Take 5: Right here, right now may be best chance for Pitt to win ACC championship

For years, Pitt football players have gathered in a circle before practice and chanted “ACC championship” before going about the day’s business.

Pitt gets to take those words and make them real Saturday night when it confronts Wake Forest at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., with the conference title as the prize.

Nights such as this one don’t arise every year. The ACC has 14 members. Only three — Virginia Tech, Florida State and Clemson — have won the past 14 championships. (Georgia Tech won in 2009, but the NCAA stripped it of its title for using an ineligible player.)

This is a special season at Pitt, which has never won a conference title outright.

When will Pitt have another Heisman Trophy candidate leading the way? There are 18 years separating Larry Fitzgerald and Kenny Pickett. Pitt won 10 games in 2009, but not again until this season.

Pitt might not have a better chance to win a championship than it has right here, right now.

Does that put additional pressure on the players? Pickett doesn’t think so.

Pitt (10-2, 7-1) won the ACC Coastal by two games over Miami, but tightly contested victories against North Carolina and Virginia had the feel of postseason drama. Miami owned the head-to-head tiebreaker over Pitt, increasing the importance of every late-season snap. Pitt found a way to survive. It’s what champions do.

“We’re in another championship. We were in one against UVA. We’re kind of familiar with the feeling,” Pickett said. “It’s a big game. It’s a different game. But at the same time, we’re going out there and playing football.”

Yet, he admitted: “Sense of urgency is up. The communication. We want to make sure we’re on the same page on every play and every guy knows what we need them to do in order to go execute at a high level.”

Look for Pitt to be at its best: Panthers 35, Demon Deacons 28.

1. Why Pitt should win

There appears to be a feeling in the locker room that Pitt has something to prove.

Asked about his quarterback, defensive end Habakkuk Baldonado revealed a bit of a chip on his shoulder.

“Since the summer, he was playing at a really high level. Of course, nobody knew because the media loves to underestimate Pitt,” Baldonado said, calmly and without a trace of irritation in his voice. “We knew it. We have him. He showed it. He proved it. Here we are.

“I can’t speak for you all,” he told reporters. “But I just think we’ve proven what we really are, what we’re capable of and what we can achieve.”

Don’t ignore the importance of confidence.

2. Beware the mesh

Wake Forest is like many teams that use a run/pass option (RPO) offense, but this one comes with a twist.

Quarterback Sam Hartman moves toward the line of scrimmage while holding the football in the running back’s belly before deciding what to do with it, based on how the defense commits. It’s called the mesh-point offense.

“I’ve never seen that before,” said first-team All-ACC defensive tackle Calijah Kancey. “As I was watching film, I was surprised. (Hartman’s) just walking, literally, like 3 yards. That was different. We just have to do a straight knock-back. Just knock them back into the quarterback and running back and, I think, it will be fine.”

The trick is to get enough penetration to disrupt the mesh. If not, 6-foot-5 and 6-foot-1 wide receivers A.T. Perry (1,112 yards) and Jaquarii Roberson (1,024) will have a lot to say about the outcome of this game.

“He’s really good at throwing, really good at scrambling and running,” Baldonado said. “Their offense does their special thing. We’re perfect to go against it. I can’t wait to show what we’re going to do against that style of offense.”

3. Handle with care

Take away the Virginia, Duke and Boston College games and Wake Forest allowed an average of almost 46 points against six other ACC opponents.

Don’t be fooled. The Demon Deacons won four of those games, thanks in part to an opportunistic defense. Wake Forest is tied for third in the nation in turnovers created (27 — 14 fumble recoveries, 13 interceptions). Pickett has been careful with the football most of the season and only threw seven interceptions, but six occurred in the past five games. Wake Forest also has collected 32 quarterback sacks.

“They’re shooting gaps pretty quick, a lot of inside pressure,” offensive lineman Blake Zubovic said. “We have to look out for that.”

Something to consider: Narduzzi said running back Izzy Abanikanda, who missed the Syracuse game, will be available Saturday.

4. Almost everyone’s watching

By the time Pitt and Wake Forest kick off about 8 p.m., every conference championship game but one will be over — unless the AAC or SEC goes beyond four hours. (It’s college football, so you never know.)

Jordan Addison on 20+ yard throws:
???? 19 catches (1st among WRs)
???? 708 yards (1st)
???? 10 TDs (1st)

Should he win the Biletnikoff Award? pic.twitter.com/xkQ06KNSNh

— PFF College Football (@PFF_College) December 1, 2021

Pitt will share the prime-time national TV spotlight with Michigan/Iowa in the Big Ten title game. With captive audiences inside and outside the U.S., there is no better showcase for a hopeful Heisman and Biletnikoff finalist. What more can Pickett do to help his cause? Addison is one of three finalists for the Biletnikoff Award, but voting closed Wednesday.

Pickett can break a tie with Dan Marino for the Pitt all-time record for touchdown passes (79).

Addison already leads the ACC in receiving touchdowns (17), total yards (1,353) and average yards per game (112.8). He needs one touchdown to tie Clemson’s DeAndre Hopkins for the ACC single-season record set in 2012.

5. Watch party in Rome

Baldonado, a native of Rome, Italy, said his friends and relatives back home plan to get together to watch the game on TV. They’re not happy about kickoff time: 8 p.m. in Charlotte is 2 a.m. in Rome.

“They actually texted me and told me to ask the NCAA to move the game up,” he said.