Pitt came into its season opener Saturday needing to show it could dominate a program like UMass at home that went 0-4 last season. The defense definitely did that, allowing only a single score once the Panthers' replacements were on the field in the fourth quarter in the Panthers' 51-7 win.
The final box score showed the overall dominance Pitt had on the game as UMass only gained 42 rushing yards to Pitt's 222, a difference of 1.6 yards per carry to 5.4. The Panthers also gained 29 first downs to the Minutemen's total of four.
The Panthers' defense lived up to the billing of an aggressive Pitt defense that Pat Narduzzi's teams have shown in recent seasons with five sacks on UMass quarterback Tyler Lytle, as well as six tackles for loss, nine quarterback hits and a fumble recovery. Pitt also did that without its starting defensive end and captain Deslin Alexandre, who was held out with a minor injury.
While linebacker John Petrishen led the team with two sacks, the clear difference maker up front early and often was sophomore defensive tackle Calijah Kancey who finished with five tackles and a sack.
"The first guy I'll talk about is Kancey," Narduzzi said when asked about his defense. "I thought Kancey did a really good job. John Petrishen did some nice things, too. But we'll look at the tape. I think they had three first downs in the first half, so a lot of guys stood out. It takes eleven guys. One of their mottos is eleven as one, and it takes eleven playing together. I don't like a couple of those drives at the end."
Kancey echoed Narduzzi's message about the defense playing together when asked about his success.
"We all worked as one out there," Kancey said of the defense. "We as the defensive line forced the quarterback into the blitzers and the blitzers forced sacks to us. We like working out there as one group."
For him as a player, Kancey came on strong early last season but slowed down in his production as the season wore on. A big difference for him has been the experience he's gained and the tendencies he's picked up in studying opponent's techniques.
"I was keeping my eyes on my keys," Kancey said of his day. "I can pick up more tendencies now, including formations and the little keys offensive lines give me before the snap. I got off the ball, shed my man, run to the ball and then everything came together. I took a risk on my sack because I saw the guard was light on his feet so I knew he was pulling and I took the risk. Coach (Charlie) Partridge is a great coach and he lets us have fun, but trust at the end of the day we're doing it his way."
Kancey's disruptive effort could be seen on several run and pass plays early in the game. Either he was mauling the man in front of him or knifing his way through a double team to force Lytle's hand several times. Lytle had a tough time in his first ever NCAA start, completing only 14 of 31 passes for 167 yards. When Kancey was playing more snaps in the first half, those numbers were even worse as Lytle went into halftime completing only 5 of 14 passes for 54 yards.
But as Kancey and Narduzzi said, it was about the defense playing as one that made the dominant performance. Linebacker John Petrishen led the team with six tackles and two sacks in what was his best ever showing for the Panthers. He transferred to Pitt in 2019 with two years of eligibility left and got one more year to play because of the eligibility waiver granted to all seniors because of COVID-19's impact on the 2020 season.
"Unbelievable for me," Petrishen said of his performance. "I've envisioned things like this and manifested things like this for a long time. I'm more confident than I've ever been and having more fun than I ever have. Coach (Ryan) Manalac has been instrumental for me. I love being here. I love my position and when I'm having fun a play better. For a long time I was focused on proving other people wrong, but I wasn't having fun doing that. So I had to change my mindset to be about proving myself and the people who support me right. I feel like that's reflected on the field."
Petrishen was just one of the many active Pitt linebackers against UMass, as four of Pitt's five sacks came from its linebackers. Starting money linebacker Phil Campbell accounted for one and Wendell Davis accounted for another.
"When we blitz them we expect to get home," Narduzzi said of his linebackers. "Phil Campbell I thought played great. You'll watch one of his first hits on the quarterback, if he just sticks a hand out there and knocks the ball out, it's a turnover and we get the ball out down on about the 20-yard line. But we've got some experienced linebackers that are explosive, they're fast, and we'll get our pressure from them like we did a year ago. But we're going to have to be a lot better against Tennessee."
When talking to both Narduzzi and the players, you could tell there was definitely a sense that everyone involved knew that this was still a small program in UMass that will be nothing like the challenges moving forward, especially Pitt's next opponent when it faces Tennessee next Saturday in Knoxville.
"There were times those guys' eyes got big," Kancey said of UMass' offensive line. "They weren't on the same page, so I took advantage of that. We could hear them communicate and that helped us get there."
What Pitt's defense will have to lean on is how its group continues to grow together. Part of that will be the linebackers and defensive line working together moving forward, but it's a theme that echoes across the roster when you talk to anyone on the defense.
"It's been a collective theme throughout the team," Petrishen said when asked about the defensive line's work. "Especially on defense, we mesh really well and we're having fun together. We're all excited to see each other's success. In our linebacker group we're all excited to see someone else do well. My two sacks wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the defensive line in front of me doing their job or the secondary behind me doing their job."
The secondary also got involved with Erick Hallett II forcing and recovering a fumble in the second half that set up a quick touchdown for Pitt early in the third quarter. After getting the ball on UMass' 38, it took Pitt seven plays before Vincent Davis punched the ball in with a six-yard touchdown run to make the score 30-0.
But it wasn't as smooth of a day for the offense as the score might lead someone to believe. Three of Pitt's first three drives ended in either a quick punt, a lost fumble or a turnover on downs. Against an opponent from a power five conference that might be understandable, but against a program like UMass, that start was frustrating.
"Early in the first half we did some things just to slow us down," Narduzzi said of Pitt's early struggles. "Whether it was a turnover, misalignment by a young receiver they're all unforced errors. We had, I think, two turnovers and we had a snap go over the head in the second half."
Pitt's first drive was stalled after a big pass to Jordan Addison was called back because a receiver lined up over Lucas Krull, making him ineligible. Pitt's next possession got deep into UMass territory, but ended on an A.J. Davis fumble. It wasn't the start Pitt wanted at all, especially against an opponent the Panthers knew they needed to dominate.
"It's the first game and it's not going to be perfect," Kenny Pickett said of the offense. "Especially in week one, I told the guys to keep their heads up and that the big plays were going to come."
Pickett got things going for the offense on Pitt's third possession by connecting with Krull twice, once for a 15-yard completion to get deeper into UMass territory, and a second time at the goal line for a touchdown.
It was Krull's first NCAA touchdown, and he did it right in front of the packed Pitt student section in the first game Pitt fans were allowed back at Heinz Field in full since 2019.
"It was special," Krull said of his touchdown. "I score the touchdown and it's right in our student section and everyone's going crazy. It got the team going so we could build some momentum on offense and we got rolling so that was great."
Pickett then got the offense going with a 47-yard bomb to Jaylon Barden to open up the next drive before finishing again with a red zone pass to Jordan Addison for the score.
"Jaylon's strength is his speed and getting behind guys," Pickett said of Barden. "He'll continue to get better. He's a great kid who works really hard and wants it bad. He'll be in the film room tomorrow studying and be ready to go next week. That's another guy I'm hoping will get funneled in there more as the season goes along."
But on Pitt's next drive, Pickett took a tough shot from UMass' Gerrell Johnson that would get called for roughing the passer and targeting, and eject the freshman linebacker from the game. Pickett was down for a couple minutes before walking to the sideline.
But after a single play when backup Nick Patti completed a 17-yard pass to Shocky Jacques-Louis, Pickett ran back on the field and took command of the offense. If you asked Pickett, it was nothing. But if you asked his teammates, it was inspiring to see their quarterback be as tough as he's been all his collegiate career.
"I just got the wind knocked out of me," Pickett said from the targeting hit that took him out of the game for a play. "But once I caught my breath I felt good going back out there."
It looked more than just having the wind knocked out of Pickett when he went down, as Johnson's helmet definitely collided with Pickett's, but he didn't seem fazed at any point in the game after that.
"We know he's really tough," Petrishen said of Pickett. "But when Kenny came back in, we had more momentum going. He's a great leader and we know he's really tough."
Pickett even paid attention to Patti's throw while he was gathering himself on the sideline, complimenting the redshirt junior.
"Nick came in and make a big time throw," Pickett said of Patti backing him up in the first half. "He's always done a great job for us. After his throw it allowed me to come back in and keep building on that drive. I never get worried when Nick has to go in."
But the drive would end with Rodney Hammond Jr. getting stuffed on a 4th and 1 play, and the following drive had Taysir Mack drop a wide open touchdown before Pitt settled for a field goal. It left the Panthers only up 23-0 when they dominated UMass during the first half in yardage 358-50.
"Going into the half we felt like we left at least two touchdowns out there," Pickett said. "The goal was to come out in the second half fast, get on them and put them away early. I was glad we did that. It shows signs of growth for this team because there were times early in my career we didn't do that here. Now in back to back years we've done that on opening week."
Pickett's right about finishing stronger. This is back to back season openers where Pitt finished scoring more than 50 points, and he's a big part of that distributing the ball to ten different players who caught passes for the Panthers. He finished completing 27 of 37 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns. Chief among his targets being Krull who led the team with 58 yards receiving and catching all five of his targets to go along with his touchdown.
"I've appreciated Lucas this whole time," Pickett said. "Just needed him to get healthy and yeah, he's a difference maker over the middle. He was great in the red zone getting the ball in the flat and getting in the end zone. That's something we haven't had in my time here and now it's nice to have. We're going to put more stuff in the offense for him once he gets more comfortable."
"That relationship has been built since my first visit here," Krull said of his connection with Pickett. "He hosted me and I knew he was special from the moment I visited here. I knew it would be fantastic to play with him being quarterback and him lead this team. He's one of my best friends here. Even before I got hurt, we had chemistry. We picked that right back up in the spring, carried it through camp and now we're ready to go."
Krull was joined in his effort by true freshman Gavin Bartholomew at tight end who also caught all three of his targets for 21 yards and dished out several solid blocks during the game to go along with Krull. Pitt went from having no real options at tight end last year to having two Narduzzi's feeling confident about early in the season.
"No doubt about it," Narduzzi said when asked if his tight ends made a huge difference. "I don't know when the last time we had a tight end in with five catches, and Gavin I think had two, so you look at seven catches out of that tight end. It's good to see our tight ends get out there and make some plays, and Lucas is a big target. Got to be great for his confidence."
"Extremely proud," Krull said when asked of Bartholomew's performance. "That kid is working his tail off every day. I room with him for a reason, because I want to make sure he's ready to roll and he was today. He's confident and he's special, he's going to be a huge player for this offense in the coming years. As you saw today, we've got different kinds of tight ends but we can all handle our business."
Pitt's tight ends helped seal the day, and the offensive line grew as the game went on. But Pitt's running back position still looked unsettled in a game where freshman Rodney Hammond Jr. led the team in carries with eight for 44 yards, but Vincent Davis, Israel Abanikanda, and A.J. Davis all scored touchdowns and also averaged over four yards per carry. Daniel Carter also punched in a rushing touchdown.
While that final result looked good, Pitt will need to figure out a level of consistency with its ground game that doesn't involve a team that was winless last year having to get bullied by much better players. Narduzzi wouldn't comment as much about how Pitt distributed its carries, but he did note the offensive line got better as the game went along. Pitt finished with 222 rushing yards on 41 carries for five touchdowns.
The end result for the offense was good, but against Tennessee it will have to be more consistent. Otherwise Pitt will be hoping the defense has to carry the entire team against teams that are much better than UMass.
