Pitt Take 5: Panthers' road to ACC championship game runs through Dallas

A couple of years have passed since Pitt played a game with the significance of its confrontation Saturday with SMU in Dallas.

It’s a prime-time 8 p.m. matchup between ranked schools (No. 18 Pitt and No. 20 SMU) and the Panthers’ first as a Top 25 team versus a Top 25 team since Sept. 10, 2022, when Pitt was No. 17 and No. 24 Tennessee came to Acrisure Stadium. Pitt lost 34-27 in overtime.

But that was the second game of the season. This is the eighth. To say this game is bigger would be an understatement.

Pitt defensive tackle Nick James sees the game as an opportunity.

“We get to prove who we are, prove that we’re a great defensive line,” he said. “I feel like we get overlooked sometimes.”

Pitt is a 7½-point underdog. (Does that sound high to you?)

Opinion: It’s questionable whether either team is capable of a runaway victory. SMU has a huge home-field advantage, but Pitt has scored 36 touchdowns in seven games, six more than its 12-game total last season. The Panthers also have won road games at Cincinnati and North Carolina.

Meanwhile, some thoughts:

1. Pitt must keep winning

Pitt is a surprising (some might say stunning) 7-0, but it may need to finish no worse than 4-1 in its final five to reach the ACC championship game.

The anticipation around the team is different than it was even during the 2021 run to the ACC championship. Then, Pitt entered November with two losses but still was holding down first place in the Coastal Division. There was a feeling Kenny Pickett would not let the team lose.

Today, Pitt is undefeated, but no one is sure where the Panthers fit in an ACC pecking order of Miami, Clemson and SMU, all of which are unbeaten in the conference. The game in Dallas will provide one clue.

But Clemson comes to town in two weeks, and Pitt must visit Louisville and Boston College. Pitt could not have a tougher November.

2. SMU’s journey to the ACC

The game will be played at Gerald J. Ford Stadium, but don’t confuse Ford, a billionaire banker and SMU trustee, with the 38th President of the United States, Gerald R. Ford.

Gerald J. Ford donated $20 million for the stadium’s construction and was among 30 trustees and donors who raised $100 million in a seven-day period to help defray the cost of SMU joining the ACC. SMU joined this year under the condition that it not receive any TV money for as many as nine years.

“This is an unprecedented financial commitment from a core group of donors who have understood from the beginning that moving to the ACC will be transformational for our University on both athletic and academic levels,” SMU president R. Gerald Turner said last year in a statement.

Former SMU running back Craig James, half of SMU’s Pony Express backfield with Eric Dickerson in the 1980s, promises “a very collegiate” atmosphere Saturday in the cozy 32,000-seat stadium.

“It will really be a fun Saturday for both teams,” he said.

3. Smith can be a game-breaker

SMU presents more evidence that the best way to build an immediate winner is through the transfer portal. The Mustangs have 17 transfers who are starting, including 10 on offense. Quarterback Kevin Jennings is the exception.

“Holy cow. They have a lot of good players,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said.

Perhaps the best is senior running back Brashard Smith, a transfer from Miami where he played wide receiver under SMU coach Rhett Lashlee, a former Hurricanes offensive coordinator. Smith, a second-team All-ACC return specialist last season, is the fourth-leading rusher in the ACC this season (745 yards, an average of 93.1 per game and 6.4 per carry).

He has not excelled as a specialist this season, averaging only 21.3 yards per kickoff return, but his 1,125 all-purpose yards caught Pitt’s attention.

Smith (5-foot-10, 196 pounds) had 22 power conference scholarship offers, including ones from Pitt, Penn State and West Virginia, when he was a student at Miami Palmetto High School.

The game marks homecoming weekend at SMU. It will be the Mustangs’ first home game since Sept. 28, a 42-16 victory against Florida State.

Pitt has played SMU only six times (2-3-1), with four meetings in the 1930s and 1940s. The other two were SMU bowl victories in the 1983 Cotton Bowl and 2012 BBVA Compass Bowl. Pitt never has played a road game against the Mustangs.

4. Unity on defense

There was a time not long ago when a good run-pass option team bothered Pitt’s defense.

“Everybody remembers the Western Michigan game (of 2021 when Pitt allowed 44 points and 517 yards of offense),” middle linebacker Brandon George said. “That was a big wake-up call as far as how we need to defend an RPO. We’ve taken all that teaching to heart and put it forth the past couple years, really perfect what we’re doing.”

Meanwhile, George said Pitt’s team unity creates a bond that allows teammates to encourage and occasionally admonish each other.

”We’re going to be on each other,” he said. “The difference between a smack on the butt and a pat on the back is a few inches.”

5. Showing all his cards

Narduzzi had trouble keeping a secret this week when he announced Wednesday night on his radio show on 93.7 FM that Eli Holstein was cleared medically and will play against SMU.

Holstein was injured in the fourth quarter of the Syracuse game Oct. 24, but Narduzzi said that night he expected Holstein to be OK. Pitt’s coach doesn’t like to talk about injuries, but he gave the radio station a rare heads-up.

Narduzzi said there was no advantage in holding back the information. Pitt’s offense would not change, even if Nate Yarnell replaced Holstein.

Narduzzi said Holstein still received the majority of the practice time this week.

Keep an eye on the left side of Pitt’s offensive line where tackle Terrence Enos has replaced injured starter Branson Taylor. Enos has less experience, but Narduzzi said he’s steadily improving.

“He’s got a different attitude right now, as opposed to preparing like the backup left tackle,” Narduzzi said of Enos. “I’m excited about what Terrence can do for us. He’ll have to play well. I’m sure (SMU) will have something special for us.”

Meanwhile, Lashlee said Jennings was “questionable” for the Pitt game after getting hurt against Duke last week. Jennings is expected to play, which isn’t good news for Pitt. The Panthers might have preferred backup Preston Stone, who was the starter last year before getting injured and opening up an opportunity for Jennings.

“Kevin scrambles everywhere,” Narduzzi said. “Stone is not that guy, but he’s an accurate passer. Won them a championship (American Athletic Conference) last year.”