PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – You first heard about it on the PM Team Friday afternoon on 93.7 The Fan, senior quarterback Kenny Pickett's return sparked the Panthers to a 41-17 Pitt win at Florida State.
"I had this game circled after it (the ankle injury) happened," Pickett said, adding he watched tape of Florida State for a couple of weeks. "I kind of knew this was going to be the game where I would be back or at least plan to be back. Credit to our training staff and our doctors."
Both Pickett and head coach Pat Narduzzi said he went under hours of treatment, some times as much as 10 hours a day.
"Kenny Pickett is a tough, tough son of a gun," Narduzzi said. "I didn't know if he could go or not and obviously he went and went hard. He had a heavily taped up, braced ankle. He's my MVP. Our offense ticks when he is out there."
Pickett went 15-21 for 151 yards and a rush TD in the first half and finished with 210 yards passing, a 143.1 QB rating and much more than that in the huddle as the Panthers four game losing streak is over.
"He's our leader and he's a great leader at that," said linebacker SirVocea Dennis. "It means a lot. He played his butt off tonight. I have the utmost respect for Kenny and I love him for that."
Pitt was four for four in the red zone and had no turnovers and even the one that was initially ruled a fumble, Pickett said he knew it was a forward pass.
Pickett said he felt they played their best game of complimentary football, where everyone pitched in to move the Panthers back to 4-4.
"I think this was a really good win for the program," Pickett said.
Narduzzi said he expects Pickett to be even healthier next week as the Panthers have three games left starting at Georgia Tech November 14th at 7p.
