Panthers hope to be sharper on field goals, punts
By JUSTIN GUERRIERO
TribLive
As Pitt reached its critical end-of-season juncture, closing out the year against three straight ranked opponents, it began without the steady services of kicker Trey Butkowski.
Butkowski, a true freshman who had made 19 of 21 field goal tries leading into Nov. 15 when Pitt hosted No. 9 Notre Dame, didn’t play that day due to illness.
He was similarly absent Nov. 22 at Georgia Tech.
Now, as the No. 24 Panthers (8-3, 6-1 ACC) host No. 13 Miami (9-2, 5-2) in a game they need to win to reach the conference championship game, coach Pat Narduzzi sounded far from optimistic when asked if he had a timetable for Butkowski’s return.
“No, wish I did,” Narduzzi replied.
As a result, it seems likely Sam Carpenter will handle field goal duties Saturday at Acrisure Stadium against the Hurricanes.
Carpenter, a redshirt sophomore whose collegiate experience consisted of one extra-point attempt before filling in for Butkowski against Notre Dame, had a rough night at Georgia Tech.
Narduzzi sent him out to kick a 40-yard field goal at the end of the first half, and Carpenter missed it badly.
But an offsides call on the Yellow Jackets gifted Pitt another attempt, this time from 35 yards, which Carpenter also missed.
“There was nothing procedurally that caused us to miss those field goals,” Narduzzi said. “Is it the mental part of it? Is it the physical part of it? Is the environment part of it? I don’t know.”
The prior week, Carpenter hit 1 of 2 field goals in the Panthers’ 37-15 loss to Notre Dame, making a chip shot from 24 yards and missing a 53-yarder, the longest attempt on the year by Pitt.
Carpenter kicking field goals was not part of the plan for Pitt in 2025.
Then again, when fall camp commenced in August, the same could be said about Butkowski.
James London had been acquired from Murray State via the transfer portal, ostensibly to take over for Ben Sauls, who graduated.
But Butkowski was the surprise winner of the kicking competition, with London departing the Panthers program before the season opener against Duquesne.
Butkowski was near flawless when healthy, giving Narduzzi confidence when it came time to kick field goals, with a long of 48 on the year.
Now, Narduzzi hopes to have that same level of trust with Carpenter, who undoubtedly has been thrust into a difficult spot.
Still, the field goal issues against Georgia Tech were far from ideal.
“Our job is to put the ball, if you’re the kicker, through the uprights,” Narduzzi said. “And that was obviously disappointing.”
Narduzzi also wasn’t thrilled with the way Pitt punted the ball against the Yellow Jackets, particularly in the third quarter, when the offense was stagnating and routinely giving the ball back.
Caleb Junko had two booming punts that quarter of 55 and 50 yards.
The problem was that Pitt was at midfield in both situations, with Junko’s two punts traveling into the end zone for touchbacks.
Junko also caught a bad break in the second quarter, when by virtue of a wild bounce in the wrong direction, one of his punts went only 17 yards.
On the day, Junko punted five times for a 41.2-yard average.
Overall, Narduzzi was displeased with the results.
“When you look at some of the most disappointing things, we kicked two out of the end zone,” Narduzzi said. “When we’re back up, we don’t put the ball where we want it. We don’t hit bombs when you can hit a bomb, and when you’ve got to be more precise with where that ball lands in the punt game, you put it in the end zone and we don’t get a chance (to pin Georgia Tech) inside the 10yard line, which is our goal when we are doing some of those pooch-punt situations.”
Junko can lean into his multiple years as Pitt’s punter to channel better situational results when the time comes to punt against Miami.
Carpenter will look to dig deep and manufacture some confidence if indeed Butkowski is unavailable for the third straight week.
But as the Panthers prepare for a pivotal clash with major implications, concerns linger on special teams.
