Portal products Desmond Reid, Konata Mumpfield bright spots during Pitt losing streak

During his chat with reporters Tuesday, Pitt running backs coach Lindsey Lamar was quick with an answer when the question made it obvious.

Is Desmond Reid playing through pain?

“All season,” Lamar said, “like everybody in college football. I’m sure Kyle Louis (Pitt’s All-American candidate linebacker) is banged up, but he’s playing through it.

“Des is a tough kid. He’s going to be banged up. He just plays through it because that’s what football players do.”

Those who have followed Pitt through the first 11 games — the regular-season finale is Saturday at Boston College — might wonder where the Panthers would be if the transfer portal did not deliver Reid from Western Carolina this year and wide receiver Konata Mumpfield from Akron before the 2022 season.

At 5-foot-8, 175 pounds, Reid leads Pitt in rushing (797) and receptions (47). His pass-catching total (564) is second on the team to Mumpfield but tops among all ACC running backs. His average all-purpose yardage (150.9 per game) is second in the ACC to North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton and fifth in the nation. Reid’s total yardage (1,509) is eighth in the FBS.

After opening the season with rushing totals of 145 and 148 yards against Kent State and Cincinnati, Reid reached triple digits only once more (120 against California). His average in the past four games is 64 per game. But possibly his most courageous play came in the Clemson game when, with a sore ankle, he dived toward the pylon and missed scoring by 2 yards.

The trick for Lamar is to give Reid enough rest without compromising the offense by leaving its most productive player on the bench.

“When he’s tired and he needs a break, we keep a close eye on it and we get the next guy up,” Lamar said. “When he’s ready to roll, we roll him back in. We stay on top of it.”

It’s important for Reid to be honest with Lamar and let him know when he needs a break.

“I do trust him for the most part. He’ll let me know when he’s tired,” Lamar said. “It’s not just a situation where he goes until he can’t go (anymore). I have a system. It all depends on what (offensive coordinator Kade) Bell is thinking.”

Mumpfield (6-1, 185) has matched his reception total from 2023 (44), with 669 yards and four touchdowns. With two solid games at Boston College and a bowl, he could approach his career high in yards (751 at Akron in 2021).

Reid, Mumpfield and Bell have helped Pitt’s offense recover from a dismal 2023 season. Pitt is fifth in the ACC in points (359), thanks in part to the defense scoring five touchdowns. Still, the offense’s 39 touchdowns and an average of 413.9 yards per game is far superior to its 2023 numbers (28 and 317.9).

Of course, none of that has been good enough to put Pitt in late-season contention for a berth in the ACC championship game. Injuries along the offensive line, wide receiver and quarterback have contributed to a four-game losing streak that followed the season-opening seven-game winning streak.

Part of Mumpfield’s success can be traced to how he tries to keep “negativity out of everybody’s brain.”

One of Pitt’s four co-captains, he said breaking the losing streak Saturday will require the team to “just be positive, focus and lock onto the little details.”

“Come in with the mindset to dominate.”

Mumpfield, who might be Pitt’s No. 1 NFL Draft prospect, could have been a candidate to transfer at any point during his three-year stay, but he said he never gave it thought. In his mind, loyalty matters.

“I’m not going to lie. Once I go somewhere, I don’t really like to leave,” he said. “Even when I was at Akron, I really didn’t want to leave. They fired my whole coaching staff.”

At Pitt, he set goals such as the Biletnikoff Award and All-ACC honors, but what he also wanted was “to be the best version of myself. “

“Guys across the building (Steelers coaches and scouts), they look at film, tape and the things you’re doing off the field,” he said.

In the end, the quest was just as important to Mumpfield as the result.

“Obviously, I want to be the best,” he said. “Sometimes, it doesn’t work out like that.”