Pitt Taking Detail a Step Further in Week 2 vs. Tennessee

The Pitt Panthers know perfection can't happen, but they expect better in Week 2.

PITTSBURGH -- Despite escaping with a 38-31 win over rival West Virginia in the season opener, the Pitt Panthers were not pleased with their play, particularly on offense. They scored 31 points and hung on for a narrow victory, but it didn't need to be as close as it was. 

"Obviously we did not play a perfect game," Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said. "We never will, but it was just an average football game for us."

A key drop by Bub Means on a well-thrown deep ball from Kedon Slovis and a miscommunication on a long post were just some of the ways they missed out on big plays. A poor rushing performance in the run game and frequent pressure on the quarterback illustrate how the offensive line didn't play up to their standard. 

The Panthers were the more talented team last Thursday night and the score did not reflect that because talent alone does not put points on the board or win games. Whether you can chalk it up to the fact that they are still integrating many moving parts on offense or the quality of their opponent, Pitt fell short of what they think they are and are eager to turn the page. 

Starting left guard Marcus Minor doesn't expect perfection but he is keenly aware that the Panthers' Week 1 performance was not up to their own standard. 

“I think we just play a game where there’s no [expectation] of perfection," Minor said "So that being said, there’s going to be mistakes. We just want to be able to focus in on our details, being able to fix them and lower the mistakes as much as possible.”

Wayne agreed with Minor and said that the line between success and failure is small. Every little motion adds up to something large if executed well and in unison with the rest of the lineup. That's why Pitt's focus this week, with a team that will certainly try to speed them up in Tennessee awaiting, is on making sure the small things are second nature. 

“I think just details, details in our routes," Wayne said. "There were a couple of times where we missed our assignments or weren’t as detailed as we should have been and that showed up. So I think that’s been our focus in practice this week and we’re going to execute better on Saturday.”

That is where the frustration from the Pitt coaching staff is rooted - they know their players are better than this. The good news is that so do the Panthers and they feel like the ending to their night as an offense proved that. 

Down a touchdown, backed up on their own eight-yard line with 6:10 remaining in the regulation, Pitt engineered a seven-play, 92-yard drive to knot the score at 31 and set up M.J. Devonshire's game-winning pick-six. Even though there are a lot of new faces populating the offense, Wayne said that the championship pedigree created in 2021 has carried over to 2022 and helped them come through in moments of high leverage and tension. 

“It's just time to go to work. We all get it. We were a championship team last year that had success on offense so we all understand what we have to do."

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