The importance of this game, other then numbers in the W/L stats, is debatable. To my mind it was nothing but a glorified scrimmage that, while the competition on the field was game-like, was a result that surprised no one.

Aside from padding the O and D stats the play on the field was not all that impressive. Not that this was because the Panthers didn’t do what was needed to win, but that games like this mean almost nothing in the long run (again, except for the “W”).

I watched the first half and was a bit nervous after the first series on offense as the mighty Terriers moved new QB Phil Jurkovec and his on-field 10 friends backward to a 4th and 20. After that the game was well in hand as we scored on our next six possessions save for a knee to run out the 1st half. Thank goodness that there was only six seconds left in that half as the Wofford punter put us on our own 7 yard line after a 51 yard punt.

All in all it is what it is… a chance for our players to get out onto the field and actually play a game. I did like that HC Pat Narduzzi and his coordinators rotated in the second and third string kids to get them a taste of live play so they can be ready if needed.

Especially our QB2 Christian Veilleux, who had a decent showing with 5 for 9 with 60 yards (6.7 ypc average) and one TD. I have a sneaky hunch we’ll be seeing maybe more than we fans want of him in the weeks to come as Jurkovec is heavy and slow of foot (at least to my eye and contrary to popular belief before the season started) and our O Line seems suspect at this point. Not to project negativity but we need to keep our fingers crossed that the bruisers in blue and gold in front of PJ get better quickly or we may be in offensive trouble with injuries down the road.

We rolled up a total of 491 offensive yards but I wonder if we’ll reach that lofty number again in ’23. Here are our O stats:

Defensively who knows what we have as a unit in terms of quality? An opponent like Wofford is no test to either sides of the ball. We did have four sacks and six tackles for loss (TFLs) and held the puppy dogs to 126 total yards but what does that even mean really? Nothing. However, I feel that the D will again be well above average (cross those fingers again) even if not the dominate unit we saw last season.

Now, lets get to the important stuff – we have a brand new Pitt fan and tailgater. Fran’s friend Nick brough his son Nolan to the pre-game tailgate. Afterward Nolan echoed many Pitt fans’ thoughts about Jurkovec as he blubbered “Is this the best QB we have on the roster?“

We have a tough next four games to play. Cincy beat Eastern Kentucky 66-13, WVU lost to a good PSU team 38-15, NC beat a P5 school in South Carolina handily 31-17 and VT handled Old Dominion 36-17.

Hey, 1-0 at this point is good. However, I see a loss or two coming in the next four games. Hope not, but could happen. OK – have at it in the comments section as always. We’ll have Richard’s Cincy preview/predictions up soon then something else (maybe?) and another Game Day Thread on Saturday.

HTP!