How much will Pitt's offense change with Patti in Peach Bowl? taken on the South Side (Pitt)

PITT ATHLETICS

Nick Patti.

Nick Patti has big shoes to fill thanks to Kenny Pickett's historic season.

Pickett now owns Pitt's all-time record for passing yards in a game (519), single season (4,319) and a career (12,303), while also passing touchdowns in a season (42) and a career (81). But after winning the ACC Championship and finishing third in Heisman Trophy voting, Pickett opted out of the Peach Bowl to prepare for the NFL Draft. After a couple weeks of practice following the ACC Championship, Pat Narduzzi announced Patti to be Pitt's starting quarterback. Patti has one career start from 2019 when he completed 23 of 37 passes for 271 yards, two touchdowns and an interception against Delaware. But over the past two seasons he's purely been a backup quarterback who came in sparingly for Pickett.

Pitt's offense exploded as Mark Whipple's unit finished fifth in the country in total offense, fifth in passing offense, and third in scoring offense. But with Whipple resigning and tight end coach Tim Salem taking over as interim offensive coordinator for the Peach Bowl on top of Patti taking over at quarterback, Pitt's offense would reasonably be expected to undergo serious changes. But the Panthers' players and coaches have expressed a lot of confidence in the redshirt junior quarterback.

"Nick is a leader," Narduzzi said about Patti Sunday. "Nick works his tail off. He's prepared. I think he's watched more tape than anybody last week in the open week that we had, during finals week. He's been really good. Our players trust him even more importantly. Our players love Nick and trust that he's going to go out there and play his best and can get it done. So I think everything's going great there. And obviously you'd love to have Kenny, but that's not the reality. And, again, our kids didn't blink an eye. They feel real good about Nick."

Salem, who recruited Pickett to Pitt, also expressed confidence in Patti's ability to understand and take over the offense.

"Nick Patti has done a very good job," Salem said Tuesday. "Players have great trust in him. He's a worker. He understands the offense. The thing he hasn't had, he hasn't had much playing time. We're losing Kenny Pickett, and learning what life is like without Kenny. He had a phenomenal football season. But Nick is ready to take it for him. The players are excited for him. Nick is excited for himself. We're going to go to town 100 miles an hour. Nick is a worker. Nick comes to practice every day prepared. Even though he's not getting many game reps in front of the crowd and in front of the TV audience, he's at practice. He understands reads. He understands the offense. He's able to communicate. And his workmanship has been there all year long. So now it's his time to go and show what he can do and shine. And I think the players have seen what he is, who he is, and they're just glad that he'll be in the huddle with them."

What Salem and Patti can lean on in Pitt's offense is the assortment of weapons still available. Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison still leads a talented receiver group with Jared Wayne, Shockey Jacques-Louise and Melquise Stovall who Narduzzi said would return from injury to play in the Peach Bowl.

"I would say he knows where to put the ball at on any route and he has great touch," Addison said Tuesday when asked about what it's been like working with Patti. "So I would say it's a little easy to catch his passes. I don't think it will be too difficult because he's been in our practices. So I caught a few passes from him. I don't think it's going to be difficult. I'm a ball player; he's a ball player. And we're going to go out there and compete."

Add on tight ends Lucas Krull and standout true freshman Gavin Bartholomew, Pitt's entire offensive line not only playing in the game but committing to return next year, and Pitt still having its full assortment of running backs in Israel Abanikanda, Vincent Davis and Rodney Hammond II

"Truthfully, there's not a lot," Krull said when asked about how much would be ruled out of Pitt's offense without Pickett. "That's something that as an offense we've known since I've been here is Nick's a guy that, when Kenny is not in there, he steps up and he replaces those shoes really well. He comes in, controls the huddle. He's a general out there. Does a really good job with this offense and getting us where we need to be. He doesn't skip a beat from where Kenny was. That's something that we're really happy about as an offense because when you have a change, you wonder, can this guy do this? And we've always known he can, and he's shown that."

Throughout the season, Patti had been Pitt's first backup quarterback behind Pickett and in doing so would take minimal snaps with the first team offense at the end of practice sessions. That's helped him have a footing heading into preparation for the Peach Bowl, and now he's been working as much as he can to get used to being the quarterback who runs the offense.

"Definitely different," Patti said when asked what it's been like running the offense as the lead quarterback. "And I think that that's the benefit of the bowl game is we had a week or week and a half off for finals week. And the guys, like Jordan, Jared, Shockey, that I haven't really thrown to that much, we had a chance to throw to every day. And that was a big benefit because going from the 2s to the 1s, it's definitely a speed change and you've got to -- they're real easy to throw to, but if you don't throw to them at all, they're not so easy to throw to. That was, this past week and a half getting chemistry with them. I think we went two or three days without throwing an incompletion, throwing almost 150 balls. I'm excited about it. I know everyone's excited about it. We just can't wait until Thursday."

But just because Pickett's not playing in the Peach Bowl doesn't mean he won't be with his team, as Narduzzi has confirmed multiple times that Pickett would wear a headset in the booth. Patti also confirmed Pickett's been helpful in his work to prepare for the Peach Bowl.

"I mean, I have a good relationship with Kenny," Patti said. "He's one of my best friends. We talk all the time. We talk almost every day, whether it's about football, about the game, just about what he's doing, life after being a Pitt Panther. So I have a great relationship with him. I talk to him a lot."

Even the offensive line feels Patti has kept up with the pace of the offense. Marcus Minor spoke about the contributions by Patti in practice, as well as the responsibilities expected of Pitt's quarterback in identifying blitzes and helping call out protection adjustments at the line of scrimmage.

"It honestly feels the same," Minor said of Patti. "Just to have the ability to work with one another still. Patti treats it just like KP has. He takes hold of the offense just like KP would. There's always been communication of some sort. But really it's been us working with (Dave Borbely) figuring out what's best for that play or that situation, and then from there, KP or Patti would know how to adjust. So it's really communication through coaches and players. And from there we're able to understand where weak points might be or the strongest points to get the ball off. So it's just a communication through the whole staff, through the team, and really from there."

Patti had primarily been a running threat for the Panthers the last two seasons when he's been in games, including his two touchdown runs in Pitt's win over Florida State last season. But whether he's truly ready to face off against No. 10 Michigan State will be on display Thursday. His efforts could go into him setting a solid foundation of work heading into next year's spring camp when USC transfer quarterback Kedon Slovis joins the program.

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