Greetings from the Burgh everyone.
First off, I'll be making the trip down to Knoxville on Friday from Pittsburgh. Based on what I've seen and heard, Neyland is supposed to be a fantastic venue with great atmosphere and fans, and am really looking forward to it (not to mention it's my first road trip since late 2018).
Just wanted to chime in and give "yinz" (google that if by chance you dont know what that is) a quick rundown as to what to expect from our Panthers, and how this intriguing matchup might shake down.
On offense, you all probably know we have our 4th year super senior starter Kenny Pickett at QB. The long and short of it he's an experienced kid with some strong performances over the last couple years, and the general consensus is this has to be "the" year for him to finally break through. In 2018 (his first full year starting) he didnt really have to do much because the offense was so run oriented (we had TWO backs each rush for over 1000 yards--Darrin Hall and Qadree Ollison). But there was virtually no passing attack to speak of, so Narduzzi hired Mark Whipple as the OC prior to 2019.
Basically Whipple's game is throw, throw, and throw again. Kenny likes to sling it all over the field, and they frequently come out of the shotgun, and have been running more tempo as of late, even moreso than the last couple seasons. The issue has been the running game, and Pitt over the last couple seasons has been terrible in red zone production. Now, we have a young back Izzy Abanikanda (a Soph) who theyre hoping can kind of fill the void since Ollison and Hall went to the NFL. The OL is good, not great. They cant run block very well, but they give Pickett a decent amount of time to throw the ball, and he's always a threat to run. The MAJOR difference is we have a tight end (finally). Lucas Krull is a big, NFL-sized TE who can leap up and make plays in the red zone, something we've been sorely missing since 2016. Pickett also has a ton of playmakers around him to choose to get the ball to. Main guys you'll need to watch are Jordan Addison, speedy slot receiver type, and Taysir Mack, who can stretch the field and can make acrobatic catches, albeit he's prone to dropping easy ones (go figure).
On defense, it's your typical Pat Narduzzi defense. The primary strength is the front 7, which is outstanding. They did lose Rashad Weaver and Patrick Jones to the NFL, but there is still a TON of depth up front, with John Morgan, Haba Baldonado, Keyshon Camp, Deslin Alexander, Dayon Hayes, and others backing them up. Because of the depth, Narduzzi tries to rotate guys in a lot. Similar to the linebackers, which is among the most experienced of the conference.
The secondary lost big names, namely Damar Hamlin and paris Ford, and also Jason Pinnock, but they have an experienced senior CB Damari Matthis starting, and Eric Hallett/Brandon HIll at the safety positions, who all saw a lot of time last year. The secondary for sure is the "weakest" part of the group. Good players of course, but they havent really been tested yet and are prone to give up a big play here and there.
Anyway, the way I see this game playing out: this will primarily get decided on how long Tennessee's OL gives Milton to throw the ball. My understanding is IF (big IF) he has time, the kid has the arm to chuck it down field. Which makes me nervous since our secondary might give up a big play here and there. If UT gives him time and has a couple shots down field, they can move the ball in a hurry and punch it in. However, Pitt's DL is nasty and has been at or near the top in sack the past two seasons, so they'll show Milton a ton of looks and be blitzing for sure.
Kenny Pickett needs to find Krull a lot in the middle of the field. It seems you guys have some experience in the secondary and that might limit our ability to make big plays down field. So my guess is Pickett will be using Krull and especially addison a lot to chip their way down the field.
The big intangible thing here that worries me that is working most against Pitt is: history. Pitt hasn't won an OOC road game against a P5 team since Notre Dame in 2008. And (get this), Pitt has never....I repeat NEVER....gone undefeated in the non-conference schedule since joining any conference. (Even back when we were in the Big East). Which is nuts. After this week's game, Pitt has WMU and New Hampshire at home, so If Pitt can actually buck this insane trend, theyll finally (probably) break that streak. But again, as someone noted on another thread...this is exactly the kind of game Pitt always loses.
That said, I like our chances because I love this defense, but who knows. There's a very "If not now, WHEN" vibe around the fanbase right now, so many are hopeful that they can pull one out on Saturday and finally have the season we've been waiting for for about 4 decades.
Anyway, looking forward to this trip, and to hang out with a great set of fans in an SEC environment. See yinz this weekend. H2P! --Chris
. But if we get up big, expect a rowdy, rowdy, loud place (not rowdy as in dangerous, but just a starved fan base ready to win).
. And hopefully the asshats won’t be in full effect. I don’t go to games anymore because the younger generation has about as much class as the taliban (or tollybon if you’re Washington DC savy). 
