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With football season is ready to get underway, Cardiac Hill's writers recently took a look at our own Panthers. The 2013 team is a bit of a mystery, and that makes it difficult to predict the key players and how they will shape the team's final record. There are things we agree on - namely Devin Street and Tyler Boyd. Everything else, though, is up for debate.
All of that taken into consideration, here's the prediction from all of our site's writers for the upcoming year.
| Record | Offensive POY | Defensive POY | Breakout Candidate | Top Freshman | Most Important Game |
Notes | |
| Anson | 7-5 | Devin Street | Aaron Donald | Isaac Bennett | Tyler Boyd | North Carolina | On the record, I've gone anywhere from 5-7 to 7-5. Too many winnable games on the schedule in my opinion, so I'll give them seven wins against my better judgment. The North Carolina game isn't the biggest, but it could be the most important. Pitt may not beat any of the 'Big 3' on its home schedule, but winning a game like North Carolina at home would be considerable. |
| Bryan | 8-4 | Devin Street | Tyrone Ezell | JP Holtz | Tyler Boyd | Miami | |
| Chris | 6-6 | Devin Street | Jason Hendricks | Anthony Gonzalez | Tyler Boyd | Virginia Tech | Devin Street has had too good of an offseason to pick anyone else. I feel Aaron Donald and the linebackers will free up Hendricks to make a lot of plays. Tyler Boyd has lived up to the hype and will keep doing it. |
| Jim | 8-4 | Devin Street | Lafayette Pitts | Anthony Gonzalez | Tyler Boyd | Florida State | Clearly I am more optimistic than most. I think Pitt can reach the 8-win plateau, and it obviously starts with defense, but I think some of the younger guys on offense like Tyler Boyd will make a big splash. |
| Mike | 6-6 | Devin Street | Aaron Donald | Anthony Gonzalez | Chris Blewitt | Virginia Tech | Blewitt may very well win Pitt a game or two this season; that's enough to call him Freshman of the Year in my book. For breakout candidate, I'm saying Anthony Gonzalez. I watched him beat my high school in the Quad A State Championship Game back in 2008 and I'll never forget how athletic he was. Now that he's finally going to see the field, he has the potential to make a big impact. |
| Pat | 6-6 | Devin Street | K'Waun Williams | Manasseh Garner | Tyler Boyd | Virginia Tech | I could see Pitt winning eight games. I could also see them winning four games. Tight ends will be prominent in Chryst's offense and that's why I see Garner as a great breakout pick. The Virginia Tech game starts the second third of the season and a win could get Pitt rolling. A loss could also spell trouble with two possible trap games to follow. |