PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Averaging only two yards a carry against West Virginia, the Panthers likely will be without sophomore running back Rodney Hammond Saturday at Tennessee due to a right leg injury.
Hammond rushed for 74 of the team’s 76 yards including a pair of touchdowns on the ground. He replaced ineffective starter Israel Abanikanda, although Pitt Head Coach Pat Narduzzi says he believes in the junior from New York.
“Izzy starts the game off and sometimes you don’t get the opportunities,” Narduzzi said. “Rodney came in and felt like the hot hand and let’s go with him. I would imagine if Izzy is in those same situations, he does the same thing. That’s how much faith we have in Izzy, Rodney, Vincent Davis and C’Bo Flemister. Sometimes you get the different looks, we feel real confident in what Izzy can do.”
Abanikanda rushed eight times for 15 yards, but did take a short pass from Kedon Slovis late in the fourth quarter and turned it into a 24-yard game-tying touchdown.
It wasn’t just on the running backs for rushing for two-yards a carry. Narduzzi said he believes the offensive line got the message they need to be better.
“We’ll find out,” Narduzzi said. “Sometimes you get woken up a little bit. It will be a challenge for them. Everyone’s saying ‘they’re all coming back, they’re all coming back’ (discussing the line returning as a unit from last year).”
“They are feeling good. They need to play like they are all coming back and play with a purpose.”
“I think we made some mistakes, but I think we will overcome it this week,” said senior offensive lineman Marcus Minor adding they focused on correcting little details. “I’m excited to play Tennessee, can’t wait.”
Outside linebacker
Junior linebacker Bengally Kamara finished with nine tackles, yet was one of a number of Panthers who weren’t thrilled with their performance in the win over West Virginia.
“I talked to Bengally on Saturday and he said ‘Coach, I got to be better’,” Narduzzi said. “Practice is different than the games.’ Different formations, different offense. We will see how they respond this week.”
He believes they’ve responded in practice and are more locked in.
Partially because of the tempo, and to get them looks, Narduzzi said he will use outside linebackers Solomon DeShields and Tylar Wiltz more against Tennessee. DeShields is a sophomore who played some as a reserve last year. He has great athleticism and was an accomplished receiver in high school. Wiltz was a two-time All-Missouri Valley Conference linebacker and a graduate transfer from Missouri State totaling 14.5 tackles for loss last season.
Johnny Majors Classic
It’s the final matchup of the two game, home-and-home with Tennessee dubbed the Johnny Majors Classic in celebration of the head coach who won 116 games with the Vols and a national championship at Pitt.
“I had a great relationship with him,” Narduzzi said. “Probably met him 25 times, he was always around. I have a video of his favorite play, got him on the board and videoed it. Special moments with Johnny Majors. He’s special.”
Narduzzi added what made Majors great was he was as special a person as he was a coach.
Ranked matchup
Tennessee comes in ranked 24th in the nation, while the Panthers are 17th.
“Two good football teams,” Narduzzi said. “I know we have a real good football team coming in here. We will find out what we got on Saturday. We’ll decide how elite or how not elite we are.”