Pitt's offensive stats fall off while No. 18 Panthers remain undefeated

No one — fan, coach, player or Associated Press Top 25 voter — expected Pitt to keep up the offensive pace it set over the season’s first five games.

The Panthers averaged more than five touchdowns (total: 26) and 522.2 yards per game (7.5 per play). The schedule wasn’t particularly difficult, with easy marks Kent State and Youngstown State comprising 40% of it. Nonetheless, the impressive part was the clear lack of growing pains while players learned a dramatically different offense under first-year coordinator Kade Bell.

Then, the ACC punched back when California and Syracuse came to town. Pitt withstood the attacks and remained undefeated, but the numbers were off. Pitt averaged only 247 yards per game, 4.9 per play.

Perhaps there’s an argument to be made that three pick-6s on defense against Syracuse were not conducive to developing rhythm on offense. The defense scored and immediately went back on the field for the next series while offensive players remained on the sideline.

Plus, Pitt has eight scoring plays of 40 or more yards this season — again taking the offense off the field quicker than normal.

As a result, Pitt is last in the ACC in average time of possession (23 minutes, 51 seconds), which is also a product of quick scores. Even worse, possession time in the past two games is 20:10. The offense snapped the ball only 46 times (11.5 per quarter) against Syracuse.

“It was definitely underwhelming,” right guard B.J. Williams said, “not getting as many plays, not being as productive as we know we could.”

Added coach Pat Narduzzi: “Would have been nice to give our offense more snaps.”

The interceptions work both ways, building a cushion on the scoreboard but robbing the offense of opportunities.

Tight ends coach Jacob Bronowski said Bell was looking for efficiency.

“Coach Bell always preaches: How efficient are we?” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you play 20 plays or you play 75 plays. Are you out there executing at an efficient level and playing as hard as you can? That’s all we were looking for in that game (Saturday), taking advantage of the opportunities that you are given.”

That explains the drop in yards per game, but Pitt’s third-down conversion rate was only 14% (down from 47%) in the past two games (3 of 21). That won’t be good enough to get Pitt into the ACC championship game.

“It starts in practice, being more intense in practice, finishing our blocks,” Williams said.

The offensive line is in the midst of a transition stage with left tackle Branson Taylor injured and out for the season and left guard Ryan Jacoby, who started the past three games, being in and out of the lineup with an injury. Redshirt junior Terrence Enos Jr., who made one start in his first three seasons on campus, is now protecting the quarterback’s blind side.

“Enos did not hurt us. He was high average, which is, I guess, is a notch below winning,” Narduzzi said, referencing his coaches’ grading system.

Overall, Pitt is fifth in the ACC in yards per game (443.6), a 10th of a point ahead of SMU at No. 6. Which could indicate a high-scoring game upcoming Saturday night in Dallas. Maybe the offense, if challenged by a high-scoring unit on the other side of the field, will respond such as it did in the Cincinnati and WVU games.

The recent inability to score consistently might have struck a negative chord with the AP voters, who collectively ranked Pitt 18th this week. That’s the lowest a 7-0 or better power conference team has been ranked in the AP poll era (since 1936).

Overall, the ACC doesn’t get the respect that teams from other conferences receive. Pitt and Penn State are 7-0, each with an average victory margin of 19 points and a 2-0 record against ESPN’s FPI Top 40 teams. Pitt’s opponents have a slightly better win percentage (.537 to .521) than Penn State’s foes, but the Nittany Lions are ranked No. 3 in the nation.

Team A: 7-0, 19 ppg margin, .521 opponent win%, 2-0 vs FPI top 40

Team B: 7-0, 19 ppg margin, .537 opponent win%, 2-0 vs FPI top 40
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Team A is Penn State, ranked 3rd.

Team B is Pitt, ranked 18th.

— ????????️♈️???? (@ADavidHaleJoint) October 30, 2024