PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Sophomore running back Vincent Davis started the game with a 74 yard run and kept going for most of the night. Davis finished with 247 yards and a touchdown as Pitt closed the regular season with a 34-20 win at Georgia Tech.
“Obviously it was a great team win,” said head coach Pat Narduzzi. “Vince Davis had a heck of a day. He ran like a big dog. For a little guy, that guy has a lot of power, a lot of quickness.”
“Pound for pound that guy is one of the toughest guys on our football team. He gets tossed around at times and he just keeps swinging.”
“Everything was just perfect tonight,” Davis said. “The line came out doing their job executing and we just came out and took over.”
After struggling to run the ball for much of the year, Pitt ran it for 317 yards.
“Our last outing we started really, really slow, like a turtle,” Narduzzi said. “But our guys started fast and we had our foot on the gas. Our O-line blocked well and our running backs ran hard.”
“I really just think it’s a culmination of things,” said center and captain Jimmy Morrissey. “We practiced hard. We practiced well. Coach Dave Borbely put together a great run game plan. Coach Whip called a good game. Vincent ran well and the O-line blocked well. When you have all of those things go together, you have success.”
Pitt wasn’t able to finish drives early settling for a 27 and 25 yard Alex Kessman field goals and trailing 7-6 with just under 10 to play in the second quarter, Pitt took the lead for good on a 60 yard touchdown pass from Kenny Pickett to DJ Turner. The graduate transfer Turner, finished with 5 catches for 82 yards.
Eric Hallet and Jason Pinnock each had an interception and the Panthers held the Yellow Jackets to 98 rushing yards.
“It just felt good and ending our conference career with a win,” said captain Patrick Jones. “It felt great being out there with my guys. They are my brothers and I love playing with them.”
Damar Hamlin and Rashad Weaver were no-shows
A couple of Jones’ long-time teammates, seniors Damar Hamlin and Rashad Weaver didn’t travel to the game, presumably because they are now preparing for the NFL Draft.
“My teammates, they are great players,” Jones said. “They gave us everything they got. That’s their decision. They made their decision all you can do is respect it and support them. They are my brothers. I will respect them no matter what they do.”
“We had conversations all through the week,” Narduzzi said. “I totally support those guys. They had decision they had to make for personal reasons. Great conversations, they did what they had to do it gives other guys opportunities to make plays.”
Bowl bound?
Several projections have Pitt being invited to various bowl games, we should find out in the next few days. Morrissey and Davis said they want to play in a post-season game, so does their head coach.
“That’s my intensions,” Narduzzi said. “I don’t make all of those calls. I saw BC opted out of a bowl game. Those are decisions that are above my pay grade, but we obviously want to play another one. We’d like to play 12.”
Pickett passes local legends
QB Kenny Pickett surpassed Pitt greats Dan Marino and Tyler Palko for total offense in a career at the University of Pittsburgh. Pickett had 225 yards today for 8,552 yards for his career.
“Kenny is a tough son-of-a gun,” Narduzzi said. “When he’s running our offense, everyone has a lot of confidence in him. He had a couple of quarterback sneaks that were big time. Kenny Pickett, love that guy.”
Cold Shoulder or hand
It was an emotional game and the TV cameras caught Georgia Tech head coach Geoff Collins several times swearing at the officials over calls. He was still upset during the post-game handshake as Pat Narduzzi grasped Collins’ hand, he ripped it away without looking at Narduzzi.
"I just said you have a great team,” Narduzzi said of the encounter. “He said that's baloney, I guess in nice words, and walked off. I don't know. I thought it was a good game."