Welcome to another edition of What We Are Hearing!
Well, the Tigers are back in business in the ACC race, which
is coming down to the wire. With Miami losing at Georgia Tech last week, the
Tigers will at least be tied for second in the standings if they win at Pitt on
Saturday. If SMU loses at UVA, we could have a three-way tied for first! The
tiebreaker will be the ACC win percentage of the tied teams’ ACC opponents, so
you should root for the Tigers’ ACC opponents (FSU, NC State, Louisville, UVA,
etc.) to win their remaining ACC games and for the teams the did not play
(Duke, Cal, etc.) to lose!
None of that will matter, obviously, if the Tigers don’t
take care of business at Pitt on Saturday at noon. I have bad memories of my
last trip to Pitt, as DJ and the Tigers lost to Kenny Pickett and the Panthers
in 2021. The Tigers are seeking revenge for that loss and hoping to finish ACC
play undefeated on the road! On to the matchup…
PITT SYNOPSIS
The Panthers got off to a great start this season, winning
their first seven games, but they have lost their last two, 48-25 at SMU and 24-19
at UVA. Pitt hit a homerun in the transfer portal with the addition of
quarterback Eli Holstein from Alabama. The 6’4, 225-pound redshirt freshman has
completed 61.9 percent of his passes this season for 2,174 yards and 17
touchdowns with 6 interceptions. He is not a prolific runner, but he is very capable
of scrambling, averaging 4.1 yards per carry for 323 yards and 3 rush TD’s.
The passing game is led by 6’1, 185-pound senior Konata Mumpfield
(#9) from Georgia. He averages 16 yards per catch for 560 yards and 3 scores. 5’10,
165-pound junior Raphael Williams, Jr. (#5) only has 24 catches for 295 yards,
but 5 of them have gone for touchdowns. 6’1, 200-pound sophomore Kenny Johnson
(#2) has 35 catches and 3 TD’s. 6’5, 250-pound tight end Gavin Bartholomew
(#86) has 27 catches and one touchdown.
Desmond Reid (#0) leads the rushing attack. The 5’8,
175-pound junior from Miami averages 5.7 yards per carry with 4 touchdowns. He
averaged 6.8 yards per rush last season. They also like to use him often in the
passing game. He has 33 receptions for 428 yards and 4 TD catches. 5’10,
220-pound senior Daniel Carter (#4) only has 18 carries this season but
averages 9.8 yards per rush with 3 scores.
Pat Narduzzi has always hung his hat on his defenses, going
back to his defensive coordinator days at Michigan State under Mark Dantonio. For
the past several years, the Panthers have been right there with Clemson among
the nation’s sack leaders. Interestingly enough, 3 of their top sack leaders
are linebackers, combining for 14 of their 30 sacks. LB Kyle Lewis (#9) leads
the team with 4 interceptions and is also tied for the team lead with 5 sacks
and a forced fumble. 6’3, 260-pound sophomore DE Jimmy Scott (#44) and 6’5,
250-pound senior DE Nate Matlack (#2) lead the defensive line with 5 and 3
sacks, respectively.
Pitt has a solid kicker in senior Ben Sauls, who is 15-17 on
field goals with a long of 58 yards. He is 4-4 from over 50 yards! Their punter
is also solid, averaging 43.14 yards per punt with 10 over 50 yards and a long
of 59. The Panthers have returned two kickoffs for touchdowns this season,
including a 78-yarder by RB Desmond Reid, so they have good special teams
across the board. Reid averages over 16 yards per punt return, which is among
the nation’s leaders. The Hokies also had one of the best return men in the
country, but Swanson and the punt coverage did a great job, holding him to just
4 return yards on 5 punts.
Pitt is ranked No.16 in scoring offense (36.7 points per
game), No.75 in rushing offense (150.67 yards/game), No.22 in passing offense
(277.1 yards/game) and No.37 in total offense (427.8 yards/game). The Panthers are
No.72 in scoring defense (25.1 points per game), No.19 in rush defense (109.78
yards/game), No.114 in pass defense (251.7 yards/game) and No.63 in total
defense (361.4 yards/game). They are No.102 in 3rd down offense
(36.70 percent) and No.27 in 3rd down defense (33.57 percent). They
are No.46 in red zone offense, No.56 in red zone defense and No.28 in turnover
margin (plus 0.56 per game).
CLEMSON STATUS
The Tigers bounced back from the confounding, embarrassing showing against Louisville after the bye week. Some of the same sloppiness on offense and special teams reared its head in the first half at Virginia Tech last week, but the defense was phenomenal for four quarters and kept the Tigers in it at halftime until the offense came out of its funk. The Tigers had the ball inside the Hokies’ 32 yard line three times before the Hokies’ offense crossed midfield, yet the Tigers trailed 7-0 thanks to another blocked field goal returned 70 yards for a touchdown. That was their sixth blocked kick of the season, including a PAT! It’s been a combination of freshman Nolan Hauser kicking the ball low and terrible protection on the left side of the line. Let’s hope the Tigers have finally straightened out the kicking game! Hauser did make a short field goal in the fourth quarter to put the Tigers up 17, and he’s actually perfect this season when he gets the kick away. After giving up far too many rush yards against Louisville, which is a pass-first offense, the Tigers held a much better VA Tech running game to just 40 yards and 1.9 yards per carry! And that was without the services of 2 starters on the defensive line. DE Peter Woods was out as well as DT Demonte Capehart and CB Shelton Lewis, all of whom were injured in the Louisville game. Lewis will probably miss this game, but hopefully the Tigers will get the two linemen back on Saturday. Freshman CB Ashton Hampton stepped up in the absence of Lewis with an amazing, one-handed interception last week. Mickens also had an interception that set up the Tigers fourth-quarter field goal. The Tigers also had OL Tristan Leigh and OG Marcus Tate out last week, and freshman OL Elyjah Thurmon was pressed into duty. He did an incredible job, especially for a freshman in a loud, hostile environment. Freshman LB Sammy Brown continues to impress every time he sees the field. He actually made his first start at linebacker last week, as the Tigers deviated from their normal nickel scheme in order to stop the Hokies' run game. He had a sack last week, and despite minimal playing time, he is just one sack behind Parker for the team lead and 8 solo tackles behind Woodaz for the team lead.
Clemson is ranked No.14 in scoring offense (37.7 points per
game), No.25 in passing offense (274.8 yards/game), No.25 in rushing offense
(198.67 yards/game), and No.7 in total offense (473.4 yards/game). The Tigers
are No.57 in scoring defense (23.1 points per game), No.45 in rush defense
(128.89 yards/game), No.55 in pass defense (207.8 yards/game) and No.42 in
total defense. They are No.22 in 3rd down offense (46.15 percent)
and No.12 in 3rd down defense (29.91 percent). They are No.36 in red
zone offense, No.77 in red zone defense and No.5 in turnover margin (plus 1.22
per game).
PREDICTION
The Tigers always seem to bring the best out of Pitt, going
back to the upset in Death Valley in November of 2016, the Tigers’ only loss
that season. And, of course, the Tigers lost the last meeting at Heinz Field three
years ago. However, if the Tigers play even close to as well as they did in the
six straight games before the last bye, it will be no contest. The one constant
for the Tigers this season (knock on wood)—even in the two losses—is that they
have protected the football, unlike last season. They did not turn it over
(other than the two blocks and a turnover on downs in six fourth-down attempts)
against Louisville, and they had just one late interception on a circus catch
by Georgia. The Tigers’ defense did not create a turnover in either of those
games, though. They have won every game in which the defense has created a
turnover, and they are No.5 nationally in turnover margin. Hopefully, the
defense will play as well as it did last week, and the offense will execute
better in the first half. It’s a little disconcerting that the Tigers’ offense
has struggled early in both of their noon games this season, though. Given that
it’s do or die for their ACC and playoff hopes, I have to believe that we will
see one of the better versions of the Tigers on Saturday.
CLEMSON 38 Pitt 23
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