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T h e i n d e p e n d e n t s t ude nt ne w spap e r of t he U niversity of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | september 9, 2019 | Volume 110 | Issue 19
PANTHER DODGES BOBCATS
SGB TASK FORCE AIMS TO PRESERVE NAMES OF STUDENT ORGS Jon Moss
Assistant News Editor
from campus vendors like Forbes Street Market for home delivery. According to an Aug. 20 press release, the company plans to expand the service to 100 campuses over the next two years, including Purdue University, where the program launched Monday. Starship shared more details about the Pitt program at
Following a Friday meeting between members of Student Government Board and Pitt’s Division of Student Affairs, SGB will form a student task force to look into ways for independent student organizations to continue using their current names. Last week, Pitt announced updated Student Organization Resource Center registration guidelines to student leaders which will block any independent student organization from re-registering next fall if University trademarks and wordmarks like “Pitt” and “Panther” are in organization names. Out of all 639 student organizations on campus, 393 clubs, or about 62%, currently contain one of these words in their names. SGB President Zechariah Brown, Executive Vice President Anaïs Peterson and board member Eric Macadangdang released a joint statement Friday morning about the meeting and said one possible solution could be creating a new tier of student organization. “We discussed what it means to be an independent organization, and exploring options in creating a new tier for student organizations
See Robots on page 3
See SGB on page 3
Junior halfback A.J. Davis avoids Ohio’s defense. Pitt won Saturday’s game against Ohio University 20-10. Sarah Cutshall | visual editor
FOOD DELIVERY ROBOTS COMING TO CAMPUS Emily Wolfe News Editor
They made first contact on George Mason University’s campus in Northern Virginia. Humming along at about 4 mph, Starship Technologies’ alien-looking food delivery robots became instantly popular with students after the program’s January launch. Months later, the Star-
ship robots touched down at Northern Arizona University. And later this month, Pitt will have its own close encounter. The white, 2-foot tall batterypowered delivery robots will be sharing the sidewalk with Oakland pedestrians starting sometime in late September. Starship announced in August that it will partner with Pitt and its dining contractor Sodexo to allow customers to order products
News
REMEMBERING PITT ENGLISH PROFESSOR CHUCK KINDER, 1942-2019
Benjamin Nigrosh
For The Pitt News Instead of the standard suits and ties, most of the guests at Chuck Kinder’s memorial walked into the auditorium of the Frick Fine Arts Building wearing cargo shorts and flower-patterned Hawaiian shirts. The unusual attire referenced the frequent gatherings that Kinder and his wife, Diane, would hold for students and colleagues in the English department at their Squirrel Hill home, where Kinder encouraged people to wear the patterned shirts. The memorial was held Saturday evening to honor the life of Kinder, who passed away at the age of 76 in a hospital near his home in Key Largo, Florida on May 3. The event was attended by friends, former students and loved ones, who gathered to share stories and pay tribute to Kinder’s life and accomplishments. Jane McCafferty, a 1989 graduate of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, was one of Kinder’s undergraduate students during the years he taught at Pitt from 1980 to 2014. “He was a remarkably generous man,” McCafferty said. “He was a magnanimous figure.” Similar sentimental phrases filled the auditorium as attendees celebrated Kinder’s life and influence. Kinder was born in Montgomery, West Virginia, in 1942. Before becoming a professor in Pitt’s writing program, he earned a degree in writing from the University of West Virginia, and then went on to study at Stanford University through the Wallace Stegner Fellowship — earning one of five spots offered to fiction writers. Outside of the classroom, he was a novelist and poet. He published his first novel, “Snakehunter,” in 1973, about a boy growing up in the Appalachian region in the 1940s. His most recent book, “Last Mountain Dancer,” was published in 2004, and is a work of creative nonfiction about Kinder’s return to his home state of West Virginia. Later in life, Kinder focused on poetry, publishing a collection titled “Hot Jewels” in 2018. Pitt’s writing program and the Kinder family have established a memorial fund for Kinder, though they’re still working to decide how to use the funds they raise. The program also hosted Saturday’s
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event, led by Peter Trachtenberg, a writer and professor in Pitt’s English department. Trachtenberg invited friends, as well as former students and colleagues, onstage to share their memories of Kinder. The speakers included Chuck’s brother David Kinder and writer Sherrie Flick, with music performed by Kinder’s longtime friend Bob Marion. “[Chuck] had a tremendous appreciation for the awesomeness of the universe,” Marion said. “It was hard not to be inspired by him. He had such a fertile imagination and sense of humor.” Rick Schweikert, another friend of Kinder’s,
around the pond and share a drink, a laugh or a story of their own. On one occasion, after a koi fish passed, Marion said Kinder buried the fish in the backyard, and sang “Amazing Grace” to himself as he did. In memory of the story, Marion played “Amazing Grace,” followed by John Denver’s “Take Me Home Country Roads,” a favorite of Kinder’s. Each speaker told fond stories of the times spent with Chuck in his home and out by the pond. “Some part of me will always be leaning on a wall there,” Trachtenberg said. “Young, poor, nervous, but thrilled to be among other writers telling
Chuck Kinder was a novelist and poet who taught at Pitt from 1980 to 2014. Emily Wolfe | contributing editor echoed this sentiment. The pair would have long, drawn out conversations about the universe while at his Key Largo home, Schweikert said. “‘The way I see it,’ says Chuck, ‘It comes down to whether you see the universe like a mechanic or like a heroic poet,’” Schweikert said, quoting Kinder. “‘And we, my friend,’ says old Chuck, ‘are two such heroic poets. True poets like you and moi, we live our poetry out loud.’” Marion, along with all of the other speakers, talked about his memories of the parties that Kinder would hold at his Squirrel Hill home — many of which took place by the small koi pond in Kinder’s backyard. At these parties, guests would gather
each other stories. Rooms erupting with laughter, feeling completely full.” Roger LePage, a former student and friend of Kinder, helped Kinder construct the famous pond in his backyard. He reminded the audience of Kinder’s name for the Hawaiian shirts that they were wearing. “The shirts we are wearing today are not Hawaiian shirts, they are ‘Pond Life’ shirts,” LePage said. LePage said his favorite lesson Kinder taught him was that you don’t just build a pond — you build a metaphor for life. For many of the speakers, the pond and the memories they shared around it were a symbol of the kindness and warmth that
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Kinder endlessly gave them. He was dedicated to helping people find their voice, according to Marion. He was in love with teaching, and his students were the most important legacy for him to leave behind. Rege Behe, a reporter and long-time friend of Kinder, remembered the writer as “larger than life.” “Trying to capture every essence of Chuck and who he was is like trying to describe an ocean or a mountain range,” Behe said. “Chuck’s persona was immense.” One thing that Kinder’s brother David emphasized, which was echoed by many other speakers, was Kinder’s enduring sense of humor, especially closer to the end of his life. “We’d talk, tell jokes and family stories,” David Kinder said. “One thing that he did more than anything is wake up, and see me sitting beside him, and he would ask, ‘David, is Trump still president?’” Marion, who was close with Kinder up until the end, echoed the sentiment. “As he got sick, the inner spirit just kept burning,” Marion said. “The joy of living and the joy of words … he loved that. That’s what kept him going.” Flick, a writer and friend, spoke about how Kinder continued to write through every difficulty with his health, even as it became too much to bear. Flick read aloud a section of a poem that Kinder wrote, which is featured in his most recent book of poems “Hot Jewels.” “A lonesome old dog barks in the moonlight off a mystery boat with blue running lights, anchored in Florida Bay,” Flick recited. The poem, like many others in “Hot Jewels,” was inspired by Kinder’s days of retirement in Key Largo with his wife Diane, Flick said. The final speaker of the night, Schweikert, a friend of Kinder, laid out every one of Kinder’s works of poetry on the podium before he spoke. He made great mention of Kinder’s legacy, noting that it lives on in his students even now. One of the most important pieces of wisdom that Schweikert still carries with him came from a conversation that he had with Kinder one morning. “Be the poet,” Schweikert said. “Live your poetry out loud.”
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Robots, pg. 1 an Aug. 28 meeting hosted by the Oakland Planning and Development Corporation. David Catania, Starship’s head of government affairs, said at the meeting that the company would launch a pilot fleet of 25 robots in late September with a flat delivery rate of $1.99. Starship is in talks to potentially expand the program to other parts of the City, Catania said, but the pilot program will focus solely on Pitt’s campus. “At the moment, it’s primarily the University,” Catania said. “We are open to going beyond that, but we want to be respectful to the City and introduce it slowly and in a measured way that increases the comfort level.” The delivery robots move at a maximum of 4 mph to fill orders placed through the Starship Deliveries app. They’re 98% autonomous, according to Starship, monitored remotely by humans who can take control if necessary, and each is equipped with its own locks, GPS and camera. The robots make little noise and are designed to avoid cars, Catania said at the meeting. University spokesperson Kevin Zwick said Pitt doesn’t have anything to say about the robots yet, so some questions — the date of the program
launch, the delivery area and the full range of delivery options available — remain unanswered. But Starship’s campus expansion is part of a larger explosion of delivery robots around the world. One January report found that the delivery robot market is expected to triple from $11.4 million in 2018 to $34 million by 2024. Outside college campuses, delivery services like DoorDash and Postmates are experimenting with the robots. Even San Francisco, which tried to ban the devices in 2017, is looking to welcome a fleet in the near future. The president of the city’s board of supervisors, who said in 2017 that the robots were “inviting potential collisions with people” and that “sidewalks are for people, not robots,” later relented, allowing Postmates to test a fleet of delivery robots on San Francisco’s sidewalks. In the first two months after Starship rolled out its fleet at George Mason, the company reported thousands of delivery orders on campus, including a notable number of breakfast orders. “Breakfast is an easy meal to miss. Imagine you’re running late for class or you don’t want to leave your bed after an evening of ‘studying,’” Starship told The Washington Post. “Our robots allow the breakfast to come to you, at a time you want. We’ve found this to be very popular with students to date at GMU.”
SGB, pg. 1 so they can be SORC-registered, receive allocations and get to keep their name, while reworking what a truly independent student group would be defined as,” the statement said. The task force will deliver a report to Vice Provost and Dean of Students Kenyon Bonner with recommendations on how to accomplish this. Several high level officials within Student Affairs — Linda WilliamsMoore, an associate dean of students and director of student life, SORC Coordinator Lynne Miller and Steve Anderson, an associate dean of students and director of residence life — will be involved with the task force. No completion date has been established, but the joint statement said SGB is “working diligently to find solutions.” The board members added that additional information will be available at SGB’s next Members of Student Government public meeting on Tuesday at 8:45 p.m. in Board and Pitt’s Division of Student Nordy’s Place. Williams-Moore said she and SGB leadAffairs met on Friday to discuss Pitt’s ers had a “very productive and open” conguidelines for club names. Ally Hansen | staff photographer versation Friday morning, and confirmed the student leaders will be presenting rec-
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Man and Starship delivery robot waiting at pedestrian crossing in Redwood City, California. Christopher Down | wikimedia commons
ommendations on how to proceed to Dean Bonner. “I am looking forward to hearing the students’ recommendations as we continue to work together on these guidelines,” Williams-Moore said. Independent student organizations currently make up 87% of all clubs on campus, while sponsored student organizations — which have an official association and working relationship with an operating unit of the University, and are not subject to the updated guidelines — compose the remaining 13%. Current SORC guidelines prohibit student organizations from acting “in the name of the University,” which means representing the University or representing the organization as an official part of the University. According to University spokesperson Meg Ringler, the guideline changes follow a summer audit of current SORC guidelines and student organization names that determined many student organizations were not in compliance with existing University policy. “The review of guidelines and organization names made us aware of the discrepancies in student organization naming,”
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Ringler said in an email earlier this week. “As a result of these findings, we provided instructions and updates intended to clarify and ensure compliance with these existing guidelines by the start of the next academic year.” The updated SORC registration guidelines allow for names of independent student organizations to include the phrases “at Pitt,” or “at the University of Pittsburgh,” to denote being located at Pitt. But many student leaders were still upset by the updated guidelines. Pitt Archery President Julia Lam said she would be upset if her club was not able to use the University’s name or logos at tournaments, citing it as a way to express their Pitt pride. “I founded the team and am proud of my past 3 years’ work on developing this club’s brand recognition within USA Archery, and changing it now would feel like a loss,” Lam wrote in an email. Pitt spokesperson Kevin Zwick said the University “always” encourages students to share their concerns with the University. “Students are always encouraged to present their concerns to Students Affairs so we can work together on potential solutions,” Zwick said.
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Opinions
Editorial: Trump’s stance on Hurricane Dorian is problematic pittnews.com
THE ART OF SAYING ‘NO’ Promiti Debi | staff illustrator
Julia Kreutzer
Staff Columnist At the heart and soul of improv is the saying “Yes! And … ” If your partner decides you’re on a spaceship headed straight for Mars, you say, “Yes! And we’re going to collect rock samples.” If your partner decides you are archrivals playing in a state soccer championship, you say, “Yes! And I just scored the winning goal.” It’s all about being agreeable and adaptable. Life, however, is not a game of improv. Yet many of us still feel it’s unacceptable to say anything but “yes.” We agree to help friends with projects, even if it means we may struggle to finish our own. We sign up for clubs that we’re not interested in just because the person at the Activities Fair gave us puppy dog eyes. We shy away from assertion or defection even if it’s what we should be doing. While saying no can feel uncomfortable and even unnatural, recognizing we don’t always have to agree is instrumental in protecting our mental health, prioritizing our schedule and standing up for ourselves. Dara Blaine, a Los Angeles-based career coach, explains that we often view saying yes as a necessary step to demonstrate commitment and drive. “We live in a ‘yes’ culture, where it’s expected that the person who is going to get ahead is the go-getter who says yes to everything that comes their way,” said Blaine. This need to seem affable often leads us to view personal stress and chaos as a necessary hurdle to appease others. We overextend our time, energy and finances to make others more comfortable. This problem proves especially pervasive for women and minority groups, who are often seen as more palatable if they’re compliant and agreeable. This phenomenon is seemingly omnipresent, especially in the media. At the 2019 Tony Awards, Ali Stroker, star of “Oklahoma!,” won with her performance of “I Can’t Say No.” The number tells the perils of Ado Annie, a young woman who struggles
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with saying no to men’s advances. A BuzzFeed video entitled “I Only Said ‘Yes’ To My Kids For A Week” gained more than 17 million views, igniting a trend on the platform. Business professionals say they got where they are today by being up for anything. A 2019 Allegra ad says “Yes is the first word of any new discovery!” Seemingly everything we consume — entertainment, marketing campaigns and even professional advice — is rooted in this “yes” culture. In their book, “Scarcity: Why Having So Little Means So Much,” Sendhil Mullainathan, a behavioral scientist at Harvard, and Eldar Shafir, an economist at Princeton, explain that people tend to have a counterintuitive response to being overextended. They found that the busier people are, the harder it is to say “no” to another task. In other words, we fall into the mentality of “what’s one more,” resulting in a never-ending cycle of stress and infeasible to-dos. Luckily, Kathryn J. Lively, Ph.D., dean of the College of Sociology at Dartmouth, explains that this phenomenon has deep-seated roots but is not as complex as we might think. “This is not some immutable gene or bio-
logical defect,” Lively said. “Rather, it’s actually a socially learned coping mechanism that can, with a little time and attention, be unlearned.” By exchanging this mentality with a greater understanding of when “no” is the right response, we can better take care of ourselves and even better serve those around us. Making small changes in the ways we approach saying yes and no can have tangible effects on our daily lives. A 2012 study from the Journal of Consumer Research found that simply replacing the phrase “I can’t” with “I don’t” allowed participants to say “no” more confidently and with conviction. This phrase sets sturdy boundaries and leaves little room for further pleading. For example, if someone tabling outside the William Pitt Union asks for your participation in a psychology study, replace saying “I can’t do that right now, I’m sorry!” with “I don’t participate in those but thank you!” Students are typically bombarded with requests from all angles, ranging from sitting in on studies, attending guest lectures or tutoring peers. Samuel R. Sommers, Ph.D., associate pro-
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fessor of psychology at Tufts University, warns the prestige or experience of participating in these opportunities is not always worth it. “You want to be a good citizen and contribute to your department, university or discipline, but sometimes by saying yes, you just wind up getting asked more and more,” Sommers said. “There’s a fine line between being a conscientious citizen and being a pushover who’s taking too much of a burden on for other people.” Participating in your favorite professor’s latest research does look great on a resumé, but ensure that you’re not preventing yourself from having time to finish homework and other tasks already on your plate. Additionally, a study at Stanford University found that when asked twice, participants were more likely to oblige a request even if they previously said no. So, if you muster up the courage to say no, stick to your guns. Reinforcing your boundaries is critical in prioritizing your own health and needs. A 2006 Study from the Journal of Applied Social Psychology found that making a specific plan of action and rehearsing a response to a possibly nerve-wracking situation increased the chances subjects would respond in line with their original intentions. Before you respond, remind yourself of your needs and intentions and then commit to firmly articulating them. This mindset is all about practice. Learning to say no to questions like “Do you have time to look this over for me?” or “Can I pick your brain about your major?” can help us firmly say no to questions like “Are you comfortable with this?” or “Is everything okay?” We’re in the midst of a stressful time for most college students. The 600 clubs at Pitt are trying to get you to attend their first meetings. Sports and music organizations are holding tryouts. The dozens of businesses around Oakland are looking for employees to help survive the back-to-school rush. There’s no more important time to care for your own needs by respectfully, but firmly, saying “yes” to saying “no.”
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Sports
Weekend Sports Recap: Volleyball remains unbeaten ahead of top-10 matchup pittnews.com
NO. 10 PITT VOLLEYBALL DOWNS TAKEAWAYS DUQUESNE, WINS SIXTH STRAIGHT GAME FROM PITT FOOTBALL’S WIN OVER OHIO
Alex Lehmbeck Staff Writer
No. 10 Pitt women’s volleyball dominated crosstown rival Duquesne, 3-0 — staying unbeaten six games into the 2019 season. The Panthers (6-0) came into the Fitzgerald Field House Saturday night on fire before hosting the Dukes (2-6) in the final match of the Pittsburgh-hosted ChampYinz Invitational. The first win was a 3-0 victory to Big 10 foe Ohio State at PPG Paints Arena on Friday night, followed by another 3-0 rout of Green Bay on Saturday afternoon. This might have seemed like an especially impressive performance to a casual observer, but it was just a routine day for Pitt this season. In their six games so far, the Panthers have yet to drop a single one of their 18 sets, sweeping every opponent. Those performances will likely give Pitt — No. 10 nationally in the AVCA coaches poll — a boost when next week’s rankings are released. Pitt head coach Dan Fisher said he attributes this success to the team’s intensive preparation. “Our belief is that if we’re always training at a high level, we don’t need to find something new in the games,” Fisher said. “I think we’ve been doing that. It’s certainly not the goal to not drop a set, but it’s nice to be in a good groove.” The Panthers started the match with their most dominant set of the season, cruising by 25-12. Pitt won the last three points of the set to jump out to a 1-0 lead. The second set was a little closer, but Pitt remained in control throughout. About midway through the set, redshirt freshman setter Maddie Soboleski entered the game to get some more match experience. A few minutes later, sophomore middle blocker Sabrina Starks also subbed in to close out the set for the Panthers. Junior outside hitter Kayla Lund emphasized how important depth was for the Panthers. “Our depth really helped us out,” Lund said.
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Six games into the season, Pitt women’s volleyball remains undefeated. Kaycee Orwig | senior staff photographer
“Girls being able to come off the bench cold and be able to deliver and play hard for us and get some points was really huge. We have a bunch of different lineups that work and get us wins, which is awesome as a team.” An emphatic kill from junior Chinaza Ndee gave the Panthers a 25-15 second-set win. The third set gave even more bench players the chance to get match experience. The Dukes won the first three points of the set, but the Panthers pulled off six straight right after and never let their foot off the pedal from there. Redshirt junior Avery Perosa, sophomore Natalie Steibel and first-year Chiamaka Nwokolo all subbed in to make contributions in the third set. Nwokolo, making her collegiate debut, notched her first career kill off of a Soboleski assist to give the Panthers match point. A Steibel kill on the next play secured the victory for the Panthers. “This is the deepest team we’ve had at a lot of positions,” Fisher said. “It’s nice to be able to put out different players and not really skip a beat. Especially for the younger players who haven’t played a lot, it certainly doesn’t hurt your confidence.” The Panthers will face their toughest challenge of the season on Wednesday when they go up against the No. 9 Oregon Ducks (2-0) at home at the Field House. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU. “[We’re going] back to the gym,” Lund said. “Playing at home is definitely gonna be an advantage for us. It’ll be a great atmosphere.” Against Duquesne, senior middle blocker Layne Van Buskirk led the Panthers with eight kills and she believes the Panthers will be equal to the task. “We’re really excited to play someone ranked,” Van Buskirk said. “We know it’s going to be a tough match. We’re gonna train really hard Monday and Tuesday, scout them really hard. We’re ready.”
September 9, 2019
Trent Leonard Sports Editor
Pitt football got back on track Saturday morning with a 20-10 win over Ohio, putting to bed some of the worries that Panther fans expressed after Week 1. With the result came a new set of developments to unpack, including a worrisome scoring trend and improved play from the tight end position. Second-quarter scoring Through two games so far, the Panthers are proving to be a second-quarter team. They scored 14 points in the second quarter against both Virginia and Ohio, which is a positive. At that same scoring rate, Pitt would average 56 points per game. The bad news is that the Panther offense hasn’t managed to do anything in the other three quarters — they’ve scored just six points on two field goals in the first, third and fourth quarters combined through two games. For those of you who aren’t mathematically inclined, Pitt would average four points per game at that scoring rate. South Florida, the lowest-scoring team in the FBS, averages five points per game. A two-game sample size isn’t enough to suggest that this type of scoring is a recurring pattern, though it’s noteworthy for the time being. Pitt’s offense looked nearly unstoppable in the second quarter against Ohio, with junior quarterback Kenny Pickett hitting senior receiver Maurice Ffrench on a quick-strike deep bomb on the first play of the period. On Pitt’s next drive, Pickett completed all six of his passes during a methodical touchdown march. Pitt nearly See Takeaways on page 6
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Takeaways, pg. 5 tacked on a third consecutive touchdown drive until a false start penalty in Ohio territory forced the Panthers into a field goal attempt, which redshirt sophomore kicker Alex Kessman missed. The discrepancy was especially apparent against Virginia in the opener. Pitt’s offense looked completely anemic in the first quarter, gaining only 13 total yards. The Panthers then looked like world-beaters in the next quarter, putting together two impressive touchdown drives while gaining 164 total yards. They regressed to ineptitude in the third and fourth quarters, totaling 40 and 46 yards, respectively, while scoring no points. Saturday’s upcoming game at Penn State will provide some more concrete proof as to whether Pitt’s peculiar scoring distribution has just been a mere coincidence or if a systemic issue actually exists. Maybe offensive coordinator Mark Whipple has the sort of scheme that teams are able to figure out in the halftime locker room. This will be something to keep an eye on as the Panthers look to score their first non-second-
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quarter touchdown against the Nittany Lions. Spreading the love in Pitt’s backfield Pitt’s two-deep depth chart lists two running backs as co-starters — junior A.J. Davis and redshirt sophomore Todd Sibley Jr. This has proven to be a bit deceiving, as a new player has emerged as a crucial part of Pitt’s backfield committee — first-year Vincent Davis. Vincent Davis received just one carry in Pitt’s opener against Virginia, while A.J. Davis took eight and Sibley Jr. seven. But he impressed with that one carry, taking it for eight yards while the two backs listed above him averaged 3.1 and 3.3 yards, respectively. In Saturday’s game against Ohio, it was Vincent Davis who looked to be A.J. Davis’ main complement. He carried the ball 12 times for 50 yards and a touchdown, compared to 13 carries for 89 yards from A.J. Davis. Sibley Jr., meanwhile, had just three rushes for three yards. If Saturday’s game is any indication of things to come, Vincent Davis may have usurped Sibley Jr. on the depth chart. Head coach Pat Narduzzi showed particular confidence in the first-year on Pitt’s last
drive, when the Panthers needed to pick up chunks of yardage on the ground to milk clock. Vincent Davis played the role of closer — often reserved for powerful Panther tailback Qadree Ollison last season — by taking Pitt’s last seven carries and consistently producing. Physically, Vincent Davis is about as far from Ollison as one can be. He stands at 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds, which is far from an ideal size for an every-down back. But when paired up with his like-named backfield mate, the two seem to be a formidable one-two punch. It’s still possible that Narduzzi was saving Sibley Jr. for bigger stages like the Penn State game, but Vincent Davis’ production has certainly earned him a share of touches in the backfield. Getting the tight ends involved Buried in the midst of Saturday’s win came an interesting development — after being mostly ignored from the game plan in recent years, Pitt’s tight ends burst onto the scene with a big day. Redshirt senior tight end Will Gragg showed a good rapport with Pickett, checking in at second on the team with four receptions for 38 yards. He made an impressive catch in the third quarter, holding onto the ball despite get-
September 9, 2019
ting immediately hit hard by an Ohio defender. Graduate transfer tight end Nakia Griffin-Stewart also joined in on the fun, reeling in three receptions for 22 yards. All in all, the Griffin-Stewart and Gragg duo combined for seven of Pickett’s 26 completions. A couple tight ends catching passes would be nothing noteworthy if not for Pitt’s almost infamous neglect of the position in recent years. Last season, Gragg led all Pitt tight ends with five catches for 31 yards — numbers he’s already eclipsed in the first two games of 2019. Getting the tight ends involved should be seen as a good sign for Pitt’s offense. A tight end can often be a quarterback’s best friend, giving him a big-bodied target that can go up and get a ball if mismatched against a smaller cornerback or slower linebacker. With Griffin-Stewart standing at 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds and Gragg 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, both have the potential to be a great security blanket for Pickett throughout the season. It’s encouraging that Whipple seems to have made the position more of a priority in his system.
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September 9, 2019
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