TAKEAWAY’S FROM PITT’S 24-7 WIN

Chad Voytik making his 15th consecutive start for the Panthers didn’t get to finish the game as the Panthers starter.

With the Panthers trailing 7-3, head coach Pat Narduzzi turned to Nate Peterman with 2:35 left in the second quarter and Peterman ran with the opportunity from there.

Peterman led the Panthers on an 8 play, 73 yard scoring drive, connecting with J.P. Holtz for an 18 yard touchdown pass as the Panthers went into the half leading 10-7.

In the second half Qadree Ollison would add a touchdown run and Darrin Hall scored from five yards out late in the fourth quarter as the Panthers scored the final 21 points in the game.

The big story was Peterman who jump started the Pitt offense with the late score in the second quarter.

Running the two-minute offense, Peterman completed passes of 14, 11, 9 yards, then scrambled for 17 yards that setup the 18 yard touchdown pass to Holtz. It was Peterman’s first career touchdown pass, and Holtz’ eighth career TD reception.

Peterman was 12/17 for 148 yards and a touchdown. Voytik was efficient going 6/8 for 32 yards, but averaged just 4 yards per attempt and Pitt found their rhythm with Peterman.

What changed with Peterman is Pitt started to play with more tempo immediately.

“I just thought he ran the team better,” Narduzzi said of Peterman.

Narduzzi said afterwards that Pitt has “two good quarterbacks” and he didn’t know who would start next week at Iowa. The first year coach feels it’s a good problem to have.

“It’s great,” Narduzzi said. [hide]


MORE BUZZ

Tyler Boyd had 11 catches for 95 yards in the win. Boyd’s 11 receptions tied his career high and also tied him with Antonio Bryant for third all-time on Pitt’s career receptions list (173). Boyd also moved into sixth place on Pitt’s career receiving yards list with 2,530. He passed Greg Lee who had 2,470 yards from 2003-05.

J.P. Holtz provided some big plays with a touchdown catch of 18 yards and also had a 25 yard reception.

Qadree Ollison rushed for 81 yards and a touchdown on 21 Carries. Darrin Hall added 52 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown.

Lot’s of positives tonight for Pitt on defense.

Avonte Maddox was excellent in coverage and Jordan Whitehead making his first start at safety had 6 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 2.5 tackles for loss. A ton of upside with this secondary.

— Matt Galambos and Tyrique Jarrett each had five tackles, while Jarrett added a career-high three tackles for loss.

— Pitt’s D-line dominated the line of scrimmage. Pitt out-gained Akron 307-110 and held the Zips to eight first downs. Akron averaged just 2.4 yards per play.

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