Most will point to the big fake punt call by Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi as the key to the Panthers' 23-20 win over Syracuse on Sunday. While that's true, the team got another big game from their biggest talent, Tyler Boyd.
For all of the big games Boyd has already had in his Pitt career, he continues to top them. Earlier this year against Akron, Boyd tied his personal best with 11 receptions. Today, he topped that, catching 12 balls against Syracuse.
Those 12 balls will be added to the school record 204 that he set last week.
The impressive thing to me is that he has continued to post big numbers despite the threat of a secondary wide receiver. That wasn't the case on Saturday as Pitt got plenty of production from Dontez Ford (four catches for 78 yards), but Boyd again proved to be invaluable, racking up targets at an unseemly rate.
Boyd finished with a modest 93 yards and many of his receptions were of the shorter variety. This wasn't the best game of his career and probably not of even this year, since he didn't get into the end zone. But to pick up as many catches as he does with being such a focal point of the offense remains impressive.
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