Some of the absolute, best memories in life are made in college.
That comes on a personal level, of course, as you go through four years of growth, learning, and discovery.
But a Division I athlete lives his or her life in a different eye. Their college experiences are shared with fans, alumni, and a team of brothers or sisters which has been their backbone for the last few years.
On Saturday, when Pitt suits up to face Duke at noon, eight Panthers will be experiencing the Acrisure Stadium buzz, the adulation of the home crowd, and the appreciation from the city of Pittsburgh for one final time.
The Pitt football roster has 29 seniors or redshirt seniors, but due to the extra year of eligibility afforded by the COVID-19 pandemic, only eight are in their final season of eligibility: Quarterback Derek Kyler; offensive linemen Owen Drexel, Gabe Houy, Marcus Minor, and Carter Warren; defensive end Deslin Alexandre; and linebackers Myles Canton and Tylar Wiltz.
I want to take a brief moment on each to, well, talk about their moments in their college careers, whether it be at Pitt for the majority of the time, or if they transferred in. Comment below if you have a favorite moment or memory to share among these eight players.
THE CAPTAIN
I would be remiss if I did not start with talking about Alexandre, who is as great of a human off of the field as he has been a player on it. I have been hammering this in my columns for weeks, and I'll gladly do it again: If you have not yet checked out Alexandre's "Fifth Down" Campaign for Haiti, I strongly recommend doing so. He has been working to raise money for children in his hometown of Cap-Haitien, Haiti. His goal is to raise $50,000 -- as of this posting, the campaign has raised $17,229 -- and he has been nominated for national awards because of this work:
Witten Man of the Year π Semifinalist
β Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) November 16, 2022
Deslin Alexandre Β» @_Deslin
Leadership. Courage. Integrity.#H2P Β» @WittenCMOY pic.twitter.com/thR1uaNljw
For all of the flack that NIL gets as a money grab for some college athletes, credit where it's due has to be given. Alexandre is the A-1 example of the proper usage of NIL rules.
You can watch more about the Fifth Down campaign here:
As for his career on the field, Alexandre has been a workhorse ever since redshirting as a true freshman. His work on the field mirrors that of which he puts off of it, as evidenced by his election by his peers as a team captain in each of the last two seasons.
Entering Saturday, Alexandre has played in an impressive 56 games as a Panther. He has logged 16.5 sacks, including a career-best 5.5 this season. He has 29.5 tackles for loss in his career, and he earned an honorable-mention All-ACC selection following the 2021 season.
THE HOGS
I can group these four here, because it's first important to note how rare this is. Warren, Minor, Drexel, and Houy are unique as a collective, where four redshirt senior linemen are all walking away from college football at once. Warren, Drexel, and Houy have each been a member of the Pitt football program since 2017, and each redshirted in that season. Minor arrived at Pitt as a transfer from Maryland prior to the start of the 2021 season.
The Pitt offense grew tremendously along with these four entering as the soon-to-be consistent backbones in different spots in their careers. Drexel played his first game in 2018, and bloomed to become the starting center in the 2021 season. Houy has a quicker ascent, as he played between the right guard and right tackle spots in 2018 and 2019, before becoming a mainstay at right tackle beginning in 2020. Minor immediately started in all 13 games upon his arrival at Pitt, after logging 26 games played and 17 starts in four seasons at Maryland.
Warren had the most rapid of all the ascents of these four, as he became the Panthers' starting left tackle for all 13 games as a redshirt sophomore in 2019. Warren played in 40 games and started 39 as a Panther, and was an All-ACC selection following the 2021 season.
"We were talking about it the other day, all the guys who came back have yet to play snaps together, which is kind of crazy" Drexel said this week. "We have such great guys in the unit. Guys who've stepped up when I've been gone, when Carter's been gone, when Gabe's been out. We have a tremendous unit, and I'm really proud of the guys who have stepped up."
The 2022 season has been a wonky one for the unit. Warren was ruled out for the season after sustaining a leg injury in October. Drexel just returned at Virginia, after sustaining a leg injury in Week 2. Houy began the season with an Achilles injury and has been on and off the field throughout the season.
"It's weird for me, because I'm coming back from something," Drexel said. "So it's like, I'm feeling fresh again, coming into something new. It's also starting to hit me now, too, that it's like, my last three (games). So it's cherishing, but it's getting back into something. It's kind of interesting."
When an offense guided by Kenny Pickett and Jordan Addison has these four protecting them, it's probably going to be a good offense. With these four on the front line, the Panthers set records in 2021 in points per game (41.4) and yards per game (486.6).
THE REST
β’ Canton will be recognized as an important and integral part of the Panthers' defense as a scout-team member, or a "Rocks" member. Canton transferred from Robert Morris in August of 2020 as a walk-on and did not play in any games in 2020, 2021, or this season. In 33 career games at Robert Morris, Canton accrued 107 tackles, five tackles for loss, two sacks, and two interceptions while playing at safety. Fun fact: Canton was a high school teammate of Washington Commanders defensive end and former No. 2 overall pick (2020), Chase Young.
β’ Kyler has worked this season on Pitt's scout team. He joined Pitt's program in June as a graduate transfer, after a successful run at Football Championship Subdivision program Dartmouth. Over his career, Kyler was 18-2 as a starter and guided the Big Green to the Ivy League championship in 2021. That season, he completed 70.7% of his passes for 1,972 yards, 17 touchdowns, and just one interception. His completion percentage was second among all FCS quarterbacks last season.
β’ Wiltz has been a consistent rotational player and producer at linebacker this season, after joining the Pitt program via the FCS powerhouse Missouri State. He has registered 35 total tackles and three pass break-ups while playing in all 10 games for the Panthers. He was a force at Missouri State, having earned All-Missouri Valley Football Conference honors twice. Last year, Wiltz paced Missouri State in total tackles (106), tackles for loss (14.5), and forced fumbles (four). Missouri STate finished 8-4 and reached the FCS Playoffs.
THE POTENTIALS
Here are the 21 other Panthers which retain senior status, but have one season of eligibility remaining as afforded by the pandemic: Quarterbacks Kedon Slovis and Nick Patti; running backs Vincent Davis and C'Bo Flemister; wide receiver Jared Wayne; offensive linemen Jake Kradel and Blake Zubovic; defensive linemen David Green, Haba Baldonado, Tyler Bentley, and Devin Danielson; linebackers SirVocea Dennis, Brandon George, and Shayne Simon; and defensive backs Marquis Williams, Erick Hallett II, and A.J. Woods.
A few notes about the above names:
β’ Slovis said he is not walking on Senior Day, but that is because his family is not able to attend Saturday's game. When asked this week about if he has had conversations with Pat Narduzzi about next season, here was his response:
"Yeah, we glossed over it. Really just the decision-making process. We've got two more games, we're focused on that. But, really just organizing the types of things I need to know, information I need to get to make that decision."
β’ Dennis also said he is not walking for Senior Day.
"No, because I did not do anything for the senior activities this year," he said this week. "I leave it up to all the seniors."
When asked about next season, Dennis added: "I'm still undecided, and I'm just focused on this year."
Dennis is intriguing as someone who could leave, as his scouting report as an NFL prospect in enticing. Dennis has early-round upside with a floor of a mid-round pick. With some inside track provided by scouts, perhaps he could be persuaded to declare for the draft.
β’ Another pair of names to watch for with respect to declaring for the NFL Draft are Baldonado and redshirt junior Calijah Kancey, for clear and obvious reasons. Baldonado has immense athletic ability, and the obvious connection of Kancey to Aaron Donald is pretty much impossible to ignore:
Calijah Kancey π±
β Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) November 16, 2022
Pitt's first Nagurski finalist since...
You guessed it. Aaron Donald.@CKancey8 π€ @AaronDonald97 #H2P π @NagurskiTrophy pic.twitter.com/jlyc3YS5z9
Now, on to kickoff...
THE ESSENTIALS
β’ Who: Duke (7-3, 4-2 ACC) at Pitt (6-4, 3-3 ACC)
β’ When: Noon, Saturday
β’ Spread: Pitt by 7.5
β’ Weather: 32Β°, Partly cloudy, 2% chance of rain/snow, 13 mph. wind
β’ TV: ACC Network
β’ Radio: 93.7 The Fan, 92.1 WPTS-FM (Pitt student broadcast)
β’ Streaming: ESPN App
β’ Satellite: SiriusXM channel 193; SXM App channel 955
β’ Live stats
β’ Media notes: Duke / Pitt
TEN TO WATCH
β’ #0 Judson Tallandier II -- The reserve safety had his best game of the season last week, at Virginia. The redshirt senior tallied four tackles, one for loss, with one sack against the Cavaliers.
β’ #2 Israel Abanikanda -- The All-American probable (I voted for him in my Football Writers Association of America poll) rushed for his seventh 100-yard game in nine tries last week.
β’ #5 Jared Wayne -- Pitt's top receiver has had a unique season. He has done so in a different role envisioned by most. He has been the Panthers' primary deep threat as of late and has 100 or more receiving yards in two of his last three games.
β’ #6 John Morgan III -- Before his ejection last week against Virginia, Morgan had racked up 1.5 sacks.
β’ #7 SIrVocea Dennis -- Duke has the No. 2 rushing offense in the ACC, at 203.8 yards per game. Riley Leonard is fifth in the ACC with 625 yards this season. Paging Dennis, who has recorded exactly eight tackles in each of this last three games.
β’ #8 Calijah Kancey -- Pitt's other All-American probable had 3.0 sacks last week. A follow-up should be monitored.
Related: Look at this video on Pitt football's Twitter page of defensive line coach Charlie Partridge jumping into one of Pittsburgh's rivers in honor of Kancey's three sacks:
A Pitt DL gets 3 Sacks β
β Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) November 17, 2022
Jump in the 3 Rivers π¦@CoachPartridge kept his word π#H2P Β» #WeNotMe pic.twitter.com/pEksR9caRv
β’ #12 M.J. Devonshire -- There is no way the cornerback opens the game with a pick-six, again... right?
β’ #60 Owen Drexel -- The interior of Pitt's offensive line is back to full strength after the center Drexel returned at Virginia. He sustained a leg injury in Week 2 against Tennessee and had not played since. The offensive line has been excellent all season in run blocking, but these last two weeks have been a renaissance period for the team's pass blocking. Slovis was hit twice and was not sacked against Virginia. This comes a week after Slovis was sacked just once against Syracuse.
β’ #86 Gavin Bartholomew -- The ending of these "Ten to watch" sections over the last few weeks have been reserved for Bartholomew, and it will remain so, until the tight end is used in the offense. It's not even about him being used more often; it has been about him being used period. He has caught 17 passes in 10 games and is averaging 25.7 yards per game. That should have changed a month ago.
