Little late to the party, but after rewatching and reading up on the game, here is what I saw from Pitt's game over the weekend.
Quarterback
Veilleux played well at times. He spread the ball around to different receivers, stayed upright by only getting sacked one, and he didn’t turn it over, which is still important. He made some impressive throws, both touchdowns looked really good, and made some clutch plays on that late drive.
There was some bad also. The offense only produced two touchdown drives: the first of the game and the go-ahead score late in the fourth. Pitt had to punt seven times and went 0-for-2 on fourth downs. The offense moved the ball better, but needing to finish off drives is still what Veilleux needs to improve most on right now. It’s night and day that the offense is operating better with Veilleux compared to Jurkovec, but they still need to find ways to generate more points.
I still think the spot in the final minute was wrong and I believe he did everything correct and got the first down, but I guess in the literal interpretation of the rule comes into play and that is why it was called as it was. It spoiled what would have been a pretty big win for Veilleux early on in his career in his first road game.
Running Back
I tend to think there has been a nagging injury going on with Rodney Hammond, which has to be the reason why he has been limited him this year. I have always held the belief he’s the best back on the team, but the way his snap distribution been handled has been confusing and after the Wake game and subsequent depth chart change on Monday, nothing really got cleared. C’Bo Flemister actually did not play all that bad and got Pitt’s first 100-yard game of the season and broke off a couple nice runs. He was solid, but four of his fourth quarter carries went for two yards or less, and they were times Pitt needed to move the chains or chew clock as well. It’s not necessarily his fault the line isn’t getting a push, but Pitt still isn’t getting those have-to-have type runs with Flemister.
Narduzzi talked about the ‘hot hand’ type approach going into Saturday and left it open for Hammond to have a big game. Pitt is probably going to try to slow the game down as much as possible, much like the approach the team had in 2018 with sophomore Kenny Pickett. The Panthers nearly upset Notre Dame that year in a 19-14 slugfest and if Pitt has any chance on Saturday, it might be that kind of game, which should get some opportunities for the backs.
Receivers/Tight Ends
I mean, I have been harping on four or fives guys here to all get more touches, and they pretty much all did on Saturday, so I still think that was good to see. Bub Means had a career game with nine catches, 109 yards, and a clutch touchdown. Mumpfield had a productive game. Kenny Johnson got a touchdown in the passing game. Reynolds made some important plays like that 24 yarder on the last scoring drive. Bartholomew’s production was still low for my liking but three catches is still something.
Offensive Line
Numbers wise it was a pretty good game for the offense. Pitt had a 300-yard passer, 100-yard rusher and 100-yard receiver. Veilleux was only sacked once and only hurried six times on over 45 drop backs. I think the pass protection was solid, there were running lines at times, but the short-yardage operation was not very good, and it proved to be costly.
I think it is good guys like Moore, Williams, Baer, and Taylor are all playing, because it should only be a benefit to next season. Kradel and Zubovic both rotated in, but did not necessarily take the jobs for good, because Williams and Collier both saw second half action as well.
Moore should stick at center at this point, because he’s your starting center next year. Let him and Veilleux continue to work together. Williams still needs to play to continue his development. The redshirt is off, you might as well let him play through the growing pains. Obviously if Kradel and Zubovic are both healthy, they are going to get more snaps than they saw on Saturday.
Defensive Line
I thought Pitt was going to have a chance to get some big sack numbers on Saturday and it didn’t happen. They seemingly had the Wake Forest offensive line figured out in 2021 and a lot of those guys from that game are still around like Bentley, Green, Danielson, and Hayes, who had a sack in that 2021 meeting. Wake Forest was near the top of the country in sacks allowed and was down to a third-string quarterback. You would think there should have been more pressure, but they didn’t generate much of a rush.
Linebacker
Solomon Deshields was one of Pitt’s best players in the Louisville win and to lose him how they did was pretty devastating and changed the game a little. Jordan Bass had to play a lot more and actually did some good things, but there may have been some spots late in the game when you want the regular starters on the field, and not a freshman in his first extended look.
Hopefully Pitt is getting closer to seeing guys like Kyle Louis and Braylan Lovelace return, and obviously DeShields. Kamara has missed time earlier in the year, so it’s been a jumbled year at this spot, but it has allowed the talented freshmen to see the field more than maybe was expected, which I think is a positive. Bass is probably going to play a lot again this week.
Defensive Backs
Pitt dialing up corner blitzes with its fastest player against the slow mesh scheme was a pretty good usage for AJ Woods, and allowed him to get two sacks. That was some good coaching and knowing your personnel and their play development, especially with a young QB. It was good to see Devonshire and O’Brien to get interceptions. I think McIntyre made some good plays in run support.
The killer here were some penalties. Pitt had three penalties on its defensive backs in the fourth quarter, with the worst one on McMillon after the Devonshire interception, which started to spin things into disarray.
Generally, the defense played well enough to win the game, again. You don’t like to see the late touchdowns allowed obviously, but only allowing 323 yards and 21 points should be enough to win a football game. They got two turnovers and held Wake to 4-of-14 on third downs. They should not have been in a position to defend a short field with :40 seconds left.
Special Teams
The punting definitely took a turn sometime during the season. Junko seemed OK the first couple of games, but has definitely regressed in recent weeks. Devonshire had one decent return on three tries. Sauls made his kicks. Not much to say.
State of the season
The result of this game basically ends Pitt's path to a bowl game. It was unlikely to begin with, but if Pitt was going to find its way to six wins, beating Wake Forest was part of the plan. Losing that game probably ends Pitt's chance at attaining at least a 6-6 season and getting a bowl game for extra practice. Again, i didn't think they were getting there anyway, but that kind of put the nail in the coffin. Despite that, I still think Pitt is going to try to play competitive football here down the stretch. They did recently beat a ranked Louisville team and did almost enough to win on the road over the weekend, so the team is definitely playing better in some regards, because September was a pretty dreadful month.
I think the youth movement is still important to the ending of this season and getting to see Christian Veilleux finding Kenny Johnson for touchdowns is the type of connection you want to develop over these next five games. Having Baer and Williams continue to get meaningful reps is worth it. Letting Bass, Lovelace, Louis (if they get healthy) play important defensive possessions is a positive. It's all worth McIntyre, O'Brien, and McMillon (I know) to get more playing time. They can continue to try to win while incorporating young guys. That's the message they have to sell.
As far as coaching goes, I don't think too much has changed after Wake Forest. The offense played better, but it does feel like some type of offseason changes are looming. That's not me saying anything definitive is coming by any means, but just reading the situation.
Quarterback
Veilleux played well at times. He spread the ball around to different receivers, stayed upright by only getting sacked one, and he didn’t turn it over, which is still important. He made some impressive throws, both touchdowns looked really good, and made some clutch plays on that late drive.
There was some bad also. The offense only produced two touchdown drives: the first of the game and the go-ahead score late in the fourth. Pitt had to punt seven times and went 0-for-2 on fourth downs. The offense moved the ball better, but needing to finish off drives is still what Veilleux needs to improve most on right now. It’s night and day that the offense is operating better with Veilleux compared to Jurkovec, but they still need to find ways to generate more points.
I still think the spot in the final minute was wrong and I believe he did everything correct and got the first down, but I guess in the literal interpretation of the rule comes into play and that is why it was called as it was. It spoiled what would have been a pretty big win for Veilleux early on in his career in his first road game.
Running Back
I tend to think there has been a nagging injury going on with Rodney Hammond, which has to be the reason why he has been limited him this year. I have always held the belief he’s the best back on the team, but the way his snap distribution been handled has been confusing and after the Wake game and subsequent depth chart change on Monday, nothing really got cleared. C’Bo Flemister actually did not play all that bad and got Pitt’s first 100-yard game of the season and broke off a couple nice runs. He was solid, but four of his fourth quarter carries went for two yards or less, and they were times Pitt needed to move the chains or chew clock as well. It’s not necessarily his fault the line isn’t getting a push, but Pitt still isn’t getting those have-to-have type runs with Flemister.
Narduzzi talked about the ‘hot hand’ type approach going into Saturday and left it open for Hammond to have a big game. Pitt is probably going to try to slow the game down as much as possible, much like the approach the team had in 2018 with sophomore Kenny Pickett. The Panthers nearly upset Notre Dame that year in a 19-14 slugfest and if Pitt has any chance on Saturday, it might be that kind of game, which should get some opportunities for the backs.
Receivers/Tight Ends
I mean, I have been harping on four or fives guys here to all get more touches, and they pretty much all did on Saturday, so I still think that was good to see. Bub Means had a career game with nine catches, 109 yards, and a clutch touchdown. Mumpfield had a productive game. Kenny Johnson got a touchdown in the passing game. Reynolds made some important plays like that 24 yarder on the last scoring drive. Bartholomew’s production was still low for my liking but three catches is still something.
Offensive Line
Numbers wise it was a pretty good game for the offense. Pitt had a 300-yard passer, 100-yard rusher and 100-yard receiver. Veilleux was only sacked once and only hurried six times on over 45 drop backs. I think the pass protection was solid, there were running lines at times, but the short-yardage operation was not very good, and it proved to be costly.
I think it is good guys like Moore, Williams, Baer, and Taylor are all playing, because it should only be a benefit to next season. Kradel and Zubovic both rotated in, but did not necessarily take the jobs for good, because Williams and Collier both saw second half action as well.
Moore should stick at center at this point, because he’s your starting center next year. Let him and Veilleux continue to work together. Williams still needs to play to continue his development. The redshirt is off, you might as well let him play through the growing pains. Obviously if Kradel and Zubovic are both healthy, they are going to get more snaps than they saw on Saturday.
Defensive Line
I thought Pitt was going to have a chance to get some big sack numbers on Saturday and it didn’t happen. They seemingly had the Wake Forest offensive line figured out in 2021 and a lot of those guys from that game are still around like Bentley, Green, Danielson, and Hayes, who had a sack in that 2021 meeting. Wake Forest was near the top of the country in sacks allowed and was down to a third-string quarterback. You would think there should have been more pressure, but they didn’t generate much of a rush.
Linebacker
Solomon Deshields was one of Pitt’s best players in the Louisville win and to lose him how they did was pretty devastating and changed the game a little. Jordan Bass had to play a lot more and actually did some good things, but there may have been some spots late in the game when you want the regular starters on the field, and not a freshman in his first extended look.
Hopefully Pitt is getting closer to seeing guys like Kyle Louis and Braylan Lovelace return, and obviously DeShields. Kamara has missed time earlier in the year, so it’s been a jumbled year at this spot, but it has allowed the talented freshmen to see the field more than maybe was expected, which I think is a positive. Bass is probably going to play a lot again this week.
Defensive Backs
Pitt dialing up corner blitzes with its fastest player against the slow mesh scheme was a pretty good usage for AJ Woods, and allowed him to get two sacks. That was some good coaching and knowing your personnel and their play development, especially with a young QB. It was good to see Devonshire and O’Brien to get interceptions. I think McIntyre made some good plays in run support.
The killer here were some penalties. Pitt had three penalties on its defensive backs in the fourth quarter, with the worst one on McMillon after the Devonshire interception, which started to spin things into disarray.
Generally, the defense played well enough to win the game, again. You don’t like to see the late touchdowns allowed obviously, but only allowing 323 yards and 21 points should be enough to win a football game. They got two turnovers and held Wake to 4-of-14 on third downs. They should not have been in a position to defend a short field with :40 seconds left.
Special Teams
The punting definitely took a turn sometime during the season. Junko seemed OK the first couple of games, but has definitely regressed in recent weeks. Devonshire had one decent return on three tries. Sauls made his kicks. Not much to say.
State of the season
The result of this game basically ends Pitt's path to a bowl game. It was unlikely to begin with, but if Pitt was going to find its way to six wins, beating Wake Forest was part of the plan. Losing that game probably ends Pitt's chance at attaining at least a 6-6 season and getting a bowl game for extra practice. Again, i didn't think they were getting there anyway, but that kind of put the nail in the coffin. Despite that, I still think Pitt is going to try to play competitive football here down the stretch. They did recently beat a ranked Louisville team and did almost enough to win on the road over the weekend, so the team is definitely playing better in some regards, because September was a pretty dreadful month.
I think the youth movement is still important to the ending of this season and getting to see Christian Veilleux finding Kenny Johnson for touchdowns is the type of connection you want to develop over these next five games. Having Baer and Williams continue to get meaningful reps is worth it. Letting Bass, Lovelace, Louis (if they get healthy) play important defensive possessions is a positive. It's all worth McIntyre, O'Brien, and McMillon (I know) to get more playing time. They can continue to try to win while incorporating young guys. That's the message they have to sell.
As far as coaching goes, I don't think too much has changed after Wake Forest. The offense played better, but it does feel like some type of offseason changes are looming. That's not me saying anything definitive is coming by any means, but just reading the situation.
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