Panther of the Game: Kenny Pickett

Pitt got its first win of the year on Saturday, and Kenny Pickett was a big part of that.

He had a career day with 321 yards on 26/37 (70%) passing with a touchdown, and no interceptions. I was very tempted to go with a defensive player for this award(more on that in a second), but Pickett’s play proved the difference in the game. It was a weird game in that the score did not reflect how much better Pitt was than Ohio, but that can happen.

Pickett’s performance is welcome after the season opener, but he will face a tough test against Penn State this coming weekend. Pitt will need repeat performances out of guys like Maurice Ffrench, who also had a great day Saturday, to be competitive with Penn State

I was tempted to give the award to Jaylen Twyman. He finished with 4 tackles, and 3 sacks. He performed well, and hopefully this is a sign of things to come. With the losses Pitt’s sustained elsewhere on the line, getting a sophomore to perform at that kind of level consistently would be a really welcome development. The defense overall played well, and will keep Pitt in games. The question will be if the offense can catch up to keep Pitt’s defense off the field.