PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – From Desmond Reid’s speed, to Kenny Johnson’s hands to thoughts on the defense. Here are notes from Pitt’s 55-24 opening day win over Kent State.
Speed Reid
Pitt was excited about what transfer running back Desmond Reid might bring to this team, even before the loss of Rodney Hammond for the season. The 5’8” running back was stepping up a level after playing at FCS Western Carolina. He came with a chip on his shoulder and left the game with a few chips in the game.
It started on the first punt of the game, a 50-yarder that bounced and Reid waited to field. As he grabbed the punt, he was immediately hit, spun out of the tackle and headed right where he weaved through the Kent State special teams for a 78-yard punt return. He would add a 28-yard run on a third-and-two and then bust one up the middle where he made one cut and had the speed to run it 46 yards for a TD.
Reid finished his first game with Pitt with 14 carries for 145 yards and a rushing TD, caught three passes for 11 yards and then the 78-yard punt return.
“That’s me, I’m an explosive person,” Reid said. “I like to showcase that. That’s in my skillset. I know me, I know once I get past that second level, it’s over.””
Big play Kenny
Two of the best catches of the day were made by sophomore receiver Kenny Johnson who said before the season he loved this new Pitt offense. The first, an over-the-shoulder grab on the right sideline, setting the Panthers up at the one-yard line on the first possession of the game. The second a throw to the left corner where Johnson was able to get a foot down for a sixth Panthers TD of the game.
Narduzzi noted he did this while not practicing a lot because he was battling through injuries. Johnson finished with seven receptions for 105 yards and the touchdown.
Defense good-ish
While one of the touchdowns came off a muffed punt, Kent State scored one touchdown or less in half of its games last year. Only three times did the Golden Flashes get to 20 points. One of the touchdowns Saturday came on a fourth-down play as the receiver got behind the defense for a touchdown. Another came on an 11-play drive.
It’s hard to be too critical as the Panthers held Kent State to 3-16 on third down, 39 rushing yards, had a dozen tackles or loss and five sacks, however there is improvement needed.
“I think the whole defense, we started out slow. I told the defense, next week starts today,” said linebacker Kyle Louis. “Our first goal is to stop the run, so we definitely going to emphasize that and we are going to get better off that.”
Freshman Sincere Edwards was active in the backfield, finishing with 1.5 tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry, but stats don’t show his disruption. Captain Brandon George had a sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery along with seven tackles, two for loss. Sophomore Kyle Louis led the Panthers with 10 tackles, adding a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.
“I think we have some cleaning up to do, but I think we are flying around to the football,” George said. “I think we are back to where we used to be in terms of being violent, flying around on a football field.”
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Other Notes
· Ben Sauls drilled a career-long 50-yard field goal into the open end of the stadium
· WR Rafael Williams had four receptions, half for touchdowns
· Freshman WR Censere Lee caught six passes on 10 targets for 72 yards
· Tight ends caught seven passes on seven targets (Gavin Bartholomew 5-66 yards, Jake Overman 2-15 yards)
· Pitt’s top 5 leading tacklers were all linebackers (Louis-10, Biles-7, George-7, Lovelace-5, Thompson-5)
· Safety Donovan McMIllon had the only Pitt interception