Despite improving to 3-0, with a win against West Virginia in the 107th Backyard Brawl, Pitt continues to fall in the ESPN Football Power Index.
It’s a predictive tool to measure how a team is projected to perform throughout the remainder of the season.
Pitt has a 3.0 Football Power Index score, which is 55th-best in college football and 10th-best in the ACC. It’s the second straight week that Pitt has fallen after pulling out a win.
The index now predicts Pitt will finish 7-5 this season (with an 89.7% chance to hit the 6-win mark, considering the weakness of the Panthers’ schedule), and if that mark isn’t hit now, the season will certainly be a failure.
Pitt has a 1% chance to win the ACC outright, a 3.3% chance to make the College Football Playoff and a 0.1% chance to make the national championship game.
Miami has reclaimed a spot in the FPI top 10, the lone ACC schools in the top 10, and Louisville, Clemson and Boston College are lurking in the top 25.
Miami (17.9, 8th), Louisville (14.7, 13th) and Clemson (13.0, 16th) are the FPI leaders in the ACC, and Boston College (10.2, 23th) and Georgia Tech (5.8, 36th) round out the top five. SMU, Virginia Tech, Cal, Florida State and Pitt round out the top 10.
Pitt is coming off its second straight fourth quarter comeback, but with all due respect to Cincinnati, the 38-34 win against West Virginia meant just a little bit more.
“I love that locker room to death,” Pat Narduzzi said Saturday in his postgame presser. “Our players never gave up. I’m sure some of the fans kind of gave up, and I thought, oh, there’s no way. But our guys didn’t give up. And if you didn’t learn that from last week, then hopefully you learned it from this week. And we’ll move on to the next.
Pitt erased a 10-point deficit with just under five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter as WVU wasn’t able to stop Eli Holstein and the Pitt offense — after limiting the Panthers to just four yards in the second half prior. Holstein threw for 301 yards and three touchdowns — and added 59 rushing yards — in another incredible performance.
A 1-yard touchdown dive by Derrick Davis Jr. with just over 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter, as Holstein was on the sideline after having his helmet ripped off, clinched the massive win for the Panthers.
Pitt will conclude its non-conference slate this weekend against Youngstown State, with a chance to go undefeated in non-con play for the first time ever.
Who cares at this time of the year!? It’s where we finish. Better get to work on the OL, run game and the run stop D. Would suggest using another back or 2 besides Dez vs YSU… he’s fantastic but it’s a long season of conference play starting Oct 5.
Would be a wise choice to use a healthy dose of Derrick Davis and Daniel Carter if possible against YSU. Allowing Reid time to fully mend is definitely a smart move.
I never pay attention to any of these power index type of deals because none of them can measure a teams heart and attitude. They’re in many ways like meaningless political polls. Clean up the penalties and keep tacking on the points while believing in one another and everything will take care of itself.
Jeff,
Just be happy with the win. Neal Brown is gone. Pitt is not a Top 20 program. We cannot recruit with the top programs. You need a Head Coach that’s a great recruiter. Look who’s on Athletic Director advisory board? A Coach that’s not a Top 20 Coach? Pitt needs a dynamic young Athletic Director to become a Top 20 Athletic Program in Football or Basketball.
Some of the most dynamic playmakers currently on this roster came from smaller schools like Reid and Mumpfield. SirVocea Dennis wasn’t highly recruited either and nearly ended up at Air Force.
I hear what you’re saying but I don’t think there’s any reason why this team can’t be a top 20 team. Star ratings are great but as we see above they’re not the ultimate deciding factor for success.
And I of course know that Dennis is a Buccaneer but just making a point that it’s not always about star ratings. I also feel we’re making strides in bringing in a few of those highly rated guys and with more success that will only show more improvement. A guy named Donald from Penn Hills wasn’t rated highly coming out of high school either.
It’s all about player development: Calijah Kancey, Jalen Twyman, Patrick Jones were all 3 star recruits and all those guys were stud defensive linemen for Pitt, not to mention Kancey was drafted in the 1st rd by the Bucs last year. Also, Rashaad Weaver was a 2 star recruit and turned out to be a really good d-lineman at Pitt. It’s all about player development.
You forgot Aaron Donald. One of the best ever, was a 3 star!
H2P!!!
With two scholarship offers and the other was Toledo.
Why do you think the last non-state school to win the national football title was USC in 2003? Because it’s all about money and the state is financing success. Need a new stadium or arena, no problem. Private schools can’t compete. Drive to Columbus and locate Ohio State in the northwest corner. After driving for 45-minutes thru campus, our son ask “Is this the biggest college school?” And I had to say no. $$$$$$
Isaiah Neal won’t be available to Pitt for the first half of this YSU game due to the targeting call in the second half of the Backyard Brawl. Don’t believe I’ve seen Anthony Johnson make his debut yet on the defensive line so maybe we’ll see some of him but not sure what his status is going into the game.
I call BS on the part of the targeting penalty the disqualifies a player for part of the up- coming game! Why not fine the player? Why punish the whole team a week later..
If they need Neal to win this game Pitt has bigger issues lol
I never intended to imply that Pitt needed Isaiah Neal in order to win. I was simply pointing out that one of the current defensive linemen seeing a good bit of playing time isn’t going to be available in the first half.
Who cares, these rankings mean absolutely nothing. Florida State was in the preseason top 10, and how’s that turned out so far?
The Florida Gators have been falling on hard times lately too when they used to be a yearly powerhouse. Not sure exactly what happened there but they haven’t been the team they used to be either. When teams begin to falter for whatever reason it’s sometimes difficult to regain their former status. Teams like Pitt have a rising trajectory getting back to where they once were and teams like the Gators and Seminoles are trending downward. It shows that even the programs that are currently considered top programs are susceptible to falling off. It even took the Texas Longhorns a… Read more »
This poll doesn’t mean anything, yet.
This team has more heart and passion than any Pitt team since Kenny Picket and James Connor.
We also have better offensive coaching to get the ball to the playmakers. We just need to get better OL & LB play.
H2P!
Congratulations and great comeback Saturday in the backyard brawl! In mini FCS backyard brawl Duquesne Dukes beat this 25th FCS ranked YSU team on their home field!
Is Scott Barnes involved? Undefeated at the end of the season and he would have us at the bottom of the FBS.
May the pox be upon him.
Considering the new starters and the youth of this team, their effort and will to win is notable. After YSU, we should win about 4 -6 of the remaining games. That’s a significant accomplishment compared to last season’s debacle. Louisville, Clemson, Syracuse and Boston College are all tough games. If we win 2 of those games, we will finish in the top 25.