Pittsburgh set for pivotal Rodney Hammond boost vs North Carolina
For the first time since 2000, the Pittsburgh football program is off to a 4-0 start, leaving fans of the Panthers to wonder whether Pat Narduzzi’s squad can continue their winning ways with ACC play set to begin on Saturday afternoon. Their first opponent in conference play is a North Carolina football program that is reeling following back-to-back losses to James Madison — a game in which the Tar Heels gave up 70 points — and to bitter rival Duke.
As if playing a Panthers team that is currently 5th in the country in scoring wasn’t bad enough, Pitt will be benefitting from the return of running back Rodney Hammond, who missed the first four games of the season after being ruled ineligible just a day before the 2024 season opener against Kent State.
“Big news for Pitt football (4-0). Pat Narduzzi announces that they are getting tailback Rodney Hammond back for the UNC game,” says ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel. “He’d been deemed ineligible earlier this year. He averaged 4.6 yards per carry and rushed for 547 yards last year.”
In 32 games at Pittsburgh, Rodney Hammond has rushed for 1,511 yards and 14 touchdowns. Hammond led the Panthers in rushing yards last season while splitting carries with sixth-year senior C’Bo Flemister. Even though Hammond hasn’t played a snap this season, he has been practicing with the team all throughout the month of September.
Junior Desmond Reid has been handling the bulk of the workload out of the Pitt backfield so far this season, having rushed for 319 yards and a touchdown on 44 carries. He’s also been a weapon in the passing game, hauling in 13 receptions for 167 yards and 3 touchdowns.
While Hammond’s return will surely provide the Panthers offense with a boost, the biggest addition to this unit so far this season has been redshirt freshman quarterback Eli Holstein, who transferred to Pitt after a season at Alabama last year in which he was lost in the shuffle behind starting quarterback Jalen Milroe. Holstein, who was a 4-star prospect coming out of high school in Louisiana, has thrown for 1,186 yards, 12 touchdowns, and just 2 interceptions this season.
The post Pittsburgh set for pivotal Rodney Hammond boost vs North Carolina appeared first on ClutchPoints.
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