Panther of the Game: Anthony Gonzalez

Picking a Pitt player of the game isn't exactly something I looked forward to after this weekend. The lack of effort and the inability to take control of a game against Akron yesterday (Yes, Akron) led me to not want to write this post. However, I fear that Anson would drop me with a Stone Cold Stunner if I didn't do my job, so here goes. For yesterday's loss to the Zips, Anthony Gonzalez is our Panther of the Game.

I thought briefly about true freshman Rori Blair, who recorded a sack to go along with four tackles, but settled on a player that not many people talk about. Gonzalez has had a good year for the defense and the redshirt senior was at it again yesterday, finishing with nine tackles. On a day that didn't have many bright spots for Pitt, he still kept steady and is one of the very few players who fans weren't calling out on social media. In fact, he never seems to be that guy that fans are upset with and just gets his job done week after week.

Pitt is not losing much after this season as they have a fair amount of starters coming back on both sides of the ball, but Gonzalez is one they'll miss. The Liberty High School product will finish up this year and leave a pretty big hole at outside linebacker on this team. With the lack of effort and execution that was on display yesterday, Pitt will absolutely miss him next season if other players don't step up when he leaves.

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