Pitt Football: 3 takeaways from nail-biting win over Louisville in Week 4
By John Vogel
Pitt football faced off against Louisville in a top 25 matchup at Heinz Field. Here are the three takeaways that we got from the 23-20 win over Louisville.
The Pittsburgh Panthers hosted the Louisville Cardinals in their third game of the season, and collected their first 3-0 start since 2014, defeating the visiting Cardinals 23-20. The two schools matched up for the first time since 2015, and the top 25 matchup was aired on the ACC Network.
The Panthers out-gained Louisville 376-223 yards and managed the game from a time standpoint, possessing the football 35:16 of game time. It’s also worth pointing out that the Panthers converted 9-of-19 times on third down, and held Louisville on check on third downs (1-of-11).
Let’s get into the three takeaways we got from Pittsburgh in this game.
3. Kenny Pickett’s inconsistency hurts this offense
Yes, Pittsburgh is 3-0. I know that the Panthers were able to win this game, but this offense is loaded with playmakers and they struggled tremendously with moving the football and scoring, especially in short field situations around the red zone.
The Panthers had Taysir Mack back this week, the emergence of freshman receiver Jordan Addison, and Shocky Jacques-Louis. Pickett went 23-for-38 for 225 yards and threw two touchdowns plus the awful interception in the fourth quarter in the red zone.
Also, remember the first quarter, the first two Pitt drives put the ball inside the fifty and had to settle for two field goals. Both drives were tremendous opportunities for Pickett and this offense to build an insurmountable lead, and they blew it with bad throws, bad decisions, and inconsistent throws on easy play designs.