Panther of the Game: Tyler Boyd

In a game where every single play mattered, Tyler Boyd had his fair share of plays to help Pitt to a narrow victory over Georgia Tech. The stats were not eye popping, until you continue to scan the stat sheet and you see Boyd's name show up everywhere.

Boyd finished the game with eight catches for 68 yards and two touchdowns. One of those scores was of the sickening variety, which would have been a good catch on Sundays. He also rushed for 26 yards on five carries and chipped in with a nice 29-yard completion, as he was getting hit, to Zach Challingsworth. Replays actually showed that Boyd could have picked up a touchdown pass for that one, but the play was not reviewed and Challingsworth was ruled out before the goal line. The Clairton product also picked up 31 yards on a kick return as well.

It wasn't just the nice stats that gave Boyd the nod here, but he also had a few of those intangibles and one big moment in the game as well. The big moment, of course, was becoming the all-time receptions leader in Panther history, surpassing Devin Street. Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney also used Boyd several times on the jet sweep to run the ball, which opened up the read option for quarterback Nathan Peterman to pick up some nice yardage on quarterback keepers up the middle, while defenders followed Boyd. Add to all of this a massive 4th down reception to convert on the last drive and this is the reason he is the Panther of the Game.

I'll leave you with this as well: Georgia Tech coach, Paul Johnson, was asked at halftime how he can stop Tyler Boyd and he responded that they had two men on him at all times on Pitt's last drive of the first half. Boyd still managed two carries for 13 yards and one catch for six yards on the drive.

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