College Football: 3 takeaways from Thursday night Week 1

Pittsburgh football looked the part

Pittsburgh football suffered some big losses from last year’s 11-3 team that won the ACC championship. Kenny Pickett went to the NFL and Jordan Addison left via the transfer portal to USC.

Yet, the Panthers made their own big-name addition from the transfer portal and that was quarterback Kedon Slovis who was stellar on Thursday night in a 38-31 win for Pitt.

Slovis did a really good job of pushing the ball down the field and completed 16-of-24 passes for 308 yards and one touchdown, one of which was to running back Rodney Hammond who stole the show for the Panthers.  Hammond ran for 74 yards on 16 carries and also had two receptions for 55 yards, including one 49-yard reception.

Jared Wayne, the leading receiver back from last season, also caught three passes for 89 yards including a 64-yarder. In all, the Panthers had four pass plays of 20 yards or more to four different receivers, so the passing game doesn’t look like it’s dropped off much if at all.

The defense gave up a few too many points probably for the liking of Pat Narduzzi, but Pittsburgh football looks like a threat again in the ACC.