Explosive Pass Game Headlines Pitt's First Scrimmage
PITTSBURGH -- Head coach Pat Narduzzi entered the Pitt Panthers' first scrimmage of training camp demanding more from his offense. The running game had been solid and made the necessary strides but how they threw the ball left something to be desired.
“Our run game has gotten better. I see the improvement,” Narduzzi said before the Panthers' final practice of the week. “The pass game, I’m still waiting to see more improvement.”
That improvement came almost immediately, as Pitt's passers shined in a closed, intra-squad scrimmage win over the defense on Saturday morning at Acrsisure Stadium. Narduzzi credited the offense not just for its ability to hit on explosive passes but take care of the football as well.
"I would say just the explosiveness of our offense in the passing game was there in a big way," Narduzzi said. "So we’ve got to shore things up defensively. They’ve gotten really good at throwing the deep ball."
Narduzzi said the offense turned the ball over just twice, and only once during periods with the first and second teams in (he added that the Panthers don't count third-team reps against the total score of the scrimmage). The lone turnover committed by the Panthers playing for a score came on what Narduzzi called an "ESPN highlight" interception by 2022 All-ACC corner, M.J. Devonshire.
Each of his top three quarterbacks - Phil Jurkovec, Christian Veilleux and Nate Yarnell - completed their fair share of deep shots, according to Narduzzi, and he highlighted Bub Means, Che Nwabuko Jake McConnachie, Kenny Johnson and Daejon Reynolds, who were all on the receiving end of those long balls. He took time to highlight Nwabuko, a redshirt freshman track star who has taken major strides as a pass-catcher entering year two.
"It was really nice to see," Narduzzi said of Nwabuko's scrimmage performance. "Because you think about him doing all the short stuff with the ball in his hands, but he had a great deep ball catch."
With Means and Konata Mumpfield all but certain to lead the Panthers as the top two wideouts on the depth chart, Narduzzi added that Johnson, McChonnachie and Reynolds, along with freshman Zion Fowler, have been separating themselves in the race for the starting wide receiver snaps.
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