Former Miami coach Mark Richt offers high praise for Pitt's Kenny Pickett

Mark Richt analyzes football for the ACC Network. So, perhaps, you should temper your enthusiasm when the former Miami coach talks about ACC quarterbacks.

But it’s becoming impossible to ignore Pitt’s Kenny Pickett, who cemented another brick onto his Heisman Trophy candidacy Saturday when he led the Panthers to a 27-17 victory against Clemson.

After Pickett threw for 302 yards, completing 25 of 39 passes without an interception, Richt said this on the ACC Network: “He looks like a pro quarterback playing in college.”

Bobby Bowden made the same comment about Dan Marino after Pitt beat Florida State, 42-14, in 1981.

No one will know for sure what the NFL thinks of Pickett until the 2022 Senior Bowl, at the earliest. But there were nine NFL representatives, including Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert, in the Heinz Field press box.

If anyone’s willing to share, a peek at their notes would be instructive. Short of that, we’ll have to settle for Richt’s comments: Hyperbole or accurate depiction? You choose.

“I’m not thinking about that stuff,” Pickett said of the good tidings thrown his way. “It’s great for the media. I’m grateful for all the kind words.”

But he refuses to let them derail his focus.

“Once I get out there, I’m ready to play.”

Meanwhile, Pickett reached three more milestones Saturday:

• He became only the third ACC quarterback in the past 15 years to throw multiple touchdown passes in seven consecutive games, joining Florida State’s Jameis Winston (2013) and North Carolina’s Sam Howell (2019), according to ESPN Stats & Info.

• He became Pitt’s all-time leader in completions, leaving the game with 879 and passing Alex Van Pelt, who had 867 from 1989-92.

• He moved into fourth place all-time in the ACC with 10,220 yards through the air, surpassing Miami’s Brad Kaaya, Duke’s Thaddeus Lewis and Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Deshaun Watson.

After all that, you can’t blame the 23-year-old Pickett for confessing to ESPN sideline reporter Molly McGrath after the game, “I’m going to have a cold one and we’ll get ready for Miami.”

"I'm going to go have a cold one and then we'll get ready for Miami."

Kenny Pickett with the quote of the year ????????

(via @dayneyoung)pic.twitter.com/phEew3jaGa

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) October 23, 2021

Panthers ranked 17th/19th

When the Associated Press and American Football Coaches Association released their polls Sunday, Pitt (6-1, 3-0 ACC) made the biggest jump of any team when the Panthers settled at No. 17 in the Associated Press rankings and No. 19, according to the coaches. Pitt was No. 23 in both polls last week.

The ranking is Pitt’s highest since it was No. 15 in the 2010 preseason. Pitt also was No. 8 for three weeks in 2009.

Don’t worry about us

When Pat Narduzzi was asked how he might keep his team grounded after Pitt seized command of the ACC Coastal, he did not appear concerned.

“We’ll get them down. We’ll be OK,” he said. “They know how important the next one is. They get bigger. Every game gets a little bit bigger. Twenty-four hours, this thing will be flushed down the toilet. We’ll move on to the next one.”

That’s probably a good idea. Pitt (6-1, 3-0) still has five ACC opponents on its schedule and two of them — Miami and Virginia — only have two conference losses. A slipup next Saturday against Miami — regardless of the Hurricanes’ 3-4 overall record — could help spoil what could be a historic Pitt season.

Linebacker SirVocea Dennis was pleased with the victory against Clemson, especially after Pitt lost to the Tigers, 52-17, last season. To Dennis, though, the identity of the opponent was far down the list of reasons Saturday’s game mattered.

“(The victory is) a big impact, but not only because of who we played,” he said. “It’s because it was the next game and it was the next game that we won and it’s an ACC game. If we can go 1-0 every week, it’s always a big game.”

Clutch plays

Pitt has converted seven of eight fourth downs during its four-game winning streak (11 of 15 for the season). But none bigger than Pickett’s 39-yard touchdown pass to Taysir Mack with 40 seconds left in the first half. It gave Pitt a 14-7 lead at halftime in a game that had started poorly for the Panthers.

Given the coverage in the Clemson secondary, it was a play Pickett knew would work.

“It was a great call by coach Whip (offensive coordinator Mark Whipple) and Taysir ran a great route,” Pickett said. “It was one of those plays, pre-snap, I knew I had it. I had to make sure I didn’t overthrow it because he was so wide open.”

He’s ready

Freshman running back Rodney Hammond Jr. didn’t play until the fourth quarter, but he still led Pitt in rushing with 66 yards on 11 carries.

“I’m always ready. I make sure I stay ready on the sideline,” he said. He added that the big stage (national TV against the six-time defending ACC champs) didn’t bother him.

“I’m made for big games,” he said.

Give them their due

Pitt’s offensive line of tackles Carter Warren and Gabe Houy, guards Marcus Minor and Jake Kradel and center Owen Drexel has been improving each week. They opened the way for Pitt to score 27 points and gain 464 yards against a team that had been allowing 12.5 and 314.7.

“You look at the quality opponent we played and what they’ve done to other teams, what they did to the No. 1 team in the country,” Pickett said. No. 1 Georgia didn’t score an offensive touchdown while defeating Clemson. Pitt had two.

“We were able to come in here and put up points and those guys really controlled the line of scrimmage.”

Notable

The loss was Clemson’s worst in the ACC since losing to Georgia Tech, 28-6, in 2014. … Jordan Addison, who was injured and had no receptions in the second half, recorded his 10th touchdown catch of the season. Jester Weah (2016) was the most recent Pitt player with 10 touchdown receptions. … Running back Izzy Abanikanda left the game in the third quarter after a hit from Clemson linebacker James Skalski.