If Juelz Goff is to assume more prominent role, Panthers confident in their redshirt freshman RB

After earning Pitt’s primary backup tailback spot coming out of fall camp, Juelz Goff positioned himself to be a part of the Panthers’ ground attack in 2025.

Desmond Reid was going to continue receiving the lion’s share of carries, in addition to being a regular threat through the air out of the backfield, but there would be opportunities for Goff, as well.

With Reid’s status unknown for Pitt’s ACC opener Saturday against Louisville, Goff could be primed for an even larger role, one he assumed for three-plus quarters Sept. 13 when Reid left the Backyard Brawl early because of an unspecified injury.

Pitt has yet to release its inaugural player availability report this week — a new policy instituted by the ACC that each team must adhere to ahead of all league games.

If Reid is out and it’s Goff’s show, coach Pat Narduzzi has confidence in his redshirt freshman from York.

“I’ve got a lot of trust in him,” Narduzzi said. “He plays big. He had a nice run in the fourth quarter (vs. WVU), bouncing out and breaking a few tackles and getting around the edge for a big important gain on that play. But he had some protection issues, as well, that we’ve got to get cleaned up with him, and we’ll get that straightened out this week.

“But the more plays he’s getting, the more confidence he has, I think he could be a really good back in this conference.”

Against West Virginia, Pitt’s running game struggled in general, but Goff led the way with eight carries for 37 yards, adding two catches for another 13 yards.

Granted, 17 of those rushing yards came on one attempt, leaving Goff with a yards per carry average of just under 3 on his other seven runs.

On the season, Goff has 85 yards on 21 carries with a pair of touchdowns.

Tailbacks coach Lindsey Lamar and the rest of the staff would probably admit Reid is a unique talent, but in Goff, the Panthers have someone whose presence will not require coordinator Kade Bell’s calls to be simplified.

“He can catch it out of the backfield. He runs good routes. He runs hard. His best attribute is he can run,” Lamar said. “Probably not as fast as Des, but he still can run, as well. He can do a lot of good things for us. That’s why we (don’t) have to pull back on the game plan as much because he can do a lot of the stuff that Des does.”

While Narduzzi pointed to pass protection as an area of needed improvement, Lamar sees Goff making strides when the ball isn’t in his hands.

“I could probably say he had to pick up pass protection like 10 times (against West Virginia), and I think (he) probably missed one that caused a quarterback hurry or two quarterback hurries,” Lamar said. “But other than that, that was the approach I wanted to see because he had to pass block so much the previous week.”

If Reid is unable to play Saturday, true freshman Ja’Kyrian Turner also can be expected to handle at least a portion of the backfield duties.

But Goff would be in line for the bulk of the carries.

Similar in height to Reid (5-foot-8, 175 pounds), Goff (5-9, 195) owns the stockier frame.

Pitt’s three player availability reports this week, set for Thursday, Friday and 10 a.m. ahead of kickoff Saturday, should offer some illumination as to Reid’s status.

There’s no denying Reid’s absence would be felt in a major way.

But the Panthers recruited Goff — who shattered Central York’s career rushing record as a senior, which had stood since 1975 — for a reason.

“He’s a very, very coachable kid,” Lamar said. “He’s the type of kid where whatever you tell him to do, he’s going to try his best to do it. It takes a lot of reps, but the more and more football he continues to play, he’s going to continue growing in every area every game.”