Following their impressive 47-14 win over Virginia Tech, five senior members of the Pitt Panthers team won Player of the Week Honors.
The ACC announced that Damar Hamlin, D.J. Turner, Bryce Hargrove, Kenny Pickett and Alex Kessman were all honored following this weekend’s game.
Damar Hamlin, who was needed to play both strong and free safety, was named the ACC defensive back of the week after collecting a game-high 11 tackles. Three of those tackles came as Pitt was able to stop Virginia Tech on their 4th down attempt.
Bryce Hargrove was named the ACC offensive lineman of the week. The senior from Ohio turned in an impressive outing as three starting members of the line were forced to miss the game due to COVID-19 protocols. Not only did Pitt’s offensive line protect Pickett, as he wasn’t sacked despite attempting 52 passes but the Panthers ground game accounted for 150 yards.
Early on, Pitt’s offense needed Alex Kessman to produce and he came through with key early fields goals before the Panthers offense started finding the end zone. On the game, Kessman recorded a career-high 17 points as he connect on 4 FG’s, including 2 of over 50 yards and was perfect on 5 PAT’s. Kessman was named the ACC Specialist of the Week.
In the least shocking of these honors, D.J. Turner was named the ACC wide receiver of the week. Turner caught 15 passes for 184 yards, including a 64 yard TD catch. The 15 catches were the second most all-time in a single game by a Panther wide receiver. Turner’s performance was needed because Jordan Addison and Jared Wayne were both forced to miss the Virginia Tech game.
The final award went to quarterback Kenny Pickett, who was named the ACC Quarterback of the Week and also one of Davey O’Brien Award “Great 8” Performers of the Week after completing 35 of 52 attempts for 404 yards and 2 TD’s and also scored 1 TD on the ground.
