Youth Movement Delivers Spark For Pitt
PITTSBURGH -- The change the Pitt Panthers made at quarterback took up all of the headlines and airspace around the Pitt Panthers this week as they returned from the bye week looking to snap a four-game losing streak that matched the longest of Pat Narduzzi's tenure.
Narduzzi can tend to be old-fashioned in many ways, one of which is his deference to experience, but facing their biggest challenge of the season to this point, his Panthers broke that mold - sometimes out of necessity and sometimes out of choice - and the youth movement delivered a massive and desperately-needed win.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Christian Veilleux was excellent in his starting debut, completing 12 of 26 passes for 200 yards and a pair of touchdowns with no interceptions. He was calm, collected, accurate and smart with the ball - taking shots when available and playing conservatively when there weren't plays to be made.
He stayed composed after a rough start in which he misfired on five straight passes and led Pitt to a pair of three-and-outs on their first two drives and proceeded to complete six of his next nine passes for 137 yards and a touchdown for the rest of the half.
But he had help, too. Freshman Kenny Johnson, starting for the second game in a row, caught a pair of big passes in clutch moments for 49 yards. Along the offensive line, another true freshman B.J. Williams at right guard and a redshirt sophomore Terrance Moore at center held down the middle of a furious Cardinal pass rush, allowing Veilleux to be sacked just once.
On defense, Samuel Okunlola put on a breakout performance. He notched four tackles and his strip-sack of Jack Plummer and fumble recovery in the first half that halted a Louisville drive that had run deep into Pitt territory.
Solomon DeShields, just six games deep into his first year as a starter, turned in the best performance of his Pitt career, amassing seven tackles and a crushing sack of Plummer.
Even P.J. O'Brien reclaimed the starting safety spot he earned coming out of training camp then lost in Week 3 and was solid, playing clean and penalty-free football as part of the suffocation of Jack Plummer and the Louisville offense in the second half.
Pitt got to have their cake and eat it too, giving the young players who will define this program for years to come experience against a quality opponent while landing a massive win as well. They didn't have to sacrifice the present for the future and have given themselves a second wind at the beginning of the second half of the season.
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