Pitt receivers had a total of seven dropped passes in the Panthers’ first eight games. They had six drops in the 24-19 loss to the UVA Football team this past Saturday.
Tight end Gavin Bartholomew hadn’t dropped a catchable pass all season; he had two drops.
All six of the drops were on short passes – one behind the line of scrimmage, the other five on passes that traveled fewer than 10 yards downfield.
Gotta think that at least a couple of them would have helped move the chains, provided an opportunity for a guy to make a tackler miss and get a few extra yards after catch.
Six drops.
Pitt QBs were 14-of-35 for 165 yards on the night.
Should have been 19- or 20-of-35 for north of 200 yards.
You take the breaks when you get them.
Rough stretch for Malachi Fields
Virginia had the biggest dropped pass of the night, on a first quarter pass in the red zone intended for Malachi Fields, who not only dropped the pass from Anthony Colandrea, but popped the ball into the air for a Pitt INT.
The drop was the second of the season for Fields, who had a quiet night against Pitt – two catches on four targets for 11 yards.
Since Fields’s nine-catch outing in the 24-20 loss to Louisville last month, Fields has been held largely in check – eight catches on 16 targets for 124 yards over his last three games, with one TD catch, and three INTs on passes that he was targeted on.
Ground and pound
The O line earned a 77.1 grade from Pro Football Focus for run blocking, the second-highest grade it’s gotten this season.
The best: the 78.5 grade for its work in the 43-24 win over Coastal Carolina in which the UVA Football team ran up 397 net yards rushing.
The total in the Pitt win was 186 net yards, on 39 attempts, led by Xavier Brown, who had 68 yards on 15 attempts, and Kobe Pace, who had 52 yards on 12 carries.
Colandrea had 53 net yards rushing, 43 of them on scrambles.
Three of the five O line starters went all 74 snaps – center Brian Stevens (PFF grade: 60.2), left guard Noah Josey (PFF grade: 57.1) and left tackle McKale Boley (PFF grade: 54.8).
Right tackle Blake Steen (PFF grade: 62.2) went 63 snaps.
Jack Witmer (PFF grade: 61.8) got the other 11 snaps at right tackle.
Ty Furnish (44 snaps, PFF grade: 61.6) and Ugonna Nnanna (30 snaps, PFF grade: 60.3) split time at right guard.
Hidden gem: Kam Butler
If a D lineman doesn’t get the sack, you don’t hear his name, which is why you didn’t realize the monster game that defensive end Kam Butler had in the Pitt win.
Butler (PFF grade: 71.0) was credited with eight QB pressures – six hurries and two hits.
Butler only has one sack this year, but his 33 QB pressures leads the UVA defense in 2024, and the total ranks fifth in the ACC and 18th nationally.
Video: UVA Football Notebook
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Chris Graham
