Takeaways: Pitt Suffers Yet Another ‘Worst Loss of the Season’

I think if there’s a big takeaway from the loss against Wake Forest Saturday night, it’s that the season is over. There have been some bad losses, Cincinnati and West Virginia and Virginia Tech all stand out for different reasons, but I don’t there’s a loss that’s more brutal than Wake Forest.

Pitt had a chance to build off its success against Louisville last week and failed to do so spectacularly. Frank Cignetti Jr. did not give Pitt a chance to win.

I mean, just look at the perfect opening possession. Did Pitt build off of it? Nope. The Panthers went nearly the entire game without doing anything else offensively, completely leaving the defense out to dry, and watched Wake Forest walk off with a win in the last seconds.

“They were disappointed, there were some tears in that locker room and we had opportunities to get it done and didn’t get it done,” Narduzzi said Saturday night. “It’s never easy in the ACC on the road to win football games, they’ve got a good program, a good team, homecoming, the whole deal, and they found a way at the end to get it done.”

The Christian Veilleux slide that wasn’t ruled a first down late in the fourth quarter, one that likely would’ve put Wake Forest away, certainly hurt. But Pitt has only itself to blame — looking at Cignetti and the offense — for letting this one get away.

Pittsburgh Panthers running back Rodney Hammond Jr. (6) September 23, 2023 David Hague/Pittsburgh Sports Now

The Game Plan Isn’t Good Enough

It’s not working. Whatever Cignetti might be trying to do, it’s not working.

It seems like he’s able to scheme up a drive, maybe two, every game and that’s about the extent of his game planning. Pitt drove 75 yards in 13 plays on the first possession, showcasing the kind of offensive cohesion that fans have been clamoring for, and it led to a touchdown. A 7-0 lead.

And what did Cignetti do? He went completely away from what worked on the first possession. It’s kind of incredible how he’s managed to kill drives this season.

I mean, in the 53 plays between the two Pitt scoring drives, the Panthers mustered just 195 yards. That’s 3.7 yards per play. That’s not gonna cut it. Whether it was blown-up screens, quarterback keepers that lost yardage or questionable decision-making on certain down-and-distance situations, Pitt managed to kill all of its momentum throughout the second and third quarters.

Let’s just look at the decision-making on third (and fourth downs) in Wake Forest territory.

• 3rd-and-13 from Wake Forest 49 — Christian Veilleux run for five yards
• 3rd-and-5 from Wake Forest 34 — Rodney Hammond Jr. run for loss of two yards
• 4th-and-7 from Wake Forest 35 — Christian Veilleux incomplete pass
• 3rd-and-3 from Wake Forest 46 — Rodney Hammond Jr. run for no gain
• 4th-and-1 from Wake Forest 41 — C’Bo Flemister run for no gain
• 3rd-and-2 from Wake Forest 22 — C’Bo Flemister run for loss of a yard
• 4th-and-3 from Wake Forest 23 — Ben Sauls field goal attempt
• 3rd-and-3 from Wake Forest 47 — C’Bo Flemister run for loss of a yard
• 4th-and-4 from Wake Forest 48 — Pitt false start

You would’ve thought that Cignetti would learn from at least one of the miscues. How many times can you run the same play unsuccessfully and expect a different result?

It almost felt like Pitt built that early lead, didn’t give it away until late in the fourth quarter and then finally decided to start trying to win the game. I don’t have a spray chart of Veilleux’s pass attempts, but unlike the win against Louisville, the deep ball didn’t seem to be a consideration. It was more of a death by 1,000 shallow out routes.

The lasting lull between the two scoring drives was detrimental.

“It’s frustrating, I can tell you that,” Narduzzi said. “I don’t know if he had an incomplete pass on that drive, looked sharp, I don’t know what adjustments they made on defense, we were doing a little bit of look to the sideline to see what we liked from the box based on coverage — we did a good job. They mixed it up a little bit with the quarters, showing press and all that, I don’t know if it confused Christian or not, but we didn’t throw it effectively.”

And while C’Bo Flemister ran for 105 yards, a career-high and first 100-yard game in his sixth season, but Narduzzi wasn’t happy with being outrushed. And he’s seemed to have taken over the RB1 spot over Rodney Hammond Jr. But none of the running backs could convert.

“Disappointed on a 4th-and-1 we couldn’t get a first down, it’s one yard, so,” Narduzzi said.  

Pittsburgh Panthers defensive lineman Dayon Hayes (50) Pittsburgh Panthers defensive lineman David Green (2) September 23, 2023 David Hague/Pittsburgh Sports Now

Let Down Again 

The offense, once again, let the defense down in a major way.

After receiving no support for the majority of the contest, throughout the entire second and third quarters, the defense got a stop when M.J. Devonshire picked off Santino Marucci with 1:03 left in the game.

Pitt couldn’t run out the game, forced to punt the ball back to Wake Forest just 23 seconds later, and the defense couldn’t get another stop. It was an unfortunate ending for a unit that played well all night — right up until the final couple of drives.

“Defense was 1-of-2 on two minute, and at the end, we didn’t make enough plays,” Narduzzi said. “If you go back and look at the tape, I thought there was offensive holding at the end — they don’t call one holding call on them all day. It’s just one a one-way deal, one-way deal, that’s all I gotta say.”

Wake Forest racked up 323 yards (151 passing yards and 172 rushing yards) and 218 of those yards came in the fourth quarter — 175 of those yards came with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

It wasn’t a perfect performance, just two sacks (both from A.J. Woods on corner blitzes), and there were some explosives given up, but the defense played well enough to win once again. Even with a banged-up linebacking corps.

“Solomon DeShields went out, a little shorthanded at linebacker, Lovelace didn’t go today, Jordan Bass got a lot of reps today, I think last week I told you he had four,” Narduzzi said. “I think he got 50 today. On the big run, he ran up the field too far on it and popped out on us, again, playing with true freshman linebacker out there, it really hurt to not have DeShieds out there.” 

Pitt hasn’t had offensive support all season, and that was no different against Wake Forest.

Pittsburgh Panthers punter Caleb Junko (91) October 5, 2023 David Hague/PSN

Punting is a Problem Once Again

Caleb Junko had an excellent start to the season, ranking as one of the top punters not just in the ACC but in the NCAA. He hasn’t been nearly as effective over the last couple of weeks.

He averaged 43 yards a boot against Virginia Tech, 40 yards a boot against Louisville and just 35.5 yards a boot against Wake Forest. And unfortunately for Junko, after Pitt covered for his errors well most of the contest, his last one hurt the team.

“Punters gotta punt it,” Narduzzi said. “It’s not the protection, just gotta have better punts. We had a 10-yard punt, I don’t know how long the last one is, but take the penalty away, you can probably handle a 35-yard punt with the time left on the clock.”

Pitt was able to save face when it came to punts of 10 and 24 yards, as part of a strong defensive showing, but when Pitt needed a good punt after the slide that was marked short of the sticks, Junko mistered a short 32-yard punt.

Wake Forest drove 52 yards to win it. At a time when Pitt needed a big boost from its punter, Junko didn’t show up. And the only fix is to simply kick the football better. Easier said than done, but Junko has shown he’s capable.

The only other punter on the roster is Cam Guess, who was pretty poor himself last season.

Pitt offensive lineman Blake Zubovic plays against Virginia Tech on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023 in Blacksburg, Virginia. (Mitchell Northam / Pittsburgh Sports Now.)

Sloppy Play Continues to Hurt Pitt

Pitt committed a couple of penalties on its first possession and scored in spite of the sloppy play. But 13 penalties for 101 yards, including a handful of false starts offensively and a late double unsportsmanlike on Donovan McMillon, hurt the Panthers once again.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Pat Narduzzi’s bunch is the most penalized unit in the ACC. 62 penalties for 502 yards — 71.7 yards per game.

If the offense isn’t playing well, you can’t have a bad punter and you can’t take tons of penalties. Unfortunately for the Panthers, Pitt has a little bit of both going on right now. And

“That’s about as hard a loss as I’ve been a part of, maybe ever, where details at the end — not very good,” Narduzzi said. “That’s what I told our team afterward. We win as a team and lose as a team, but just the details at the end weren’t good. We’re plus two in the turnover ratio, it’s hard to lose a game when you’re plus two, but we found a way.

“M.J.’s got a great pick, we’ve gotta get a first down, we got an unsportsmanlike twice, Donovan was just trying to get our guy off the pile, and they called him, which you never see it called, tried to pull him — can’t pull a guy off the field. I don’t know what happened after that.”

The slide, depending upon how you look at it, can be classified as sloppy play — or sloppy officiating.

When Veilleux took off on 3rd-and-8 late in the fourth quarter, with under a minute remaining in the contest, he knew the exact yardage he needed to convert the first down. When he looked back on it, he felt like he had it. But it ultimately didn’t matter what he thought.

The officials marked Veilleux short, determining that he began his slide short of the line to gain, and Veilleux regrets how it played out.

“Just the basic run read, defensive end crashed, so I pulled it and I felt like I had my eyes on the sticks, I knew where I had to go, probably should’ve dove or just go out of bounds — gonna be hard to get over that one,” Veilleux said Saturday night. 

Caleb Junko punted the ball away on the ensuing 4th-and-1, a poor 32-yard boot, on a night in which he struggled mightily, and Wake Forest needed to drive just 52 yards to walk off with a win. Santino Marucci, in his first career start, hit Cameron Hite six plays later for a 15-yard game-winning touchdown with seven seconds left.

Pat Narduzzi said the Pitt booth thought Veilleux reached the line to gain. But he also said that Veilleux needed to find a way to ensure that he achieved a first down.

“Did he slide butt first? I thought he had it, it was a great call by Frank and the quarterback keeper was there,” Narduzzi said Saturday night. “You just gotta dive and get it. You gotta go headfirst and not make any doubt about it. And rookie mistake, something we’ll learn from and the game’s over if we get that first down, period.”