Campbell: Don’t Forget About the Rest of Pitt Athletics This Fall

Pitt football is having one of their worst seasons in recent history, while also having some of the most dreadful performances offensively, leading to a fan base that’s very unhappy with the program.

The Panthers are currently 1-4, their worst start to a season since 2005. This features losses to rivals Cincinnati and West Virginia along with an 0-2 ACC record, with losses to then ranked No. 17 North Carolina in Week 4 and a 38-21 loss to Virginia Tech on the road last weekend.

It’s not that Pitt has been competitive in these games either, as awful offensive performances have kept this team from making any comeback. Terrible offensive execution, particularly from the quarterback position, along with the horrendous scheme of offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. and poor offensive line play has made for some of the most uninspiring and pathetic performances from a Pitt offense that fans have ever seen.

The Panthers, on offense, are last in the ACC in total yards and passing yards per game, respectively, and second lowest in both rushing yards per game and offensive efficiency. Redshirt senior quarterback Phil Jurkovec has only completed 50.9% of his passes, second worst in the FBS, and has made Kedon Slovis, someone who threw for only 10 touchdowns last season, look like a far better option if he had stayed at Pitt.

The ACC Championship that came with a fantastic 2021 season, for Pitt fans, feels as if it happened more than a century ago. This is one of the worst Pitt football teams in the 21st century and with the games coming ahead, which feature four ranked teams and two in the top 10, a 1-11 finish might not be too outlandish.

This is dangerous territory for the program to be in for many areas, but especially with fans. Losing happens with every team and Pitt fans understand that, but when they are looking at maybe the worst season in their lifetime, it’s easy to become quickly disinterested.

Pitt fans have every right to feel disgusted with the performances so far and they’ve shared them at games with booing, on social media and elsewhere. Still, there are so many great fall sport programs at Pitt, and with the winter teams starting up soon, there is no need to let football ruin their lives.

Volleyball, which is coming off of three straight Elite Eights and back-to-back Final Fours, is great this season, once again. They rank No. 7 in the country, are 13-2 overall and 4-0 in ACC play. This includes a seven-match winning streak without dropping a set and losses to good teams in No. 5 Oregon in five sets at home and No. 10 BYU in four sets in the season opener in Montana.

The Panthers face a great test this Friday at 7 p.m. in the No. 11 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, who come to Fitzgerald Field House. This is one of the most important matches of the season for the Panthers, which will feature as a decider not only for the ACC title, but also in their goal to host from the First Round through the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. With a bye week for football, there is no reason why fans shouldn’t make this a sell out.

Men’s soccer is also continuing to play well, despite losing eight starters from the previous season. They are 4-3-3 (W-L-T) overall and 1-1-2 in the ACC, with wins over then ranked No. 19 Denver on Sept. 25 and No. 9 Wake Forest on Sept. 9.

Head coach Jay Vidovich helps to schedule some of the best teams in the country and also with ACC play, Pitt will once again look to make not only their fourth straight Elite Eight, but their third College Cup in four seasons too.

They have three home matches left in the regular season, which includes Virginia Tech this Friday, the “City Game” against Duquesne on Tuesday, Oct. 17 and No. 14 Duke for Senior Day on Saturday, Oct. 21. Many great opportunities to support a top team, before the ACC and NCAA Tournaments, with a fantastic atmosphere at Ambrose Urbanic Field.

Women’s soccer, which made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history and all the way to the Sweet 16 last season, is still one of the better teams in the ACC. They have a 9-1-2 record, but the United Soccer Coaches Rankings only have them receiving some votes instead of a ranking.

The ACC for women’s soccer is by far the best conference in the country and Pitt will take on some great opponents the rest of the month. They face No. 22 Duke on Thursday and then No. 17 Wake Forest on Sunday, Oct. 8, both at home, before facing Syracuse, No. 2 Florida State and No. 9 Clemson on the road, before ending the regular season with Virginia Tech back at Ambrose Urbanic Field.

Randy Waldrum is in his sixth season as head coach of women’s soccer. An attack featuring fifth year forward Amanda West, leading goal scorer in program history, junior forward Sarah Schupansky, North Allegheny alum and team leader with eight goals this season, along with a number of other players who have helped the team average 2.75 goals per match makes this Pitt team a threat that has the chance to prove they are one of the best in the ACC and the country.

Winter sports are also on the way and men’s basketball headlines, as fans are excited to see them back at the Petersen Events Center. After years of poor play, the Panthers turned it around in head coach Jeff Capel’s fifth year after a 1-4 start and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016, into the Round of 32 after starting in the First Four.

Wrestling, led by Keith Gavin in his seventh season at the helm, produced its first NCAA Champion in Nino Bonaccorsi at 197 pounds, the first to do so since Gavin himself at 174 pounds in 2008, as they both finished their seasons undefeated.

Pitt features nine wrestlers that earned a placement in the preseason Intermat rankings, showing the strength of the squad as a whole. Redshirt senior Cole Matthews at 141 pounds and redshirt freshman Dayton Pitzer at heavyweight are two Pitt wrestlers that have the ability to challenge for a National Title this season.

Women’s basketball is under a new regime with Tory Verdi, who has had success building up programs at Eastern Michigan (2012-16) and UMass (2016-23) into consistent winners. The team only returns four players from last season, with three freshmen and five transfers, which will make for an interesting first season for Verdi and the program as well.

Pitt athletics has shown itself to have great teams that fans can watch. While it is easy to fall into despair as a Pitt fan when watching the football team play each weekend, there are so many great sport teams this athletics department have to offer.

They are worthy of your time and effort. They’ve shown up this fall so far and the winter teams should look to do the same. The fall programs have received solid fan turnout so far, but the the hard-working student-athletes and coaching staffs always appreciate greater support, especially later in their respective seasons when the competition means much more.

With those programs competing in their respective postseasons, Pitt fans have a great opportunity to show up to those teams’ games/matches.

The days of Pitt only functioning as a “football and basketball” school have stopped a while ago, but it’s easy to forget if you haven’t paid attention to the other great programs recently.

So don’t lose hope Panther nation. Use that energy that you were going to worry about the football team with to support those programs and you might just play a role in the first National Title in 47 years.