First Glance: Pittsburgh aims to slow Vols' tempo

Tennessee gets its first test of the season this weekend when playing host to Pittsburgh and head coach Pat Narduzzi Saturday at noon in the Johnny Majors Classic.

Narduzzi has brought stability to Pittsburgh program, and despite losing at least five games for 11-straight years, the Panthers have won more ACC games than any other conference foe not named Clemson or Miami dating back to 2015.

The seventh-year head coach knows what to expect from a Josh Heupel-led team.

“He’s a heck of a coach. His offenses to stop are not easy. They have a great offense,” the Pitt coach said on The Nation Sunday night. “He’s explosive. It’s one of those scary offenses you have to defend because they put you in space and make you defend the whole length of the field. And then you look at the personnel they have – I’ve watched the game already. You watch Milton at quarterback and all that talent and scheme they have on that football team, as well as the defense with Tim Banks.

“I don’t see a lot of difference between what I saw Thursday compared to what they did when they were at UCF. He’ll have his changeups for us and do some things to try and keep our backers in check.”

The 2020 version of Pittsburgh was that of great defense. Ranking 20th in the country with only 339 yards allowed per game, the Panthers were second in both sacks and tackles for loss an outing while allowing only 93 rushing yards a game – a stat good enough for third in the country.

But the defense lost five key contributors – defensive ends Patrick Jones II and Rashad Weaver who combined for 16.5 sacks and 27.5 tackles for loss – as well as two starting safeties. Still, in Saturday’s season-opening beatdown of UMass, you wouldn’t know.

“We are different. I think we are stronger at some positions and weaker at others,” Narduzzi said of his defense. “But we know what our strengths and weaknesses are. I think we will continue to get better week in and week out.”

The Panthers corralled five sacks, six TFLs and added nine quarterback hurries in the 51-7 win. Outside linebacker John Petrishen led the team with six tackles and two sacks while Phil Campbell also returns with experience. Pittsburgh allowed only 42 yards rushing and 209 yards overall.

The Minutemen were hardly a challenge offensively, but Tennessee will have its hands full with the front-seven.

“They still have a bunch of guys who can get after the quarterback,” Josh Heupel said in Monday’s press conference. “They do that in base downs, first and second. On third downs, they have multiple schemes to mess with your protections and create matchups to get after your quarterback. You don’t want to be in third and long with these guys.

“At the same time in first or second down – in the front-four with the pressures that they bring – you’ve got to do a great job of protecting the quarterback.”

Offensively, fifth-year quarterback Kenny Pickett is once again under center. He finished Saturday’s blowout victory going 27-for-37, 272 yards with two touchdowns. Pittsburgh ranked 39th overall in passing offense a season ago, as Pickett threw for 2,408 yards and 13 touchdowns.

“He’s a much better leader. He’s calm in the pocket. He doesn’t stress. I think he sees the field pretty darn good,” Narduzzi said of his quarterback. “He’s good with his eyes down the field – he doesn’t give things away. He’s a seasoned NFL quarterback. I think he’s one of the best ones out there. I’ve said it for years, he’s going to be a quarterback who plays in the NFL for a long time.”

A quarterback himself, Heupel has watched the improvements from Pickett over the years.

“He’s continued to grow as a play-maker from the first time that I’ve seen him,” Heupel raved. “He’s got great command and understanding of what they are doing. He is a great decision-maker. He’s got the ability to make some plays, too – uniquely extend and create some plays. They put the ball in his hands a bunch and trust him. You’ve seen him play at a really high level.”

But the inconsistencies lie in the run game as the Panthers were tabbed 111th out of 129 Division I programs with just 119.8 rushing yards per game last season. Vincent Davis returns after a stellar outing in the season-finale against Georgia Tech, rushing for 275 yards after accumulating only 385 yards combined in the 10 games prior.

UMass registered the second-worst rush defense a season ago, behind Bowling Green, so there’s not much to take away from the opener. Still, Pittsburgh saw five players rush for at least 30 yards with five scoring touchdowns.

The shared mentality stretched to the receiving corps as well with seven players tallying at least 30 yards through the air, five with at least 40 yards and two with at least 50 yards -- led by tight end Lucas Kroll’s five receptions for 58 yards and a touchdown.

Narduzzi’s offensive side of the football racked up 598 yards in the opening-win (375 passing, 223 rushing) with 35 first downs on 30:48 time of possession. The offense did turn the football over twice, however.

Pittsburgh lost some quality edge players, but still bring back some productive ones in SirVocea Dennis, Phil Campbell and Cam Bright. This is a defense that gets after the quarterback. Tennessee’s Cade Mays and Darnell Wright will need to be on their game, planting a firm inside foot to re-route their climb, creating a clean pocket. This will only be Wright’s second start at left tackle.

It’s no secret, Joe Milton struggled in his first start for Josh Heupel. Mainly, coupled with some issues at receiver, he struggled in the final three quarters of the game. Milton was 10/12 with 96 yards in the opening 15 minutes. Most of those competitions were short-to-intermediate throws working a combination of routes to help get him going. Tennessee needs that to keep their quarterback in the right head space. Meanwhile, Pitt is experienced at linebacker and brings back all but two in the secondary.

That was some high-praise Narduzzi laid on Pickett Sunday night on The Nation. He has the stats over a career to back up the notion of being a solid quarterback at this level. Tennessee’s secondary had a good night against Bowling Green, but this test will be much steeper. Can Alontae Taylor and Theo Jackson string together two solid outings in-a-row?

Freshman Rodney Hammond Jr. led the way with eight carries for Pitt on Saturday, but Davis has been the main guy. And the load was shared all across the board against UMass. This is not a daunting backfield and will be a great measuring stick for Tennessee’s questionable front-seven.