done a lot last week in practice.
"I saw it coming," Addison said of the play. "We've been working on that play all week and Kenny made a great throw. I'm just happy it all worked out that way."
Addison's best effort play might have been on Pitt's next drive. Pitt was backed up at 3rd and 10 and Pickett found Addison short of the first down, but Addison powered his way across the marker to convert:
"It's a great play," Narduzzi said of the conversion. "It's an effort play, he's a guy that we trust, we handed him off the ball a few times as well. He made some plays today and he doesn't play like a freshman."
Addison, again, said he could see the play coming because of what they had worked on.
"I saw the coverage so I knew it was coming to me," Addison said of the play. "So he put it there and I trusted myself to catch it. My coach had told me to make sure I knew where the sticks were, so I caught the ball, made a move and went vertical to get the first down."
In a season where senior receiver Taysir Mack, who was presumed to be the team's top receiver, hasn't played in either of the team's first game and hasn't been given any injury designation, Addison is a breath of fresh air. His big plays sparked Pitt's first score and set up their second on the day.
If anything could be hoisted up as a positive for the offense after Saturday's sloppy win over Syracuse, it's the true freshman who lived up to the hype in his first ACC game.