Pitt bounces back after upset, drills New Hampshire 77-7

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pat Narduzzi shrugged his shoulders and stated the obvious.

“That's what it's supposed to look like,” the Pittsburgh coach said after watching the Panthers drill New Hampshire 77-7 on Saturday.

Except last week during a stunning home loss to Western Michigan that brought his team's solid start to a crashing halt, it didn't. Given seven days to regroup, Pitt (3-1) wrapped up nonconference play with one of the greatest offensive displays in the program's 117-year history.

Kenny Pickett threw for 403 yards and five touchdowns and ran for another. Jordan Addison hauled in six passes for 179 yards and three scores and freshman running back Rodney Hammond ran for 100 yards and reached the end zone three times. The

Panthers piled up a schoolrecord 707 yards and had little trouble against the overmatched Wildcats (3-1). Pitt's 77 points were the most by the Panthers since an 88-0 win over Westminster in 1926.

“Coming off last week, I think everyone was (ticked) off and wanted to come in and get a win and get a win convincingly like that," Pickett said. “I think (we built) some confidence going into conference play.”

That hasn't been an issue all season for the offense. Pickett already has 15 touchdown passes through four games, two more than he managed all of last season. His oneyard touchdown plunge on the Panthers' opening drive gave him 17 rushing touchdowns for his career, the most ever by a Pitt quarterback.

Pickett completed 24 of 28 passes and led the Panthers to touchdowns on their eight possessions with him in the game.