Pitt opens its 2021 season against Massachusetts (UMass) after finishing 6-5 last year. Pat Narduzzi's Panthers boast 27 seniors on the roster, including 11 fifth-year seniors. Those eleven make the most for any college football program in the Power Five conferences and the second-most in FBS football behind Louisiana Tech.
Kenny Pickett returning for his fifth year quarterbacking the Panthers as the fifth all-time leading passer with 7,984 passing yards. He would need 2,930 passing yards to pass Alex Van Pelt for the most in program history. That would require an average of approximately 245 passing yards over Pitt's 12 regular season games to beat, a rate he has easily surpassed in each of the past two seasons with 258 yards per game in 2019, and 267.6 yards per game in 2020.
But against a program that went 0-4 last season, Pitt must come out strong showing all its strengths as a pass rushing team with a better offensive line and plenty of offensive weapons so they can set the right tone for Narduzzi's seventh season coaching the program.
• What: Pitt (0-0, 0-0 ACC) vs. Massachusetts (0-0)
• When: 4 p.m.
• Where: Heinz Field
• TV: ACC Network
• Radio: 93.7 The Fan
• Satellite: Sirius 132, XM 194, Online 970
• Boxscore: Sidearm Sports
• Media notes: Pitt | Massachusetts
Top storylines:
All the roster battles: When Pitt's initial depth chart released Monday, four starting positions were left open and unresolved at running back, mike linebacker, free safety and kicker. The only position where an official starter has been announced since then was when Narduzzi announced Thursday that Erick Hallett II would start over Rashad Battle:
Pat Narduzzi says Erick Hallett II will start at free safety vs UMass but Rashad Battle will see plenty of action. #Pitt #H2P
— Christopher Carter (@CarterCritiques) September 2, 2021
But it's anyone's guess for who could be the team's kicker and how Pitt will deploy its deep linebacker group with both Wendell Davis and SirVocea Dennis vying for mike linebacker snaps, and Dennis' ability to play all three linebacker positions while having three super senior linebackers in Chase Pine, starting money linebacker Phil Campbell, and John Petrishen.
As for running back, Israel "Izzy" Abanikanda looks the part of the starting running back after strong spring and summer camps, but Narduzzi indicated the Panthers plan to use him, Vincent Davis and A.J. Davis as a healthy mix early in the season.
Mark Whipple faces his former program, Massachusetts: Pitt's offensive coordinator Mark Whipple spent two head coaching tenures with UMass during 1998-2003 and 2014-2018. In 1998, he led them to the NCAA Division I-AA national championship. But there's no ill feelings from Whipple to the program, who says he sees this game just like any other.
"Nah," Whipple said Tuesday when asked if he was more excited to face UMass because of his past. "It's a great place and a great school. My son graduated there, I spent eleven years there and I had a lot of good times. I got to meet a lot of really, really good people. There's only a couple of the guys I knew left, so this is more about being our first game of the season. Whether it's Austin Peay or West Virginia, we've got to do our thing."
Offensive line must hit the ground running: Pitt's offensive line dealt with a ton of injuries in 2020 that saw several younger players like Owen Drexel and Matt Goncalves get plenty of experience. Now the group has five starters all with experience alongside Carter Warren and transfer guard Marcus Minor.
There's confidence from the coaches to the players that this group can come together quickly and become a strong force to reassert a strong run game for the Panthers with whoever wins the running back job. Part of that comes from the improved chemistry between the group
"I think the O-line and the run game has gotten better every day," Narduzzi said at the end of training camp. "I see better combinations up front and how they team up against defensive tackles up front. That's something we hadn't seen a lot from our offensive lines in past training camps. I think our offense is more capable of running the ball better than last year. We'll find out on game day."
Players to watch:
Habakkuk Baldonado: The Italy-born redshirt junior was a noted camp standout by Narduzzi and was given the starting defensive end spot across from redshirt senior and team captain Deslin Alexandre. After only playing four games in 2020 due to injury, he's bounced back as a player Pitt's coaches expect a lot from, and one of the younger leaders of the defense.
"I'm really proud of how (Baldonado) has recovered physically," defensive line coach Charlie Partridge said Tuesday after practice at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. " He's doing a great job taking care of his body. He's approaching the game like a veteran should. He's done a great job preparing mentally, asking all the right questions, doing everything he can to get tips on how to steal plays. He's played with great technique and he's had a great camp and I'm excited to see him play on Saturday."
Lucas Krull: The super senior tight end was one of the most exciting additions to the 2020 Pitt roster as a transfer from Florida, but suffered injuries that sidelined him early and he missed most of the season. But after strong spring and summer camps, there's excitement he can open up the offense for Pickett in the middle of the field.
"We put a lot of stuff in for him exclusively last year, but then he got hurt," Whipple said of Krull. "We've done that again this year but he's stayed a lot more healthy. He's going to be a big part of what we're doing and he's going to be the top target on a lot of these concepts. He's certainly a weapon who can help us in the red zone at 6-foot-6, and we're excited to see him do a lot for us."
Keyshon Camp: The 6-foot-4, 290 lbs. defensive tackle has had awful injury luck in recent years. He only played six games in 2020, and had season ending injuries in both 2019 and 2018. But when he's been healthy he's been a force for the Panthers. Twice in 2020 he totaled six tackles, and he's been a notable pass rusher and run stuffer in the middle of Pitt's defense.
Narduzzi noted at the end of training camp that Camp hadn't had any injury issues and looked the best he's had in recent years. Lined up next to redshirt sophomore upstart defensive tackle Calijah Kancey, Pitt's defense may have a serious one-two punch at defensive tackle.
Behind enemy lines
UMass' new faces: While Pitt has a ton of experience with returning players all across its depth chart, UMass is on the other side of the spectrum. 35 total student-athletes are new to the program in 2021, 14 of which are on their offensive, defensive and special teams depth charts. UMass saw an influx of 31 transfer players after its shortened 0-4 season in 2020, including ten from Power Five conference programs. One to watch will be 6-foot-7, 340 lbs. offensive tackle Willie Allen, a graduate student who transferred in from Michigan. He looks like one of the players Pitt's defensive line could have the hardest time with Saturday.
Fresh face at quarterback: UMass listed graduate student Tyler Lytle as its starting quarterback. At 6-foot-5, 225 lbs., he's making his first collegiate start after spending three seasons coming off the bench at Colorado and opting out of the 2020 season. For a first start to his career, he gets a tough draw with a reloaded Pitt defense coming off a season where it led the ACC with 46 sacks and 14 interceptions.
Get prepared to see a lot of turnover dunks on Pitt's sideline.
Prediction: Pitt 48-6
UMass has a lot of unknown parts to its roster and its scheme with all the new players. There might be some uneasiness for Pitt on the preparation side, but this is where the Panthers' strengths have to breakthrough and make none of that even matter. The reloaded defensive front must assert itself early against the run and be disruptive against the pass so that the reconfigured secondary can settle in on the season.
Offensively, this is the time for the offensive line to show everyone that it's for real this season and block for Abanikanda and company to show it can have a strong run game this season. If Pitt can do that, it will open up the passing game for Pickett, Krull, and All-ACC freshman receiver from 2020 Jordan Addison to work from a balanced offense. That's an advantage they didn't have last year and need this year if Narduzzi wants to have his first nine-win season as head coach of the program.
Even if a few aspects of the game start with some struggles, expect Pitt's experience with 27 seniors to take over and control the game much like it did in the 55-0 win over Austin Peay in the season opener last season.
