EL PASO, Texas -- This Sun Bowl will somewhat be an audition for many Pitt players, young and old.
In an unlikely contrast of approaches, albeit a little more likely in this new frontier for college football, the Panthers (8-4) will face No. 18 UCLA (9-3) -- 2 p.m. kickoff -- with Pat Narduzzi missing six of his usual starters because of NFL Draft opt-outs, plus more from either injury or entering the transfer portal, while Chip Kelly could announce Thursday that his Bruins would have not a single opt-out.
"It's next-man-up mentality," safety Erick Hallett II said in advance of his final game as a Panther. "I mean, everybody's been waiting for their opportunity, and it just so happens that it's our last game that they get their opportunity."
And from the opposite perspective ...
"I mean, I think it's the type of players we have," Kelly said. "They love playing football, and I think all situations are individual. ... Our guys are excited about playing the game."
But it is not just about the number of Panthers which are sitting out; it is about the impacts which those player put forward throughout the season to get Pitt to the Sun Bowl.
Pitt will play Friday's game without all four of its elected team captains: Quarterback Kedon Slovis (transferred to BYU), left tackle Carter Warren (injured), defensive end Deslin Alexandre (NFL Draft opt-out), and middle linebacker SirVocea Dennis (NFL Draft opt-out). Additionally, All-American running back and ACC rushing champion Israel Abanikanda, right tackle Gabe Houy, and safety Brandon Hill opted out to prepare for the draft; wide receivers Jaylon Barden and Jaden Bradley have been in the transfer portal since midseason; and John Morgan III has since transferred to Arkansas.
The obvious look on offense is at quarterback, with Nick Patti set to start. He will have to work with a depleted receivers room which could see deployments of redshirt freshman Myles Alston and redshirt sophomore Jake McConnachie, each of which have rarely seen the field in-game this season.
And, that will come as Patti serves as a contrast in style to Slovis.
"Between what we had most of the season with Kedon and what we've got with Nick Patti, you've got a guy that's a little but more elusive," Narduzzi said during his final media availability on Thursday. "He's an athlete. He'll scramble. If you just put on the second series of the Peach Bowl a year ago where he scrambles for a touchdown, that's what he brings to the table. He's got a little bit more escapability. Won't be a lame duck in the pocket, so to say. He brings that to you, he's got a great arm, and he's a competitor."
But perhaps the largest impact is left by uncontrollable circumstances. Unanimous All-American defensive tackle Calijah Kancey is out with a shoulder injury, placing David Green and Devin Danielson — albeit, veterans on the team — as the driving forces up the middle to stop the Bruins’ All-American running back Zach Charbonnet, who led the Pac-12 in rushing, and dual-threat quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
"They're very versatile," Hallett said of the Bruins' weapons. "It's really hard to bottle just them two up. They have some really good receivers, as well, so I think our coaches put together a really good game plan for us."
With all of these opt-outs and absences, the opportunity for some unfamiliar faces will be there to not only gain valuable playing time in moment; it will also give them a shot at a pseudo-audition for playing time or perhaps a starting spot for next year.
Take redshirt freshman Javon McIntyre as a perfect example of this. He will start for Hill in the Sun Bowl, and with Hill and Hallett departing for the NFL, he will be in line to immediately earn a starting spot in 2023.
While he may not be “auditioning” for 2023, it will come down to a returning Brandon George at middle linebacker, with help from senior Notre Dame transfer Shayne Simon. George has been injured and has played in just three games this season, making the senior eligible for a redshirt.
"It was cut short a little bit in the beginning of the year, but I worked hard to come back, with the help of a lot of my teammates keeping me up, keeping my spirits up," George said. "It's going to be great coming back. I've been looking forward to this week all year. ... You play every game like it's your last, because your last football game is your last football game in pads. That's the mentality you have to come in to, just prepare like everyone. Every snap is your last snap, every game is your last game."
And, while Dennis’ presence as the captain, signal caller, and team’s leading tackler may be missed, George and Simon are still veteran pieces which will have usual suspects Tylar Wiltz and Bangally Kamara flanking them on the outsides.
"They're so well-coached," Kelly said. "Pat's a defensive head coach, and then Randy Bates, who I've actually coached with a long time ago at New Hampshire, their defensive coordinator, and they do such a great job with that scheme. Their players are really sound. They don't give up any big plays. They're always where they're supposed to be, and they all fit off of each other really well, so I think that's one of the matchups to keep an eye out for tomorrow, is the UCLA offense versus the Pitt defense."
As detailed in greater length in our matchup preview earlier in the week, UCLA’s bread and butter on defense is stopping the run, in which they are 30th in the NCAA.
Not having Abanikanda is one thing. The absences of Warren and Houy on the offensive line have already pretty much been accounted for this season, with Branson Taylor and third-team All-ACC pick Matt Goncalves playing the majority of the season at the tackle positions. Rodney Hammond Jr. will be the guy to take Abanikanda’s place in going against the likes of Bruins front men Laiatu Latu and Darius Muasau.
"We'll obviously miss Izzy, who declared for the NFL Draft and is moving on to the next level," Narduzzi said. "Rodney Hammond and Vince Davis will be the two guys that'll carry most of the reps there, and those guys have played a lot of football. Rodney probably would've played a lot more this year had he not got hurt early in the season. He's a guy that -- there's a lot of people that thought that maybe he was the better back in the backfield. We'll find out (Friday)."
The line for this game has since moved from a 5.5-point margin favoring UCLA to an 8-point margin favoring UCLA, and these names above which will not suit up for Pitt are a main reason for that movement.
The contrast of having many opt-outs and key impact players not present for Pitt, to UCLA being at full strength brings a severely tiled edge over to the Bruins. But in the grand scheme, it’s a maximum versus a minimum in terms of how college football can operate today.
With so much on the line from NIL deals and within this player marketing boom, players are under more pressure than ever to not only make the correct call for themselves, but to receive the proper advice and act in the proper timing and manners while doing so. The Pitt players opting out all have good reason, as all of the NFL hopefuls are likely to either be drafted or at minimum land somewhere as a free agent, but the debates on whether this is “fair” to the program, fanbase, and coaching staff will rage on as time progresses.
Friday’s matchup could still favor Pitt a bit on offense, as UCLA had one of the worst pass defenses in the NCAA, but many of the offensive reserves will need to be special in order for Patti to succeed as a leader. Defensively, it will be about containing Charbonnet and Thompson-Robinson, the latter of which ended the season fourth in the NCAA in completion percentage. Can a young player like McIntyre replicate his interception and career day at Miami to close the season? Can George revert to his old form while filling in for Dennis?
"They've got one of the best rushing attacks in the country, and we've got one of the best run defenses in the country," Narduzzi said. "I think we're pretty much built for stopping the run, so this will be a battle of the run game, for sure, and their rush offense. So, that'll be interesting. Obviously we don't have all of our weapons on defense, but I think structurally if our guys are doing what they're supposed to do and hang in there then we'll be OK."
We will find out if Pitt is 'OK' in mere few hours, as kickoff for the conclusion of the 2022 season inches closer by the second.
