Panther of the Game: Tyler Boyd

With extreme apologies to running back James Conner, who had yet another monster game with 155 yards yards, this week, Tyler Boyd earned our Panther of the Game Award in a tough loss to Iowa yesterday at Heinz Field.

The sophomore hauled in 10 catches for 153 yards and most of it with a Iowa defender draped all over him. Boyd also chipped in on some blocks in the game, which was his best of the year despite not catching a touchdown. The former Clairton Bear continues to impress people around the country and Pitt fans are running out of ways to describe his catches. He did not find the end zone, but commanded plenty of attention from Iowa's defense and still pulled off a few great catches.

Boyd also did a great job after a catch in taking the most direct route to the first down marker on each reception. That is a difficult thing to teach, but Boyd just always seems to know where he is on the field.

One impressive play was the 39-yard catch Boyd made in the third quarter. There was perfect coverage on the play and the pass is really nice by Voytik as well. If you watch the replay, you may notice that Boyd does not give away that the pass is coming. He almost casually wins a hand battle with Iowa defender Greg Mabin at the last second to gain a little room. Mabin had no idea the ball was coming and that was a direct result of Boyd's craftiness.

A win would have been nice yesterday, but it wasn't from a lack of effort on Boyd's part. Despite the constant blanket coverage by Iowa on him, he still managed to have yet another big game for Pitt.

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