Opponent Preview: What to know about Pittsburgh
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After three straight physical matchups against NC State, Clemson and Notre Dame, Syracuse is now at 6-2 and has fallen to No. 22 in the AP Top 25 rankings. There are still plenty of positives despite the two-game skid SU finds itself on. Starters such as Ja’Had Carter and Caleb Okechukwu have emerged as dynamic playmakers alongside Marlowe Wax, Duce Chestnut and Alijah Clark. Dino Babers was happier with Sean Tucker’s use against Notre Dame than against Clemson.
But Garrett Williams is out for the year with a torn ACL, and the last two matchups have greatly exposed Syracuse’s inexperienced and undersized defensive line, not to mention Garrett Shrader is no longer at 100%. Enter Pittsburgh, who’s had a topsy-turvy path to a 4-4 record going into week 10. Led by head coach Pat Narduzzi in his eighth season, the Panthers started off their season with an instant classic win against West Virginia before losing a close game at home against then-No. 24 Tennessee.
Their offense is led by running back Israel Abanikanda, who was named a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award for National Player of the Year. USC transfer Kedon Slovis is struggling in his first season with the Panthers, completing just 58.2% of his passes. They have playmakers on defense, but have still allowed 27.9 points per game.
Here’s everything you need to know about Pittsburgh:
All-time series
Pittsburgh leads 42-31-3.
Last time they played
Last season, Syracuse played Pitt as the final opportunity for it to win a sixth game and qualify for a bowl. The Orange entered the Nov. 27 home matchup on a two-game losing streak after getting lambasted by Louisville and NC State. The Panthers, led by Kenny Pickett, entered at 9-2 and as the No. 20 team in the country. Syracuse got out to a quick 7-0 lead after a 12-yard touchdown pass from Shrader to Courtney Jackson. But afterwards, Pickett orchestrated a run that would end with 28 unanswered points for Pitt.
Mikel Jones had a career-high 16 total tackles and Stefon Thompson and Wax each had career-highs of 10 tackles. Chestnut grabbed his third interception of the season in the red zone against Pickett, but the defensive effort wasn’t enough to bring SU anywhere close to send a talented group of seniors — including Josh Black, Airon Servais, Kingsley Jonathan and Abdul Adams — out with a 31-14 win.
The Panthers report
The Panthers have taken a sharp fall from an exciting start in 2022. Abanikanda was off to a tremendous start and, following an overtime loss to Tennessee, Pitt entered its two other nonconference games with some optimism. The Panthers took care of Western Michigan and Rhode Island, then proceeded to fall to Georgia Tech, and are now 1-3 in their last four games.
Aside from Abanikanda, poor play from Slovis has hindered the output from a relatively experienced Panthers receiving core. Senior Jared Wayne leads the team with 572 receiving yards through seven games, and sophomore tight end Gavin Bartholomew is the only receiver with more than one receiving touchdown this season. He hasn’t been helped, however, by an offensive line that has been unfavorably looked upon by all Pro Football Focus metrics.
Defensively, Pittsburgh has allowed the fourth-most points in the ACC, 10 rushing touchdowns and 15 passing touchdowns. Western Michigan was the only team the Panthers held under 20 points, allowing at most 42 points last week to North Carolina. Redshirt senior Erick Hallett II has garnered three interceptions, making up half of the Panthers’ picks this season, but the defense overall has been generally middle of the pack.
How Syracuse beats Pittsburgh
The Orange are going to give up a few touchdowns to Pittsburgh, or at least to Abanikanda on the ground. This game will come down to whether or not a defense reeling from the loss of Williams can hold the Panthers close enough for the offense — especially Tucker — to come through. If the secondary and linebackers step up, and the defensive line can hold Abanikanda enough to force Pitt to pass, the Orange have a chance to win their seventh game.
Eva Morris | Design Editor
The Panthers don’t have the receiving threats the last three opponents have had, so this is the perfect game for Isaiah Johnson and some new cornerbacks to try their hand at a starting spot. It’ll be a good assessment of whether or not Chestnut can be a lockdown cornerback against a No. 1 receiver. But if Abanikanda can freely run and the Orange are giving up big passes, no amount of Robert Anae offense or Tucker explosiveness is going to help Syracuse win.
Statistic to know: 36.8 yards per punt
Syracuse got burned plenty of times in the last few games by solid punting from the Tigers and the Fighting Irish. The Orange average 5.89 yards per punt return, and Trebor Pena hasn’t been nearly as effective as Babers and Bob Ligashesky would’ve liked. Luckily for them, Pittsburgh stands as the worst, on average, punting team in the conference. Syracuse can benefit from this by forcing three and outs or stopping the Panthers before midfield to set up quality field position that could lead to more points.
Freshman Sam Vander Haar enrolled in Pittsburgh this January after emerging as a punting talent from Australia, but has only kicked a 53-yard punt as his season-long. Out of 23 punts, he’s pinned teams inside the 20 five times and only has one punt of over 50 yards.
Player to watch: Israel Abanikanda, running back, No. 2
UNC head coach Mack Brown called him the best running back in the country. The statistics — 16 rushing touchdowns, 1,086 rushing yards and 177.88 all-purpose yards per game — are staggering through just eight games. In 2021, he started half of the games for Pitt and finished with just 635 rushing yards, seven touchdowns and 197 receiving yards. But after getting just 15 rushing yards in the Panther’s opening win against WVU, he’s rushed for at least 100 yards in all but one game.
Against Virginia Tech, Abanikanda had 36 rushing attempts and set a single-game rushing yards record for the Panthers with 320 total yards and six rushing touchdowns. Tucker started the season on the Heisman Watchlist and didn’t make the semifinalist list for the Maxwell Award. Abanikanda came out of nowhere, started with a measly 15 rushing yards and is now amongst the final few candidates for the award given to the nation’s best player.
