Pitt's Pat Narduzzi on Kenny Pickett: 'He's a great quarterback. He's our quarterback'

Kenny Pickett’s collegiate career, so fresh with hope when he boldly led Pitt to an upset of No. 2 Miami as a freshman only two years ago, has been reduced to one season and one game.

“He’ll be a senior next year,” coach Pat Narduzzi said, almost sadly. “We wish he had another year.”

Pickett (14-12 as a starter) has an opportunity to do something no Pitt quarterback has done since 2013: lead his team to victory in a bowl game. Pitt plays Eastern Michigan of the Mid-American Conference on Thursday in the Quick Lane Bowl at Detroit’s Ford Field.

The most recent Pitt quarterback to win a bowl game is Chad Voytik, a highly regarded prep star from Cleveland, Tenn., who was recruited by Todd Graham, awarded the starting job by Paul Chryst and benched by Narduzzi in favor of Nathan Peterman.

Voytik replaced an injured Tom Savage in the second half of the 2013 Little Caesers Pizza Bowl — also at Ford Field — and helped lead Pitt to a 30-27 victory against Bowling Green, another MAC team.

Six years later, Pitt might have better quarterback depth. Redshirt freshman Nick Patti started for an injured Pickett this season in a 17-14 victory against Delaware. Plus, Narduzzi had high praise for freshman Davis Beville late in the season for his work with the scout team.

“He’s tough. I liken him to a Kirk Cousins (Minnesota Vikings quarterback), his freshman year (at Michigan State),” Narduzzi said. “The hits he took, the effort he gives.

“He plays with passion every single day. He’s going to be really good. It isn’t easy being the scout-team quarterback. He’s been getting whacked.”

This is not to suggest there will be open competition for the quarterback job in the spring. But it does give Narduzzi options, even if they don’t truly surface until 2021.

Pickett is the leader of the offense, a strong, respected voice in the huddle. Among his 430 pass attempts (14th in the nation), he’s thrown nine interceptions, three more than last year when he started 14 games. Not a bad percentage, but the offense has struggled.

Plagued by penalties and a sub-standard ground game — Pitt is 12th in the 14-team ACC in both departments — the Panthers are 11th in average total yards per game (375.1), tied for last with Georgia Tech in touchdowns (28) and 13th in red zone TDs (16). Co-captain Jimmy Morrissey said it’s a matter of “poor execution, somebody not doing their job, including myself.”

“It’s all across the board,” he said. “It’s just frustrating.”

Although coordinator Mark Whipple’s offense leans heavily on the passing game, Pickett has thrown for only 10 touchdowns, down two from last season.

Narduzzi does not exempt Pickett from blame, but he isn’t shy about passing some down the line and challenging the rest of the team.

“I think sometimes when you look at quarterbacks,” Narduzzi said, “everybody looks and says, ‘OK, he threw a pick.’ Sometimes you don’t know why he threw a pick. You don’t ever want to throw anybody under the bus, but I can just tell you this: Of the picks he’s thrown, they’re not all his fault, OK. Again, sometimes receivers run the wrong routes, whatever it may be, and you’re expecting the guy to be there, and he’s not.

“You look at those stats, he has some young receivers running routes out there sometimes that do some things. It’s been a catch and tackle for our receivers at this point. He could have twice as many yards if we do something after the catch.”

After all that, if anyone wonders what Narduzzi thinks of his quarterback, he added, “Kenny Pickett is a great quarterback. He’s our quarterback.”

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