PITTSBURGH — Through six weeks, you could say that Taysir Mack is breaking out as an offensive threat.
Pitt announced Wednesday thatMack has been named to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List. The award goes to college football’s outstanding wide-receiver each year.
Mack is No. 6 in receptions with 41 grabs and No. 13 in receiving yards with 511.
Pitt Football has had two Biletnikoff Award winners in the past including Larry Fitzgerald in 2003 and Antonio Bryant in 2000.
“I come in every day and see Larry Fitzgerald’s Biletnikoff Award, and I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m coming for this,’ Mack said.
Mack said that when he went on his visit to Pitt, coach Pat Narduzzi let him take a picture with Fitzgerald’s trophy.
“That’s something that I’ve wanted since I was a kid,” Mack said. “It’s always been a dream of mine. I took that picture (from Narduzzi’s office) and put it on my wall.”
Mack knows that a lot of his success wouldn’t be possible without his running mate, Maurice Ffrench. Mack talked about how they work so well together and how they make it difficult on the opposing defense.
Ffrench has even more catches than Mack on the season. He’s currently ranks No. 3 in the country with 50 receptions.
“He’s a dog,” Mack said. “(Ffrench) makes my job a lot easier.”
Ffrench told Mack that they are like a “Big (Mack) with (Ffrench) fries. You can’t think about one without the other,” Mack said with a big grin on his face.
Pitt wide receivers coach Chris Beatty knows how special Mack’s season has been so far, but he knows that he has to push to make even more improvements.
“He’s still got room for improvement,” Beatty said “His attitude is getting better every day and he’s learning to become a better team player. But I think he’s just scratching the surface (of how good he can be).”
Beatty talked Thursday, about how the wide receiving group is striving to be a well-rounded. With two guys like Mack and Ffrench producing like they are, it makes it easier for the other guys to step into larger roles than they might have thought coming into the season.
“They see that the system has given them opportunities, that they might not have had in the past,” Beaty said. “We want to stay sharp and we want to make sure we finish that way.”
