The play during Pitt’s intrasqaud scrimmage Saturday at Acrisure Stadium called for a slant route, but quarterback Eli Holstein and wide receiver Kenny Johnson saw something else.
“Eli looked over there and saw that Cruce (Pitt safety Brookins) cheated down a little bit,” Johnson said. “So, he wasn’t really going to be able to play the fade ball.”
Thinking fast and on the same wavelength as his wide receiver, Holstein wordlessly signaled Johnson to run the fade.
Good call. They hooked up for a touchdown.
“Easy,” Johnson said, shrugging his shoulders.
“Eli and I have been getting real close on those, being connected,” he said, “knowing if a DB is over top, where to put the ball, stuff like that. We have to be on the point where it’s like Aaron Rodgers-Devante Adams stuff.”
That’s thinking big, but coach Pat Narduzzi certainly would settle for anything — even if it only remotely resembled Kenny Pickett-Jordan Addison stuff.
One of the main quests this spring for Narduzzi and offensive coordinator Kade Bell is more productivity in the passing game. In the second season of Bell’s hurry-up offense, with Holstein recovered from injuries that plagued him last year, there should be fewer impediments.
“Last year at this time, I was doing a lot of thinking ‘What am I doing?’ ” Johnson said. “Now I can look at coverages and see everything and be able to play more fluid.
“Last year, Eli and I didn’t have that (connection). Now, I can almost look at Eli, look back, look again and he knows what’s up. We’re getting to the point where we can feel what’s going on, and we just do it.”
Said Narduzzi: “(Johnson) does a great job of catching the ball, and Eli trusts him.”
The connection between passer and pass catcher is just one of the elements that needs improvement over last season.
“We have to be the focal point because everything has to flow through us, so everybody else can eat,” Johnson said. “Coach Bell is starting to trust us more. That will take pressure off other dynamic guys like Des (running back Desmond Reid) and Zion (wide receiver Zion Fowler-El). If people are focused on me, focused on Dez, focused on Z, now we have a trick bag.
“I don’t think I’m all the way where I need to be at. I’m going to work and work and work and work until I’m there. I’m going to practice until I can’t mess up. This is our prime years to really show everybody what we’re about.”
Despite the touchdown, Johnson continues to respect what Brookins, a redshirt sophomore from Steel Valley, could bring to the team.
“He’s a dude. He’s an NFL guy. I know that for sure,” Johnson said. “That’s why I love competing with Cruce, because I know I’m going to see him at the next level. I know whenever I’m going against Cruce I’m going to get better.”
From all accounts, Brookins is making good progress this spring, highlighted by his three interceptions and one fumble recovery Saturday in the live scrimmage. He and linebacker Kyle Louis are engaged in a friendly wager to see who can earn the most helmet stickers awarded by coaches for turnovers.
Nothing is at stake. “For fun,” Brookins said.
Narduzzi said Brookins hit “a little freshman wall” midway through last season. “I wish he was playing at the end of the season like he’s playing now.”
“That was the longest season I ever played football. I definitely hit a wall,” Brookins said. “I got over it by staying consistent and staying locked in.”
Brookins said he returned this season with more knowledge after paying attention to former starting safety Donovan McMillon.
“I know a lot more just learning from Donovan … how he processed things, always being in the right position, knowing what the coverage is, knowing what we’re trying to do and why we’re doing it.”
Brookins and his teammates on defense won the scrimmage on a day that was so windy that benches supposedly anchored by Gatorade jugs flipped over.
“I’ve never seen it as windy as it was. It wasn’t easy to throw the ball,” Narduzzi said. Even Brookins admitted some of the interceptions resulted from the wind causing passes to float.
No excuses, the coach said.
“It wasn’t good enough, period. They know it. I don’t care if it’s windy. You have to put (the football) on the guys. We just didn’t complete as many balls as we need to.”
Narduzzi said he awarded the victory to the defense based the offense’s turnovers and the defense’s energy, but he was pleased that the ground game averaged about 4.3 yards per carry.
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“Turned the ball over on offense,” Narduzzi said, adding they were more “giveaways” than “takeaways.”