MORGANTOWN — When it was announced Pitt running back Rodney Hammond was declared ineligible for the entire 2024 season, it appeared the Panthers had lost an important offensive weapon.
Little did anyone know, the Panthers had a secret weapon waiting in the wings.
Pitt went in a completely different direction with its offense for this season, bringing in offensive coordinator Kade Bell from Western Carolina. Bell, who led one of the most-explosive offensives in the country, brought diminutive running back Desmond Reid along with him and the pair has not missed a beat.
Reid, who stands at 5-8 and 175 pounds, currently leads the nation in all-purpose yards with 488 split between rushing, receiving and punt returns.
“He’s a big-time player,” said WVU coach Neal Brown. “They find ways to get him the ball, he’s the punt returner, they hand it to him, they throw it to him.”
Brown and his Mountaineers travel to Pittsburgh this Saturday (ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.) for the 107th Backyard Brawl between WVU (1-1) and Pitt (2-0).
Brown compared Reid to his own undersized running back, sophomore Jahiem White, who is 5-7 and 195 pounds.
Brown, who is 1-1 against the Panthers, acknowledged that Bell’s offense is completely different from what head coach Pat Narduzzi has typically run.
“Offensively it’s a complete 180,” Brown said. “They changed offensive coordinators and credit Coach Narduzzi, they’re all in. They’re up-tempo and playing as fast as anybody.”
Pitt’s offense struggled severely last season, averaging 317.9 yards and 20.2 points per game.
It’s early in the year, but so far through two games in 2024, the Panthers are averaging 41.5 points and 534 yards.
“It takes a ton of commitment,” Brown said. “It’s entirely different than what (Narduzzi has) done. He’s had a number of coordinators and some high-level coordinators and this is different, this is totally unique for him. For a defensive guy to go to this style, you can tell he’s gone all in and that’s how they’re playing.”
A big part of Pitt’s success has come through Reid. The junior ran for 145 yards against Kent State and followed that up with 148 yards last week at Cincinnati. He also had 106 receiving yards against the Bearcats, becoming the first Pitt player to ever record 100 yards rushing and receiving in the same game.
“They’re going to line him up a bunch of different places so you’ve got to know where he’s at,” Brown said. “Your pursuit angles need to be on point because he’s going to win his share of one-on-ones. We’re not going to win every one-on-one tackling situation. I hope we do but that’s probably not going to be the case.”
The Panthers also have a new starting quarterback in Alabama transfer Eli Holstein. The redshirt freshman has thrown for 638 yards and six touchdowns.
“You can tell he understands the offense,” WVu defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley said. “He knows where to and not to go with the ball. You can tell he has a really good understanding of what he’s doing.”
Brown and Lesley both said Pitt’s new offense reminds them of what Texas Tech has done in recent years in terms of speed and tempo. It’s a far cry from how Narduzzi’s teams have typically played, relying on ball control and defense to win games.
“He’s not dipping his toe in it,” Brown said. “He’s gone all in and they’re playing extremely fast.”
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