Pitt is favored by three points Saturday, but Rashad Weaver probably is not aware and it wouldn’t matter.
Weaver believes the No. 21 Panthers (2-0, 1-0 ACC) don’t get enough respect around the country, and he said it’s time to change that big-picture perception. He figures Saturday’s game at Heinz Field against No. 24 Louisville is the perfect time for that to happen.
“We’ve always been the underdog, and we’re kind of tired of it,” Pitt’s senior defensive end said Wednesday on the ACC Network’s “Packer and Durham” show.
National Player of the Week Rashad Weaver became the latest Panther to chat with Packer & Durham on the ACC Network.@R_Weaver17 @MarkPacker@WesDurham#H2P • @accnetwork pic.twitter.com/hESyH3ik9y
— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) September 23, 2020
“We want to be the big dog, and to do that, you have to keep winning. It’s good to have a top-25 matchup, and I think we’ll take full advantage of it if we do what we’re supposed to do. And I think it’s time for people to realize that this team is legitimate and you only do that by winning and winning convincingly.
“The goal is just to win and be better each week. If we do that, I’ll get to where I want to be at the end of the year, whether that’s getting a ring or money in my bank account.”
Pitt has been included in the past two Associated Press Top 25 rankings, but the Big Ten re-enters the balloting process next week in advance of its scheduled opening weekend Oct. 24.
Who knows where Pitt and the other teams ranked in the 20s will end up? But a big effort and a victory against Louisville (1-1, 0-1) almost assures Pitt a third consecutive placement among the nation’s most prominent teams.
Louisville presents special problems for a Pitt defense that has allowed an average of only 154 yards per game, third nationally and first in the ACC.
It starts with quarterback Micale Cunningham and his talented wide receivers, TuTu Atwell (5-foot-9, 165 pounds) and big-bodied senior Dez Fitzpatrick, (6-2, 210), who considered entering the 2020 NFL Draft before returning to school.
“Finally, I get somebody my size,” said Pitt cornerback Jason Pinnock (6-0, 200) of Fitzpatrick. “This time, it’s going to be big on big, and that’s something I like.”
The Louisville offense starts with Cunningham.
“This guy is an athlete. He could go play a slot receiver if he had to,” Weaver said. “He’s a freak.”
Plus, the team is well-coached by 2019 ACC Coach of the Year Scott Satterfield, who improved the Cardinals’ victory total from two to eight in his first season.
“A lot of play action, and the O-line is good at making their pass blocks look like runs,” Weaver said.
Louisville has plenty of talent at the skill positions with running back Javian Hawkins (1,525 yards and nine touchdowns last season) and Atwell (1,272/11).
Pitt secondary coach Archie Collins is eager to see his defensive backs confront the speedy Atwell.
“We go against speed every day in practice,” Collins said of Pitt’s wide receivers. “Those guys understand how to handle speed.”
Nonetheless, Atwell will present what Collins calls “a great challenge.”
“TuTu is a good player,” he said. “He has a lot of good quickness, has a lot of good speed. We’re going to have a lot of fun covering that guy as well as Fitzpatrick and the guys they have in the receiving corps.
“I can’t wait for the game Saturday.”
Also eager for noon Saturday to arrive is Pitt junior Cam Bright, who recorded 10 tackles last week on his way to ACC Linebacker of the Week honors. Bright and Cunningham were teammates at Park Crossing (Ala.) High School, and the two remain workout partners in the offseason.
“This is the game I was most looking forward to,” he said.
When they were in high school, Bright wasn’t allowed to tackle Cunningham in practice. The gloves come off Saturday.
“When I get to him and don’t get in trouble with it, it’s going to be fun,” he said.
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