Pitt QB Kenny Pickett has ‘made himself a lot of money,’ plus notes on Bryce Young, Nebraska

Before heading to the locker room after his team’s 52-21 loss to Pitt on Saturday, Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins made a point to find the Panthers’ player most responsible for the blowout — quarterback Kenny Pickett.

“I went and sought him out after the game and just told him how highly I think of him as a player,” Collins said.

In the previous two weeks, Georgia Tech’s defense had caused problems for two of the ACC’s premier quarterbacks.

• Clemson’s D.J. Uiagalelei: 126 passing yards in a low-scoring (14-8) Week 3 win over the Yellow Jackets.

• North Carolina preseason All-American Sam Howell: An ESPN QB rating of 49.4 (on a scale from 0-100) in a 45-22 Georgia Tech win.

It makes what Pickett did Saturday even more noteworthy — 389 yards, four touchdowns, zero interceptions and an ESPN QB rating of 93.7.

Through four games, Georgia Tech’s defense hadn’t allowed more than 22 points in a game. Led by Pickett, Pitt had nearly double that number by halftime (42).

It was the latest standout performance from Pickett, a fifth-year senior and fourth-year starter who has led Pitt to a 4-1 start with 19 touchdown passes (No. 1 among Power 5 quarterback) and only one interception; he is second in the ACC (and fifth nationally) at 346.2 passing yards per game.

Pickett, whose previous career-high for touchdown passes was 13, has thrown 15 TD passes in Pitt’s past three games alone. Behind Pickett, the Panthers have scored at least 40 points in each of their first five games and have improved their scoring average from 29.4 last season (10th-best in the ACC) to the nation’s No. 1 scoring average this season (52.4).

“He’s made himself a lot of money coming back (for another season), I can tell you that,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said. “He should be a Heisman candidate. I don’t know if they’re talking about it out there or not. … But that’s just what he is right now. The guy’s so smooth. He’s so calm. He’s so calm that in the second quarter in a two-minute situation, it’s a scramble and he scrambles out of the pocket and looks over and checks the chains to make sure he didn’t cross the line of scrimmage and then throws the ball to (tight end Lucas Krull).

“(Offensive coordinator Mark Whipple) doesn’t coach that. That guy, it’s year after year. He’s just a smart football player. It takes time to get that where you want it to be. He’s put the work in, and he deserves what he’s getting right now.”

Bryce Young, Heisman front-runner

Last week, heading into No. 1 Alabama’s top-15 matchup against Ole Miss, an SEC director of player personnel told On3 of Crimson Tide QB Bryce Young: “Holy shit is he good. He’s as advertised and is not getting enough credit. That guy’s good.”

His performance during the 42-21 win over the Rebels — 241 passing yards and two touchdown passes — was further proof.

If you’re looking for an early Heisman front-runner, Young is as deserving as anyone of that distinction.

Young’s NCAA quarterback rating in games against FBS opponents (187.56) is ranked No. 1 among Power 5 quarterbacks. In three games against ranked foes, he has thrown nine touchdown passes and only one interception.

Dez Bryant, the former NFL star wide receiver, jumped in with some praise during the win over Ole Miss.

Bryce young crazy nice!

— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) October 2, 2021

Nebraska ‘consistently getting better’

Despite a 5-0 record and No.  9 ranking in the AP poll, Michigan enters this Saturday’s matchup at Nebraska as only a three-point favorite.

It’s because of the Huskers’ progression under Scott Frost since a tumultuous start to the season that included a loss to Illinois and a lot of speculation about Frost’s job security.

The Huskers, who crushed Northwestern 56-7 on Saturday, are 3-2 since the loss to Illinois. The losses were narrow setbacks to No. 6 Oklahoma (23-16) in Week 3 and No. 11 Michigan State (23-20) in Week 4.

“We’ve been playing pretty well since the first game,” Frost said after the win over Northwestern. “I was pretty down after the first game. Since then, we’ve been consistently getting better. We still have a lot of work to do. The schedule certainly isn’t going to get easier. We’ve got a bunch of ranked teams and elite teams down the stretch. So we’re going to have to keep playing well. We’re going to have to improve what we did (against Northwestern).”

The point total against Northwestern was Nebraska’s highest in its four seasons under Frost and its highest in a conference game since the Huskers scored 56 against Kansas State in 2008, before they left the Big 12 for the Big Ten.

“The team was more confident going into this week than they have been all year,” Frost said. “They told me that. They said they’re more confident in who they are right now than when they were 0-0 because they know what kind of team they are and how well they’ve been playing. … This was the most confident I’ve been going into a game since I’ve been at Nebraska. And I think that confidence kind of played out in how we played.”