Surprise! Look who is undefeated in the ACC

Pop quiz, hotshot: Can you name the four undefeated teams left in the ACC? Miami may not be much of a surprise. Louisville, having played in the ACC championship game a year ago, should not be a surprise, either. But how about Pitt and Duke starting the season 4-0? Considering Duke was picked 11th in the preseason media poll and Pitt picked 13th, their hot starts have certainly drawn extra notice.

But there is something all four teams have in common: They each hit on the quarterbacks they chose from the transfer portal. Cam Ward (Washington State) has the prolific Miami offense setting records, while Tyler Shough (Texas Tech) has elevated the Louisville offense into a legitimate threat each week. Maalik Murphy (Texas) helped give new Duke coach Manny Diaz instant credibility with his arrival on campus.

But you could make a legitimate argument the biggest impact portal player could very well be Eli Holstein (Alabama), who won the Pitt starting job in fall camp and has not looked back. His ascendancy has been so unexpected, Pitt brought presumed starter Nate Yarnell to ACC Kickoff back in July. Holstein not only gives the Pitt offense some swag, he and offensive coordinator Kade Bell have been a perfect fit for the tempo offense Bell brought with him from Western Carolina.

Last year, Pitt may have been the poster child for portal quarterbacks who miss -- the Panthers brought in Phil Jurkovec but he never got into a groove, was benched as quarterback and moved to tight end. Coach Pat Narduzzi watched his offense slog through a 3-9 season and thought to himself, "We have to do something different." Enter Bell. The two had never previously worked together, but as soon as Narduzzi -- a defensive coach -- started watching what Bell was doing at Western Carolina he was sold. Pitt has now won more games than all of last season.

All four quarterbacks rank in the top six in touchdown passes thrown in the ACC. Ward, Shough and Holstein rank in the top five in quarterback efficiency. Football is obviously a complex sport, but when the quarterback is playing the way these four are, success can be boiled down in a simple way. Top-tier QB play = success. -- Andrea Adelson

I wonder exactly what happened here. Check bounced? Anyway I’m just going to blame Brennan Marion.
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39 points allowed with 10 minutes left in the 2nd quarter - that right the 2nd Fn quarter!!

Wow. I really liked lyke. Hopefully the chancellor doesn’t f this up

In this week's Morning Pitt Mailbag, we've got questions about redshirts, where Pitt stands in the ACC, passing records and more.

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Like you I asked, wtf is LEAD1?

Here is their about:
The evolution of LEAD1 to the new FBS Athletics Directors Association and joining the NACDA family comes at a pivotal time in our industry,” said NACDA President Ross Bjork, Senior Vice President and Wolfe Foundation-Eugene Smith Endowed Athletics Director at The Ohio State University. “The education, connection and resources that will be available to all FBS athletics directors as a result of this transition will make an immediate positive impact within the profession. We can and should continue to advocate for and strengthen college athletics through our positions as thought leaders on our campuses, in the FBS Athletics Directors Association and NACDA.”

About the FBS Athletics Directors Association:

The Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Athletics Directors Association, founded in 1986, represents the athletics directors of the 134 member universities of the FBS, encompassing 42 states, 55,000 student-athletes, and more than 25,000 athletics administrators. Key to the FBS Athletics Directors Association’s mission is to bring together FBS athletics directors to advocate and drive results on key issues that focus on the success of student-athletes and the advancement of college athletics.

Ever given up by Youngstown State in the history of their program.

Apologies if this has been thoroughly discussed elsewhere.

#thekadebelleffect

Bought the magazine for $15. If you're into college hoops, it's worth the cash. Previews of every team. Several sites (Three-Man-Weave, Mid Major Madness, etc) I read prior to every season took part in putting this thing together. 814 pages.

Conference projections, mid major rankings, transfer rankings, top players, breakout players, freshmen to watch, bracketology, etc.

I never bought the Blue Ribbon preview, so I don't know how it compares to that.

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Pitt is one of four undefeated teams in the ACC, but where do the Panthers stand in the conference? On today's Morning Pitt, we're ranking Pitt - and the other 16 teams in the ACC.

Pitt went deep into the bench on defense in Saturday's win over Youngstown State. Here's a closer look at who played and how they performed with stats from Pro Football Focus.

It's time for another Mailbag, so post your questions about Pitt football, basketball, recruiting or anything else in this thread and we'll answer as many as we can in this week's Mailbag.

Thanks, as always, for participating.

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This is what I've been saying. When FSU, Clem, and UNC leave, the B12 and ACC are going to merge to form this new league, probably with a corporate name like the Allstate League.

Lots of attention on Holstein and Reid- and rightly so- but it’s amazing how our WR room has improved in one year.

Williams and Lee have been awesome so far, and all of a sudden we’re 5 deep when last year we were wondering who might be WR #3. System and QB don’t work without the guys on the other end. I think our WR corps has been absolutely awesome- insane and clutch catches all over the place. What a difference a year makes

This was a perfect video

For a PERFECT THURSDAY

SAW THAT WOOD BABY

#H2P

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When Daniel Carter announced his commitment to Pitt on Dec. 1, 2018, his future team was in Charlotte, N.C.

Nearly six years later, Carter put in a career day to help the Panthers get to 4-0, and he figures to have a role going forward.

Pitt lost nearly 20 transfers to the portal this offseason and added almost as many, so on today's Morning Pitt, we're tracking how all of those transfers - the ones who left Pitt and the ones who joined the Panthers - have done at this point in the season.

Any other Carolina-based Pitt fans on the board going to the Pitt/Clemson game tomorrow? I'll be there with my wife and my mom, will report back on how the team is looking in a road atmosphere, though I don't expect Clemson to be too much of a difficult environment and hope to see a fairly easy sweep.

Seems like every new vehicle now has the turn off the engine while idling in drive feature...Apparently this will save the planet for the gallon of gas I save over a two year period. I hate the damn thing. You can shut if off manually but you cannot have it default to the off position for some stupid reason. No matter how many times the internet geniuses tell me the starter will no go out quicker I will not believe them...

I enrolled with a credit card processor that takes a portion of the fees collected for debit/credit card transactions and donates them to the collective of your choosing. I'll be able to track the amount donated to A412 monthly so I'm excited to see how it pans out. I'm only using this at a single location for now but if all goes well I plan on replacing all my card terminals with the this processor.
This is a great way to help with no personal out of pocket expense.

Love it! #H2P

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Posting mid season highlight tapes for committed players seem unnecessary unless they are looking for additional offers. I think it would imply the commitment is pretty weak and we could just be place holders while they attempt to get bigger NIL’s. Thoughts?

So yesterday the away side was pretty empty, but the home side did pack in pretty nice. I’d guess actual people there maybe half full? Pitt said it was 48k but I have a real hard time buying that one.

Either way, the crowd was, and this is putting it nicely, was not into the game. Very little cheering, even on the tds. I’d compare it to a golf clap. Pretty tepid. Go watch highlights of Tennessee vs Kent for a comparison. They actually sound like real cheers

Here though is the tell tale sign that nothing changes at a new stadium…everyone left. By the middle of the 4th I’d guess at least half of the people there were gone. Why wouldn’t you want to stay and see Pitt run it up?

Let’s face it, and days like yesterday prove it, the stadium isn’t the issue….its our fanbase. Unless it’s a big matchup they don’t get into the game. A new stadium won’t change that

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now this could be a problem