In its first game of the season, Pitt's new offensive approach under Kade Bell stole the show as the Panthers put up their highest point total since beating New Hampshire 77-7 in 2021 but they still left meat on the bone in all three facets of the game.
A muffed punt, misplayed coverage, missed tackles and miscommunication and poor technique along the offensive line led to a plethora of mistakes and missed opportunities that Pat Narduzzi thought killed his team's momentum early on and kept Kent State in the game.
"The Desmond Reid punt return for a touchdown was a big momentum change for us," Narduzzi said. "It's like, okay, we're going to knock them out, but then we let them come back in the game because of what we do. An example is the muffed punt return that goes for a touchdown."
In a closer game that's decided by 14 points or less, those types of miscues can ultimately decide the outcome and are things that need to be cleaned up as the Panthers head to Cincinnati to take on their former Big East rival. During his press conference Monday, Narduzzi alluded to the fact that bad technique and fundamentals contributed to a lot of their mistakes.
On Kent State's first touchdown, he said P.J. O'Brien tried to undercut Devin Kargman's pass, something the athletic safety had done multiple times during fall camp, but came up just short and allowed a 36-yard touchdown.
"Well, it only gets you until it gets you," Narduzzi said. "If he doesn't undercut it, we've got a chance."
Then, on Luke Floriea's 41-yard catch in the third quarter, Kent State's longest play of the day, Narduzzi said it should've been "an easy catch and tackle" but multiple players missed tackles before a play was made.
Along with that, the offensive line allowed Eli Holstein to get sacked four times, including on back-to-back plays on the team's second offensive drive that stalled out on Pitt's 32-yard line. Narduzzi said there were a few things that contributed to the sacks but they are also things that can be cleaned up.
"A little bit of everything, some miscommunication. I think one of them was a bad call. We missed a couple things. But just little stuff that we can clean up," Narduzzi said. "Nothing that I'm like, oh, my gosh, what are we doing? Branson (Taylor)'s kick slide was not good. We don't know where it came from, haven't seen it before. But he came out with a new style of pass protection, but it's easy to get cleaned up."
While mistakes were made throughout the contest, the offense gave Pitt enough breathing room where those mistakes weren't game changing. In the past, the margin of error for the Panthers was slim and mistakes like the ones that took place against Kent State eventually cost them games. So, heading into their Week 2 matchup the Panthers must clean things up because the margin for error against a well-coached team will be much slimmer.
THE OPPONENTS
Head Coach: Scott Satterfield (80-57, overall; 4-9 at Cincinnati)
Record: (1-0, 0-0 Big 12)
Players to Watch: Brendan Sorsby, QB, R-So.; Corey Kiner, RB, Sr.; Joe Royer, TE, R-Jr.; Jared Bartlett, LB, R-Sr., Dontay Corleone, DT, R-Jr.; Eric Phillips, DE, R-Sr.
The Bearcats are coming off a season-opening win over Towson where they recorded 658 yards of total offense -- 275 rushing, 383 passing -- and scored 38 points, including 21 in the first quarter before cruising to an 18-point victory. This is a team that defeated Pitt 27-21 last season after jumping out to a 20-point lead through three quarters.
Scott Satterfield is in his second year with the Bearcats after compiling a 25-24 record at Louisville and earning ACC Coach of the Year honors in 2019 when the Cardinals went 8-5 and beat Mississippi State in the Music City Bowl. But that was then and this is now and the Bearcats present quite the challenge both offensively and defensively.
Rather than bring a ton of pressure defensively, Cincinnati drops several defenders into coverage and only brings three down linemen to pressure the quarterback. With Pitt's new pass-heavy offense, this means that redshirt freshman Eli Holstein will have to be careful with the football, make precise decisions and anticipate his throws well.
Narduzzi said Cincinnati's defense reminds him a lot of what Georgia Tech did against the Panthers in 2021 so they've watched tape from that game to find ways to counter what the Bearcats are showing them. Just for a frame of reference, Pitt recorded 580 yards of total offense that day, Kenny Pickett threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns and Israel Abanikanda ran for two touchdowns.
"Just one of those things where you can watch and see what worked and what didn't and get some more ideas because that's what you like to get is some ideas because there's not a lot to look at," Narduzzi said. "You got one game of what they do so it's good to have ideas there."
In their season opener against Towson, Cincinnati was susceptible to big plays and gave up 438 yards of total offense, 244 of which came through the air. Towson also scored on plays of 76 and 28 yards, so if Holstein can find those gaps in the Bearcats' defense they should be in a good spot. But, the offensive line must also protect the quarterback as well. If the Bearcats are only bringing three defenders, the offensive line must be able to give Holstein time to pick apart the defense.
Desmond Reid, Derrick Davis Jr. and Daniel Carter could also play a big role in this contest as well. Dropping defenders into coverage will open holes for the running backs, which could force the Bearcats to bring more players into the box and open up the secondary.
"They try to eat up gaps with the big guys up front and they'll occasionally bring four or five," Narduzzi said. "I'm sure they have more plans, if I were them, I'd bring six or seven based on how we just froze in the pocket last year and just held on to the ball. But I'm sure we'll see stuff that we didn't see, stuff that they didn't show last week."
Offensively, Narduzzi described the Bearcats as an ACC team playing in the Big 12. They have weapons all over the place and quarterback Brendan Sorsby, an Indiana transfer, has been the motor that makes them go.
Sorsby's sample size at Cincinnati is small, just one game, but he played in 10 games last season at Indiana and started in seven. He threw for 1,587 yards and 15 touchdowns while adding 286 yards and four touchdowns on 112 carries. Against Towson, he completed 22 of his 31 pass attempts for 383 yards and two touchdowns. He also scored two touchdowns on five yards rushing.
This contest will come down to stopping the run.
The Bearcats gashed Pitt for 216 rushing yards last season and senior running back Corey Kiner tallied 153 yards and one touchdown in the win. Cincinnati also held over a nine-minute advantage in time of possession last season. Narduzzi said Satterfield has always found ways to put his opponents in binds with shifts and motions and showcases a lot of two-back sets as well.
"They are as good as anybody in the country, there's a reason they were a top-five (six) rush offense in the country last year," Narduzzi said. "They do a good job schematically of trying to put you in a bind. But we have a three-year breakdown of them so we've dissected everything from Louisville to Cincinnati with all the years we've played that offense."
Cincinnati's weapons aren't just in their backfield, however, as wide receiver Xzavier Henderson and tight end Joe Royer both present matchup issues as well. The pair combined for 12 of Cincinnati's 22 catches and 190 of the team's 383 receiving yards. Both have size - Henderson is 6-3, 200 pounds and Royer is 6-5, 255 pounds -- and ability on the outside so Narduzzi will need to find a way to limit their touches and make the Bearcats one-dimensional as much as possible.
