There were plenty of worries for Pitt heading into its game against Virginia Tech at Heinz Field. Not only were the Panthers coming off an unwanted bye week due the coronavirus-related postponement of the Georgia Tech game, but they also entered Saturday's contest with 16 players unavailable because of COVID-19.
The Panthers would also be missing seven starters, including Jordan Addison, Brandon Hill, SirVocea Dennis, Carter Warren, Jake Kradel, Gabe Houy, and Jared Wayne. Only Addison would be seen on the sideline, which means he most likely missed the game due to an undisclosed injury.
None of it stopped the Panthers having their most complete ACC win of the season in a 47-14 win over the Hokies. The win puts the Panthers at 5-4 on the season, and 4-4 in ACC play.
"We talked about stepping up, next man up," Pat Narduzzi said after the game. "You talk about next man up, I mean, we were really down 18 guys today. Eight starters did not play today, and guys stepped up and made plays."
As Pitt celebrated senior day with its last home game of the 2020 season, it was those seniors who led the way on both sides of the ball with big plays and consistent dominance.
Kenny Pickett completed 35 of 52 for 404 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also ran for a score. It was the second most passing yards in a game in Pickett's career (411), and the most in a Pitt win. His rushing touchdown gave him seven on the season, which is the most by a QB since 1978.
Narduzzi noted Pickett was being a leader off the field all week, too.
"Our confidence continued to rise," Narduzzi said of his team during the week. "And it started on Tuesday's focus where Kenny Pickett had the focus and talked to the team and said, 'Listen, I don't care who's on the field; I'll play with any of my brothers here.'
"And to me that was key," Narduzzi continued. "When he said that I was like, here we go, let's go. That's your senior leadership. That's your senior captain. He didn't care who was in front of him. He said we're going to get this thing done."
The 16 players Pitt would miss due to COVID-19 was the first time the Panthers would have players miss a game due to the coronavirus since Pitt's 21-10 win over Syracuse on Sep. 19, and more than twice the amount of the most players that had missed a game (7).
Narduzzi wouldn't reveal specific names of players who were missing due to COVID-19, nor did he offer any explanations of when any of his players might return. The policy for players to return after testing positive for COVID-19 or showing symptoms is that they must be quarantined from the team for ten days and then test negative upon their return. So there's no sure way to know which of Saturday's missing players will return for next week's game against Clemson, or if that game will even happen.
Rashad Weaver said his biggest concern before the game wasn't which teammates he'd have on the field, but if there would even be a game to play, considering 18 college football games scheduled for this weekend were either postponed or cancelled.
"Personally, I was more worried about being able to play the game than about all the guys down because you've seen almost 20 games get cancelled," Weaver said after the game. "I had confidence in whoever was going to be out there."
Pitt's offense started slow against Virginia Tech with three field goals, an interception and two punts across its first six drives. But back-to-back touchdown drives of 75 and 65 yards towards the end of the second quarter built the comfortable lead that Pitt wouldn't surrender.
And those drives were all on Pickett, accounting for all but one yard on them. He ended the second drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jaylon Barden, who finished the game with five catches for 65 yards. The TD reception was the first of Barden's career.
Watch how Pickett senses the weak-side blitz, spins out of the pocket and then locates Barden in the end zone with a pass from the sideline:
And the first three players to celebrate in the end zone with Barden, a freshman, were seniors Pickett, A.J. Davis and Jimmy Morrissey. Barden saw more playing time with the absences of Addison and Wayne in the receiver group.
"The message is next man up," Pickett said after the game. "Based on how those guys practiced prior to even being called in to be a starter, I had faith on those guys. The biggest thing in football is trust, and you got to trust the ten guys out there. We did that tonight."
But it wasn't just Pickett who had a big day among the seniors. Damar Hamlin led the defense with 11 tackles, tying his personal best on the season, and dictating where Virginia Tech went with the football during the game.
"Yeah, if you watched the game closely and you go back and watch the TV copy, we're down Brandon Hill, and Erick Hallett had to move from starting at corner at Florida State to starting at safety," Narduzzi said of his secondary. "We kind of switched it up, put Damar into the boundary and trusted Hallett to the field, but as soon as we did that they started attacking the field. So then the second half we flipped it and put Damar to the field and then they started going to the boundary. That tells you about the respect that people have for No. 3, Damar Hamlin. Again, another senior that I wish would take another year, but he needs to move on and go to the NFL, and he's an outstanding football player."
"I usually play field safety, but my coaches felt it was better for me to be in the box to stop the run," Hamlin explained after the game. "Virginia Tech was the eight ranked team in the nation running the ball. They felt that was the primary position this week so they moved me over. We were stopping the run because they only had 22 yards on the ground at the half. Then they tried some RPOs to the field, so I got bumped back to field safety. I've been that player my whole life, just do whatever for the team."
Hamlin, a McKees Rocks native and a Central Catholic grad, confirmed it was his last collegiate game at Heinz Field.
"Being from Pittsburgh and playing at Heinz Field since I was a sophomore in high school, it meant everything to know this was my last collegiate game here," Hamlin said. "I just hope and pray that I have some more at the next level."
D.J. Turner caught 15 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown. Although the yardage total fell just two yards short of his career best (186 vs North Carolina State in 2020), his 15 receptions were the most of any Pitt player since Harry Orszulak caught 16 passes in 1968.
His biggest of the game came on a 64-yard bomb from Pickett in the third quarter that put Pitt up 33-14. Pickett found Turner behind the Hokies' defense, and Turner finished the play by making defenders miss and dragging a man into the end zone with him:
Turner's heroics brought a spark to an offense that was missing its top playmaker in Jordan Addison.
"He was phenomenal," Narduzzi said of Turner. "We didn't have Jordan Addison, and he took over that slot position, which I think the last time he did it we should have beat North Carolina State, if I recall. D.J. is a football player. Big senior day for him. He was outstanding, making people miss and just getting the tough yards. He had some big conversions on third down."
"D.J. stepped up big for us," Pickett said of Turner, who transferred to Pitt from Maryland just before the season started. "He's a guy that's been reliable since he got here. I'm impressed more and more with how much he's learned in a short amount of time. He's learned so much since he transferred in. Love that kid, he's worked so hard and he's a great guy to play with."
"I didn't think this would happen going into the game," Turner said of his performance. "Even in the first quarter when I knew I had a lot, I stopped counting. Then we were in the fourth quarter and someone told me I had 15 catches and was one away from the record. I thought, '15 catches? That's ridiculous.' I did expect to play more, but not the 15."
Beyond Pickett and Turner connecting for a special day on the field, they also connected off of it. Turner's one-month old son, Darrell Turner III, nicknamed Tre, was brought by his family to the game and Pickett said it was special to meet him.
"It's really special," Pickett said of the day. "Not just for me, but for the whole group of seniors. It's really special to go out with a win at Heinz Field. A bunch of guys had family members here. I got to meet D.J.'s baby for the first time today. Definitely an emotional day for everybody and a special one we'll all remember."
Turner noted that bringing his son to meet Pickett was planned, as Pickett gave Turner a present for his son last week.
"We brought my son to the Panther walk before the game so that we could get a picture wth me, him and Kenny. He probably didn't tell you, but Kenny got my son a nice gift over the past week. He bought him a picture frame, so we had to bring Tre to the Panther walk to get a picture together and get that in the frame."
Pitt's offense broke the game open, but it was the defense that kept Virginia Tech in check for all but the second quarter. The Hokies scored two touchdowns in the second, but were shut out the rest of the game.
Coming out of the half, Virginia Tech got the ball first with the game still in reach, trailing 23-14. But Pitt's defense came out and set the tone for the second half with Jason Pinnock, another senior, going up and over his man for an interception that gave Pitt great field position:
Pitt's offense wouldn't fully capitalize on the opportunity, leading to a 53-yard field goal by Alex Kessman.
But that was the fourth made field goal in as many attempts for Kessman on the day, and his second of longer than 50 yards. Those two gave him 12 field goals made from 50 yards or more in his career; half of Pitt's all-time 24 made kicks from that distance. It also gave him a career percentage of 66.7 on field goals of 50 yards or more, an NCAA record.
After that, Pitt's offense would capitalize on its opportunities with rushing touchdowns from Pickett and senior running back A.J. Davis, who finished with 80 rushing yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. Narduzzi had high praise for Davis and his toughness.
"It's 2020; some crazy things happen," Narduzzi said. "A.J. Davis had a heck of a ballgame, as well. You wouldn't believe 2020; at 9 a.m. this morning he had a root canal. I was like, 'we're going to get him a root canal on game day?' That's just the way the season has gone. I told him, 'hey, you're getting a root canal, we're going to talk about your root canal after this game, after you win and rush for 100.' He didn't quite get 100, but that's adversity."
And he got it with some tough running behind the best blocking Pitt's seen from its offensive line since the opening day win over Austin Peay. Look at this pull block out in space by Blake Zubovic to spring Davis for a 25-yard run. Once Davis got going, you can see him truck a defender before being dragged down:
Pitt finished with 152 rushing yards, its second-most on the season (156 vs. Louisville).
Vincent Davis also finished with a good day, rushing for 53 yards and a touchdown on nine carries. In addition, he caught five passes for 41 yards.
"Well, we got the run game going, and again, it comes down to confidence," Narduzzi said. "Sometimes you run the ball early and you don't have as much success as you want to. But you've just got to keep pounding the football and you've got to take opportunities to run it. It just doesn't happen -- you're not going to have the first three runs go for 30 yards. You've just got to have patience, and again, the patience paid off today."
Pitt's offensive line was missing three starters in Warren, Kradel and Houy. But it turned in one of its best performances on the season.
"Yeah, we had a lot of faith in those guys," Narduzzi said of his offensive line. "Three new starters. Jimmy didn't practice all week. But he came in and played a heck of a ballgame. Bryce (Hargrove) was the only guy to practice all week. Matt Goncalves practiced probably half his snaps at offensive center because we didn't have a backup center (Owen Drexel), as well. He's never snapped the ball in a game or really in a practice really; I don't think so. Our emergency guy was Jake Kradel, and we didn't have him, either."
Narduzzi took time to tip his hat to his offensive line coach.
"You just look at what (Dave) Borbely did, the O-line, and again, a heck of a job by our offense and Coach (Mark) Whipple, just kind of putting it together and piecing it together and having belief in our kids, Narduzzi said. "I even heard a comment during the week, 'Coach, are you really going to put Kenny Pickett behind that offensive line?' (I said) 'we're going to, and we're going to go out and win.' That's Pitt football."
The victory increased Pitt's chances for a winning season. At 5-4, the Panthers play the No. 4-ranked Clemson Tigers next Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The Tigers game against Florida State was postponed Saturday morning, just three hours before kickoff in Tallahassee. The season finale for the Panthers is against Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Dec. 10.
But on Saturday, Narduzzi got a big response in a challenging week where the team was ravaged by COVID-19, which sidelined eight of his starters. That inspired performance could be a huge moral boost that helps the team rise to new heights in those final two games.
"You know, you look at what we did this week in practice, and our coaches did a heck of a job," Narduzzi said, reflecting on the win. "Happy for our seniors. Senior day, that's how you let your seniors go out. Those 10 that walked and had senior day today, I just couldn't be more proud of those guys and what they did today. It was a gutsy win by our football team. They never blinked. They didn't worry. They believed."
The Panthers' believing got Pitt's seniors a win that Weaver says he'll never forget.
"Coach (Charlie) Partridge was talking to me and Patrick (Jones)," Weaver said when reflecting on the game. "He told us, 'you have to end on the note that you guys deserve.' Leading into the game I just saw it as another game. But then I realized it was my last game as a Pitt Panther at Heinz. Then I really embraced it and enjoyed the second half. To win by how much we did made it more memorable. To win on a senior night? For us to have that as a memory, I'm going to have that jersey, I'm not going to wash it and I'll be able to have that forever."