Pitt's 41-24 loss to No. 17 North Carolina on Saturday adds to the existing conundrum, given the circumstances.
Going punch-for-punch with a Heisman Trophy contender in Drake Maye is not an easy challenge for any offense. Couple that with the adjustments the Panthers had to make following two lackluster performances in as many weeks, and the outcome on paper was at least somewhat predictable from a feel standpoint in their ACC opener.
As the previous two games unfolded because of an inability to move the ball, that was not the case on this chilly, rainy, first day of fall at Acrisure Stadium, at least for a while. Phil Jurkovec benefitted from a quick-hit scheme that allowed him to establish some rhythm, orchestrating touchdown drives on his initial two attempts.
Even immediately following the fluid 13-play, 78-yard drive that consumed 7:59 of time to begin the game, a sense of inevitability, shaped by the struggles of the past two weeks, hung over the Panthers. While their initial game plan was productive, and it succeeded once more, the subsequent 10 drives yielding just 10 points after the initial two touchdowns hardly came as a surprise.
"They were completed passes, and it didn't matter what was called. We tried to get the ball to where we thought was open, and if you want to call it 'easy passes,' there's no easy passes out there," Pat Narduzzi said. "You can even see in the second half there were some short throws that were tipped and the ball's going around and you're like, 'ugh,' holding your breath that it's not another interception, so it's just a part of the game plan."
Jurkovec completed his first seven throws -- including six straight for 56 yards in the first quarter -- to give Pitt something it had not had since it opened the season against an FCS opponent. While what Jurkovec did was nothing spectacular from an optics perspective, he was able to handle the simple concepts drawn up for him by Frank Cignetti Jr. and allow for Pitt to poke ahead for a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter on Daniel Carter's 1-yard touchdown run.
This success came while Pitt was dealing with another batch of shifts on its offensive line. Ryan Baer started at right tackle and prompted Branson Taylor to move to the left side, while Terrence Moore started for super senior Jake Kradel at center. In four games, Pitt has deployed four different starting offensive line units.
"We wanted to establish the run for sure, and I think we did that at the beginning pretty well," Blake Zubovic said. "We were really imposing our will on them early. I would say with a young offensive line we had to get the ball out quick and run the ball, so I think we did that pretty efficiently early on."
The "boo" birds in "Boo City, Pa." serenaded the home fans with cheers, at least for a while. However, there was still much more to be desired from Jurkovec in what was considered a redemption game. At least, it was until the final minute of the first half, when a targeting shot from North Carolina's Tayon Holloway knocked him out of the game for good.
Jurkovec had completed 11 of 15 passes for 109 yards, and looked at his best to this point of the season. Jurkovec was ruled out for the rest of the game with what a Pitt official described as an "undisclosed injury" on the hit from Holloway.
"His effort was phenomenal today. I think Phil played a really good first half," Zubovic said. "Absolutely tragic what happened to him. All the guys were pretty fired up about that. I didn't see the hit at first but once I saw it on the board, it really lit a fire under us. I think Phil's mental (state) is pretty good. He came and talked to us before they took him to get looked at. I think he's a fighter, he's a tough kid. ... I know he's going to do everything he can to get back onto the field with us, and no matter who the quarterback is, it's still the next-man up mentality."
Christian Veilleux was the next man up.
The Penn State transfer completed his first pass to Daejon Reynolds for a gain of 15 yards to set up an unsuccessful field goal try just before halftime. The cheers in the stadium amplified to their loudest when No. 11 in royal and gold trotted out to commandeer the first-team offense for their first drive of the second half.
But, contrary to what many believed after Jurkovec's performance against West Virginia last week, including this particular writer, Veilleux was far from the better Pitt quarterback on Saturday.
Veilleux showed signs of being a redshirt sophomore navigating a new offensive system, completing only 8 of 19 pass attempts for 89 yards and two interceptions -- nearly mirroring Jurkovec's stats from the prior week's Backyard Brawl. While this performance should be acknowledged for what it is, it also reignites the debate about who should have been the Panthers' starting quarterback for this week, especially given Jurkovec's struggles over the last two weeks. Veilleux was inconsistent and stared down his targets on more than one attempt, including on his final pass of the game that was intercepted by Alijah Huzzie.
Those first two touchdown drives were only erased by four turnovers on Pitt's final five drives of the game. The Panthers' offense, which showed a sign of life for at least 15 minutes, retracted back to square one by the finish.
"I wish (Jurkovec) would have got four quarters," Narduzzi said. "I wish he would've got four quarters. He didn't turn it over at all in the first half. He made decisions, threw one away on the sideline one time when he didn't have time. Protection wasn't great, fourth different offensive line in there in four games. Had two starters out this week. We'll look and see. We gave up two sacks ... Phil did a good job running it, and we thought we had one in the second half on a deep ball and Christian didn't have a chance and got whacked quickly, too quickly."
As for Maye ...
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSvideos) September 24, 2023
Yeah, this left-handed, Patrick Mahomes-esque touchdown throw was just the tip of the iceberg for the right-handed quarterback who entered this season with the second-highest odds to win the Heisman behind least year's winner, Caleb Williams of Southern California.
Maye's performance, completing 22 of 30 attempts for 296 yards and a touchdown, earning a 167.2 rating, surgically picked apart the Pitt defense. Consequently, another dilemma presents itself.
After all, Saturday marked the first time a Pitt defense surrendered more than 40 points since allowing 42 in last season's loss to North Carolina. Was this more about Maye's greatness as a quarterback and playmaker? Or did this say more about developing holes within Narduzzi's defense, one that he said on Monday that he spends "85 percent of my time" watching during his own practices?
"Drake Maye is a football player," Narduzzi said. "Regardless of what coverage we put at him, the guy seemed to make a lot of plays. ... Drake Maye is a good quarterback, guys. I don't know how many throws he missed, but we put pressure on him. He did beat us with his feet sometimes down inside the red zone where we had it covered and then all of a sudden he takes off running. It's hard when they are blocking with five or six guys, and you got four-man rush or whatever it is, five-man rush, and he slips out and gains yards."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Team feed
• Scoreboard
• Schedule
• Standings
• Statistics
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• Out for the season: G Ryan Jacoby (leg), DB Rashad Battle (foot).
• Week-to-week: LT Matt Goncalves, OC Jake Kradel, LB Bangally Kamara, QB Phil Jurkovec.
THE SCHEDULE
Pitt treks to Blacksburg, Va. for its first ACC road test of the 2023 season and will oppose Virginia Tech at 8 p.m. Saturday. I will have you covered from Lane Stadium. An open week will follow.
THE CONTENT
• Visit the Pitt team page for more from Acrisure Stadium.
