Pitt by the numbers at the halfway point of the season
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If you need proof that a year is a long time, merely turn to Pitt football and see how matters surrounding the program have changed.
Here are some numbers that illustrate the dramatic shift in fortunes for the 6-0 and No. 20-ranked Panthers:
2-4/6-0 — Pitt was 2-4 after six games in 2023, a quarterback change from Phil Jurkovec to Christian Veilleux helping spark a 38-21 victory against Louisville to end the first half of the season. At the time, many believed Veilleux represented Pitt’s future at the position.
In attendance at that game at Acrisure Stadium was then-Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett, who spoke briefly with a TribLive reporter while he was leaving, expressing his pride for “the guys.” Pickett had played with many of them during Pitt’s 2021 championship season.
Today, Pickett is a backup with the Philadelphia Eagles, all but forgotten as an impact player in the NFL, and Veilleux is starting for Georgia State (2-3, 0-2 Sun Belt). Veilleux’s 25-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds left defeated Vanderbilt, the same Vanderbilt that lost to then-No. 7 Missouri in double overtime the next week and went on to defeat then-No. 1 Alabama as well as Kentucky.
10/6 — Take the 10 games started by Jurkovec and Veilleux last year and contrast those results with the six started by younger, less experienced redshirt freshman Eli Holstein before his 20th birthday. The older quarterbacks threw for a total of 13 touchdown passes, 1,997 yards and 11 interceptions in 10 games and 296 attempts. Holstein’s totals are 15 TDs, 1,700 yards and five interceptions in six games and 200 attempts.
15/13 — Speaking of comparisons, Holstein has thrown more touchdown passes (15) than Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel (13), a leading Heisman Trophy candidate and a sixth-year senior.
20/2,219 — Speaking of Heisman, if not for Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, Miami quarterback Cam Ward could start practicing the pose. He has thrown for 20 touchdowns and 2,219 yards.
266/261 — Holstein has been a threat with his legs, rushing for 266 yards (sacks included), and Ward and Gabriel have combined for 261.
2,219/1,790 — Ward is the overwhelming leader in aerial yards among the three with 2,219 to 1,790 for Gabriel. What connects all three quarterbacks? Each is a transfer.
78/16 — Running back Desmond Reid leads Pitt with 78 carries, far more than the team’s second-busiest running back, Derrick Davis (16) but only ninth in the ACC. Reid is on pace for 208 touches, including 25 receptions and one punt return, which is far less than full-season totals compiled in 2014 and 2022 by James Conner (303) and Izzy Abanikanda (251), the backs who hoisted the heaviest loads for Pitt in the previous 10 years.
11 — Halfway through the season, Pitt is one of 11 undefeated teams in the FBS, with only eight coming from the so-called power conferences. That stat becomes increasingly more significant — and puts corresponding layers of pressure on the team — as the weeks progress. Next up: Syracuse in prime time Oct. 24 at Acrisure Stadium.
27-9, 22-15 and 17-7 — At least by the looks of things, the three best teams in the ACC at the halfway point are Miami, Pitt and Clemson. Who has the tougher schedule? Pitt’s six remaining opponents are a collective 27-9, compared to 22-15 for Miami and 17-7 for Clemson, whose team only plays four more conference games. Three of Pitt’s next four opponents — Syracuse, SMU and Clemson — are 5-1. Louisville, Virginia and Boston College are 4-2.
5 — Only five of 17 ACC teams — Stanford, Wake Forest, Florida State, N.C. State and North Carolina — have losing overall records. Pitt has not played and will not play four of the teams on that list.
Hey, if it was easy, it would be no fun.