Pitt is shifting its focus to ACC play, and it's time to assess which players have showed the most improvement in the early part of the season.
The Panthers are 3-1 and are ranked at No. 24 in the Associated Press poll, and are perhaps a Kedon Slovis injury away from beating now-No. 8 Tennessee and being 4-0.
How are your overall feelings on the Panthers and their performance in the nonconference slate? Who stands out to you as Pitt prepares for the ACC opener on Saturday against Georgia Tech?
On Wednesday, I'll have my five players I want to see step up for Pitt as we enter ACC play.
For now, here are five players who stood out to me during Pitt's first four games of this season:
1. RB Israel Abanikanda
Abanikanda has undoubtedly been Pitt's best offensive player through four games. He is the only player in the ACC to be averaging more than 100 yards rushing (119.8), and his six rushing TDs are one fewer than Clemson's Will Shipley for the ACC lead.
Abanikanda is also the ACC's leader in all-purpose yards by a long shot at 180.3 per game. Over his last three games, Abanikanda is totaling 6.2 yards per carry and has scored all six of his touchdowns, including the four-score performance on Saturday against Rhode Island.
With Rodney Hammond Jr. missing three games and C'Bo Flemister unable to get going in the first two games, Pitt needed a spark from Abanikanda, and he gave it to them. He doubled down after Slovis was forced to miss the Western Michigan game and took the 31-carry workload in support of reserve QB Nate Yarnell. The offense has revolved around him so far, after preseason pondering of how much the offense was going to run the ball.
With 83 carries through four games, Abanikanda has now absorbed 67.5% of the workload he took in 13 games in 2021, when he totaled 123 carries for 651 yards. He is on a 10-game pace for a realm of 210 carries for 1,200 yards and just over 1,800 all-purpose yards this season. All of the preseason rumblings about Abanikanda being a breakout running back are true, and he is currently RB1 in the ACC.
"Once you get to that second level and get that second-level speed and get to the endzone, it makes it so much easier on the linemen, on the offense," Slovis said of Abanikanda. "That's the second game now where he's had -- maybe third, I don't know -- where he's had like an 80-yard run for a touchdown. As an offense, I've been with a lot of guys that can get 20, and you have to reset the chains. If it's explosive, it's good, but if you can get that second-level speed and be that explosive, it's really special."
🏆 ACC RB of the Week 🏆
— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) September 26, 2022
Israel Abanikanda » @IAbanikanda
245 All-Purpose Yards, 4 TD 🙌#H2P » @ACCFootball pic.twitter.com/5UDme05UBa
2. CB M.J. Devonshire
The Aliquippa native and Kentucky transfer has been a tremendous story in 2022, and he keeps trending in the right direction for Pitt.
His tear started in the Backyard Brawl, where he channeled a fellow former Quip and created his own Darrelle Revis-like moment with his pick-six. He said after the game that he envisioned making a play like Revis did with his punt return for a touchdown in the 2006 Brawl. In that game, Devonshire also recorded three tackles and broke up two passes.
Against Tennessee, he finished third on the team in tackles with five, and he broke up two more passes.
He currently has five pass breakups on the season, good for second on the team behind A.J. Woods' six. His 12.0 total tackles are the most this season by any Pitt cornerback.
Against Rhode Island, he took his first punt return of the season 82 yards for a touchdown, making him the first Panther to register a pick-six and a punt return TD in the same season since -- you guessed it -- Revis, in 2006.
"It means a lot," Devonshire said of the accomplishment. "I was not aware of that until after the game. I didn't know about it. I guess it doesn't happen often, so it means a lot to definitely watch him do it. He paved the way. I just followed it."
Devonshire started the season as a reserve cornerback behind Woods and Marquis Williams, but he has not only usurped Woods on the pre-Georgia Tech depth chart, he has also earned duties as the team's primary punt returner.
"You're a little afraid of putting him back there (as a punt returner), but we made a decision to put him back there, take some off the receivers because we're shorthanded there, and he did a nice job," Pat Narduzzi said after the Rhode Island game. "He's fast, and we saw that in the WVU game. If you get the ball in his hands -- again, I think it gave him a lot of confidence today, gave the coaches a lot of confidence when he goes back there, something good can happen."
M.J Devonshire 🤝 Darrelle Revis
— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) September 27, 2022
The Aliquippa natives have produced some historic returns for the Panthers.#H2P » @Revis24 pic.twitter.com/2OPnIeTRpp
3. SLB Bangally Kamara
There were quite a few questions around the Panthers' outside linebacking corps entering this season, especially with John Petrishen, Phil Campbell, and Cam Bright leaving the program for what ever reason it may be.
Narduzzi brought in Tylar Wiltz and Shayne Simon via the transfer portal, and the two brought a litany of experience to the room to replace the three departures.
But, Kamara has more than done his part as a starting star (outside) linebacker and playing alongside SirVocea Dennis. The junior Kamara has stepped into a role that was highly desired and which Narduzzi's defense traditionally thrives on. Kamara is third on the team in tackles with 19, and he has broken up three passes -- good for fourth on the team. He has recorded one-half of a sack.
"He understands game tempo and game speed now," Dennis said of Kamara. "He's working his tail off, really. He's in the film room, he's on the field doing extra work, and in the weight room doing everything he can. Bangally understands the game and how fast it moves and how physical and strong he needs to be."
4. S Erick Hallett II
The ACC Championship Game MVP has been on a tear since the back-end of last season, and he picked up what he put down to start the 2022 season. He has been a ball hawk in every sense of the phrase for Pitt's secondary, while playing off of Brandon Hill as a run stopper and heavy hitter.
Hallett's two-interception day at Western Michigan mirrored what he did in the ACC Championship Game, and he has recovered two fumbles through these four games. Teams haven't tested much of center field against Pitt, and Hallett is a major reason why.
"It's been remarkable," defensive backs coach Archie Collins said of Hallett's play. "I always talk to him about a few years ago (when) we put him in, and he was a different player. We talked about the process and things of that nature. But he's getting more relaxed. You can see his confidence within the game, and he goes back and understands what's coming at him based on what we see from the opponent. It's been amazing to see his maturation over time, going through the process when he was getting a slight amount of reps when (Damar) Hamlin was here.
"He had the opportunity to learn through Hamlin, as well. So those are all good tutors as you're a young student, and now you're the veteran. Now he's got people that he's teaching the game to, which I think is very, very good, and very, very key to the success and keep that thing rolling for years to come."
5. MLB SirVocea Dennis
The Panthers' signal caller and defensive leader has lived up to the billing of the former. Dennis hasn't missed a beat this season, and especially so much so when considering the injuries to the defensive line, having Kamara and Simon enter the starting lineup at linebacker, and with the now-recent changes at cornerback.
Dennis is -- quietly -- the team's leading tackler with 27, and he paces the team in sacks with 3.0 in four games. His 3.5 for loss are one-half fewer than the team leaders, but his 24 yards lost on TFLs pace the team. He has also recorded a pass break-up and a QB hit.
He was asked to be the benchmark of consistency for the Pitt defense this season and continue to develop into one of the best linebackers in the ACC. He has played like it through four games.
Pitt's defense is ranked as the fourth overall unit in the ACC, and that largely is because of the success against the opponents' ground game. Pitt's 12 sacks as a team are two fewer than Virginia's ACC-leading mark.
"We want to be the guys that this team leans on," Dennis said. "No mater how the offense does, good or bad, we just want to be good every time we step out onto the field."