Panther of the Game: Chad Voytik

Chad Voytik has a long way to go to be the quarterback Pitt and Paul Chryst think he can be. There were some big moments on Thursday where he still did not go through his progressions and missed some wide open tight ends running free down field. His interception towards the end of the first half kept Virginia Tech in the game and was not a good decision at all. But you have to feel like he's going to get better with Chryst showing him the ropes. The tools that he has at his disposal let him do it all and that is why he's our Panther of the Game in last night's 21-16 victory.

The redshirt sophomore used his arm, legs, and even his pass-catching ability to lift the Panthers to victory. Let's just forget for a moment the plays and just look at the stats he pulled in last night. There is the 118 yards rushing with many of those coming while taking some big hits and getting dinged up a bit here and there. That included a huge run that led to a 13-yard James Conner touchdown, which ended up being the difference in the game.

He also completed 59% of his passes on a Virginia Tech defense that was only giving up a 48% completion rate. Some were easy passes for him, but some were not, such as the touchdown in the first half to Tyler Boyd. Speaking of Boyd, the two sophomores hooked up for a nice throwback pass to Voytik, allowing the Tennessee native to also haul in 29 yards receiving.

Some fans have been critical of Voytik and he didn't have a perfect game. But he just played against the two toughest defenses he is going to see all year in Virginia and Virginia Tech and still managed to make some plays. He has his deficiencies, but I think when he puts it all together, this could be a fun offense to watch and a scary one to defend for the opposition.

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