Receiver Drops ‘Frustrating,’ Penalties ‘Not Acceptable’ for Pitt

Pitt football’s inefficiencies on offense were evident all over the field against Virginia on Saturday and it comes as a stark contrast to the offensive performance from the first seven games.

Out of all the issues, two specific areas were more troublesome than they have been all season: drops and penalties.

Through the first seven games and undefeated start, the Pitt pass catchers recorded just three drops. In a matter of two games, that number tripled, including a season-high six drops against the Cavaliers.

Following the loss, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi tried to put a finger on the wide receiver errors.

“I don’t know. Focus, I guess. Maybe we’ve gotta do more ball drills. I don’t know. Gotta catch the ball, catch it in practice, catch it in big moments in big games. That’s what players do,” Narduzzi said.

While there were six recorded drops, according to Pro Football Focus, there could have been few more that were negated due to penalties. Specifically, at the 6:44 mark in the second quarter, Eli Holstein dialed up a deep ball to Raphael “Poppi” Williams in the end zone as the wide out gained separation and had the ball hit him right in his hands but dropped it. That play was called back due to holding.

“We had more drops we had last game than all year combined, which is frustrating,” offensive coordinator Kade Bell said on Tuesday. “Some of them didn’t matter because of the penalties. If we don’t get those penalties, a couple of those could’ve been explosive plays.”

Pittsburgh Panthers wide receiver Raphael Williams Jr. (5) November 9, 2024. Michael Longo/PSN

Despite scoring his first touchdown of the season, tight end Gavin Bartholomew registered two drops, while Censere Lee, Konata Mumpfield, Desmond Reid and Williams all tallied one.

It comes after Pitt dropped four passes at SMU. The prior two games against Syracuse and California, the Panthers did not record a single drop.

The receivers have shown that they can make plays on the ball throughout the season, which makes it that much more bothersome for Bell.

“We can’t have that. Not with the group we have, they’re too talented. They work too hard. Those guys that did drop some balls stay after practice every day and catch balls. That’s the most frustrating thing, it’s not like they’re not putting the work in,” Bell said.

Along with the drops, penalties became another area of concern on offense. Pitt was tagged for nine penalties on offense, including a false start on Williams coming on the very first snap of the game.

“The receiver stuff is not acceptable,” Bell said. “We weren’t doing that earlier in the year. Last game, that was what was frustrating for me was we weren’t focused in that part. We didn’t have any illegal formations hardly. Jumping offsides at the skill player positions, we weren’t doing that earlier in the year. That’s the stuff that we got to fix because that’s just focus definitely for a bunch of vets that we were playing. Those vets can’t be doing that stuff.”

As the Pitt offense looks to eradicate those mistakes against Clemson, Narduzzi will be in for some tough decisions in terms of limiting those troubles and dealing with mounting injuries on the offensive line and receiver room.

“Hey, that’s what you do in college football. We can’t go get a free agent. You deal with what you have to deal with, and you try to juggle and try to put the best 11 players on the field offensively and defensively and special teams. But you move around, and you try to get the best fit. We’ll try to get the best 11 players on the field next week. That’s our job.”