You have seen enough.
I know this, because I read every comment within our Asylum and I see every tweet sent to me about the topic.
If this is the brand of football Pitt is going to play for one more season with Kedon Slovis, then we're going to be in for a long 2023.
Saturday's 28-26 win over Duke on Saturday showed us more of what we have been used to seeing all season.
The offense showed us very little, outside of Israel Abanikanda. The defense didn't break and was the unquestioned carry of the day. The special teams caused one more opponent blunder than it generated from the other team.
Pitt is 7-4 overall and 4-3 in ACC play, and while this season could still yield a nine-win season, typically a solid result, it's still clear the Panthers have been held back by its quarterback.
I have seen enough, too. That can't happen again next season.
This answer from Pitt wide receiver Jared Wayne after Saturday's game alarmed me.
"I think it's really, you know, any time players get put into a new offense, it's hard to adjust to it," he said. "Kedon and I have never played together before this year, as he hasn't with the other receivers, so it takes time to build that connection and just be on the same page."
That came from Pitt's top wide receiver, in Week 12.
WEEK 12!
If we're still talking about chemistry and adjustments in Week 12, then that's bad news. We should be way, way past that.
Was it acceptable for the first month of the season? Was that a major talking point through the midseason?
Sure to both, because it was glaring and evident that the timing between quarterback and wide receiver was not there. And, it was a difficult transition as Slovis worked back from a concussion sustained in Week 2.
But, this is Week 12. We shouldn't even have to address that topic this late in the season.
Saturday was a typical Slovis day. He made some nice throws, including on the final drive of the first half in which he completed 5 of 8 passes for 71 yards and a 15-yard touchdown to Wayne.
Then, he made some not-so-nice throws, including two second-half interceptions which displayed exactly what Wayne talked about. Slovis' first pick was a throw to nowhere, as Abanikanda and Slovis had a miscommunication on the route. The second pick was a result of poor decision making by Slovis, on a ball which he admitted after the game he should have thrown away.
But that is just about how Slovis' year has gone. Missed reads, a lack of making a second read, poor decisions, and a breakdown in crucial moments.
Those two plays against Duke came at critical points, and instead of Pitt bolting out to a muti-score lead, Duke got right back into the game and made it closer than it should have been.
"We just have to execute better, and I think the other thing is we have to give coach confidence to keep calling it, too," Slovis said. "In a game where you have two picks, I don't blame him for not calling as many passes. We've got to give him a chance to call it, and we've got to execute better."
PAUSE.
"...Give coach confidence to keep calling it, too."
Shouldn't that be there already? We are in Week 12 of the season, and we're talking about the offense earning the confidence of the coordinator?
Should that not be the other way around? You know, because the coordinator puts his confidence in his players by just about every other means: Recruiting. Stylizing the offense. Deploying them onto the field.
The players need to have confidence in Frank Cignetti Jr. He should already have the confidence in the players. That's the bottom line.
There has to be an instilled confidence in Slovis, as well. With the season finale next week and a bowl game to be played in December, I'm hoping Slovis treats this as an audition for the 2023 season.
Nate Yarnell will be there to compete behind him, again, and if Pat Narduzzi is serious about the direction of his football team, he has to look at the situation from a 10,000-foot view and realize what is at stake.
Pitt's defense has been tremendous all season, but it nearly crumbled against Duke, just as it did at Louisville and against Georgia Tech earlier in the season. But, that unit also can't keep bailing its offense out. That has worked time after time this year, but that is not a sustainable resource over the course of a college football season.
Pitt's passing offense is 12th in the ACC, after being prolific in 2021 under Kenny Pickett at quarterback and with Jordan Addison running routes. For as great -- and that is the operative word at a bare minimum -- as Abanikanda has been this season, Pitt's rushing offense is only fifth in the ACC. The cohesion and the synergy just isn't there, and that stems to the quarterback and coordinator.
I am not Cignetti, but if I was, I would take a long look at Slovis and evaluate a potential change in the offseason. It would only be fair to consider, with the caveat that it is earmarked by the struggles he has had in 2022.
I will also make this one thing clear: Slovis has to start these final two games. Narduzzi has declared his confidence in Slovis, and Narduzzi reaffirmed earlier this season he is the starter. This also comes with the thought in mind that Narduzzi has to show a transfer portal prospect that he will commit fully to your game. In this world of college football, as much trust needs to be built within the transfer portal as it does with the high school recruits.
Narduzzi is predicating his decision on quarterback off of his feel for Slovis and the veteran leadership he displays -- he is a team captain, after all.
But that can only last so long, before it wears off. Production is another thing. It largely has not been there this season.
Will it be there in 2023?
