DETROIT — Pitt played the 2019 Quick Lane Bowl without co-starter Jason Pinnock at cornerback thanks to a back injury, head coach Pat Narduzzi said after the game.
Pinnock, a junior from Windsor, Connecticut, had played in 10 of Pitt’s game this season after suffering another injury earlier this season.
In his place, co-starter Damarri Mathis made the start and played nearly the entire game alongside redshirt senior Dane Jackson at cornerback while Eastern Michigan quarterback Mike Glass attempted 50 passes in the game.
“We knew they were going to have to play a lot of reps,” Narduzzi said.
When Pinnock was injured earlier in the year, Therran Coleman filled in against UCF, but Coleman left the team and entered the transfer portal during bowl prep.
That left redshirt freshman Marquis Williams as the next man up for the Panthers, and he came through for his most significant playing time of the season.
Even though Pitt allowed 30 points, the trio held Glass to 28 of 50 for a 56% completion percentage, his second-lowest of the season.
“It was just being resilient, just keep coming back like we’ve done all season,” Jackson said. “Pick each other up and keep the momentum going.”
While Jackson is graduating and moving on, Mathis, Pinnock and Williams will all return for Pitt in 2020, leaving the cornerback position with solid depth for the future.
Mathis got picked on all day, and failed. How can you keep giving up yardage out of the same set all day. Against a better team this would have been a loss. Whipple’s play calling is suspect. Pitt is a long way from being an elite program, there are to many holes in the defense and the offense is to inconsistent with drops, poor blocking with no big back to get the tough yards inside. Good win H2P but I was not impressed.
Mathis got picked on all day, and failed. How can you keep giving up yardage out of the same set all day. Against a better team this would have been a loss. Whipple’s play calling is suspect. Pitt is a long way from being an elite program, there are to many holes in the defense and the offense is to inconsistent with drops, poor blocking with no big back to get the tough yards inside. Good win H2P but I was not impressed.