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Dalton Miller

University of Pittsburgh graduate. Former writer for The Pitt News and Deceptive Speed.

Pitt Football: Panthers Running Game Is Dead

Pitt football is historically a ground and pound team that depends on a solid running game to drive the offense. The team stayed true to its roots over the past few seasons, relying heavily on its ground game, putting up over 1,500 yards in 2019 and a whopping 3,191 yards during the 2018 season. Although the Panthers’ rushing attack dropped off tremendously following the 2018 season, it was still effective in 2019. This drop off was expected as the team lost its top two backs in Qadree Ollison and Darrin Hall following the 2018 season and also brought in a new offensive coordinator in Mark Whipple.

Pitt Football: Defensive Line Loaded With NFL Talent

Pitt football has one of the best defenses in the country, ranking eighth best in total defense and 31st in scoring defense. The excellent performance of this defense is due in large part to the incredible play of the Panthers’ defensive line. The Pitt front is putting up big-time numbers, ranking first in the nation in tackles for a loss and second in sacks. The spectacular performance of this line is due in large part to two senior defensive ends Rashad Weaver and Patrick Jones. Both Weaver and Jones are having phenomenal seasons and are drawing a lot of attention from teams in the NFL.

Long-term Impact of MiLB Season Cancellation

The Appalachian League has now become the first league to lose its title as a professional Minor League Baseball league. It has been a part of MiLB for over 100 years and was an Advanced Rookie League, meaning it was for newly drafted players that were further along in their development than the other newly drafted players. It has been home to MLB Hall of Famers like Greg Maddux and Cal Ripken Jr. as well current stars like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Blake Snell. The league is now being transformed into a summer wood bat league for college players. Instead of bringing young prospects into this league, it will be rising college freshman and sophomores. This will leave the league still providing good opportunities for young players to get experience, but also means less players will be drafted by MLB teams in the future and those recently drafted may find themselves released from their contracts. The league will still be good competition that will likely draw some fans and will provide some work around the ballpark, but it will be taking chances away from young professional players, and will certainly draw less fans than the professional games.

Life, Religion and Sex Equal Baseball?

Baseball was once the most popular sport in America. In fact, it was known as the
national pastime. Every kid grew up playing it and watching it. It was a key aspect of every
American’s life. While that is no longer the case, the impact of the game is certainly still felt
across the country. There are still people that never miss a game and always have their lucky hat
or jersey no matter where they are watching from. Baseball is still very present in metaphor, in
both the use of other things to describe baseball and the use of baseball to describe other parts of
life. These metaphors can be used to show or inflate the value of baseball, show the impact
baseball has on the lives of its followers and can even show how baseball has spread into other
parts of American culture.

Pitt Football: Kenny Pickett Should Return In 2021

Pitt football has been led by quarterback Kenny Pickett since its final game of the 2017 season. Pitt has relied on Pickett being both a leader on the field and someone who can carry the offense during his time as the Panthers signal-caller. With the 2020 season being Pickett’s senior season, it was expected he would be heading to the NFL following this season. That was until the NCAA offered an extra year of eligibility for all Division I fall sports athletes, opening the door for Pickett to return to the team for a fifth season.
The Pitt News •

Column | History, location make Pitt a football school

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald hauls in a first-down reception as he is hit by Cleveland Browns defensive back T.J. Carrie in the first quarter, Dec. 15, 2019, at State Farm Stadium.

This column is part of a series. To read the column about soccer, click here. To read the column about basketball, click here.

Between the beloved Steelers, one of the most storied franchises in all of sports, and the incredible football talents like Aaron Donald and Tyler Boyd that come out of t
The Pitt News •

Club sports navigate pandemic protocols, heavily modified seasons

Pitt men’s club lacrosse is waiting on permission from the University to play a 14-game slate in the spring.

The phrase “spring break” often evokes images of vacations down south for a week of fun in the sun. For Pitt club baseball pitcher and digital media chair Matthew Drobner, that experience becomes a baseball player’s dream.

The Pitt club baseball team traditionally drives 18 hours down to Florida, playing games the whole week against teams from across the country. But with Pitt’s decisio
Deceptive Speed •

Pitt football: Paris Ford opts out

This is an article covering Paris Ford's decision to opt-out of the 2020 season and the impact that it could have on Pitt's season. I wrote this article during my internship with Deceptive Speed.

Pitt football will be finishing up the season without star safety Paris Ford. Ford has been a huge part of the Pitt defense leading the team in interceptions and solo tackles when he opted out last week.

It is unclear exactly why Ford opted out, but the possibility of being drafted as well as the Panthers’ recent struggles likely aided him in making this decision. Ford has been popping up in the first round in a couple of mock drafts and so it is understandable that he wants to avoid injury, so
Deceptive Speed •

Pitt football struggling without Kenny Pickett

Pitt football struggled immensely on offense in its last two games with quarterback Kenny Pickett out due to an ankle injury. There is little known about the status of Pickett going forward, outside of head coach Pat Narduzzi saying, “Hopefully sooner rather than later,” when asked about Pickett’s return. This brings up a lot of questions for the remainder of the season as the Panthers’ offense has performed poorly without their senior signal caller.

In its 45-3 loss to Notre Dame on Saturday,
Deceptive Speed •

Pitt football can’t get offense going in loss

Pitt football suffered its third straight loss Saturday, falling to Miami 31-19. With this loss, the Panthers are officially in panic mode, as what started as a promising season is now in jeopardy of becoming a train wreck.

Pitt was forced to rely on redshirt freshman Joey Yellen at quarterback, as Kenny Pickett was unavailable due to an ankle injury. Yellen did not put up an overly impressive performance completing only 22 of his 46 passes for 277 yards. Although Yellen did not put on a specta
The Pitt News •

World Series Preview: Talented Dodgers to prevail over outmatched Rays

This article is a preview of the 2020 World Series and includes analysis of the two teams as well as a prediction. I wrote this article for the Pitt News.

The Tampa Bay Rays’ Mike Zunino, right, celebrates a solo home run with teammate Kevin Kiermaier against the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series at Petco Park in San Diego on Oct. 17.

After arguably the most unusual and challenging season in the history of Major League Baseball, it’s finally time to decide a champion. The Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers will square off in the 2020 World Series, days after both teams went seven games in the American League
Deceptive Speed •

Pitt Football plagued by penalties and drops

This article recaps and analyzes Pitt football's loss to NC State. I wrote this article for my internship with Deceptive Speed.

Pitt football suffered a 30-29 upset loss to the NC State Wolfpack on Saturday. After pulling ahead with less than two minutes left, the Panthers only needed to keep the Wolfpack out of the end zone. With no timeouts left, quarterback Devin Leary led NC State down the field, completing a touchdown pass to Emeka Emezie with less than 30 seconds left, which proved to be the fatal blow to the Panthers.

This is a crushing defeat for Pitt, which had a chance to achieve a 4-0 record for the first tim
Deceptive Speed •

Pitt football newcomers making big impact

This article highlights some of Pitt football's top new players and their stats up to that point in the season. I wrote this article during my internship with Deceptive Speed.

Pitt football has seen success so far this season, and several newcomers have had a big impact. Pitt has seen a number of players who earned their first shot at playing this season making the most of their opportunities.

On the offensive side of the ball, freshman receiver Jordan Addison stepped in and filled the role of Maurice Ffrench, who is now signed to the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad. Ffrench led the Panthers in catches and yards last season with 96 catches for 850 yards and four to
Deceptive Speed •

Pitt football needs to be more aggressive

Over the past two seasons, Pitt football put its offense into safety mode whenever it took the lead. Instead of continuing to run the offense the way it had through the earlier parts of the game, Pitt becomes ultra-conservative, mostly running the ball and occasionally passing short. This leads to a lot of quick drives and three and outs, which do not give the defense much of a rest and give the opposing team more opportunities to come back.

The Panthers even went with conservative calls in sit
Deceptive Speed •

Pitt Football rocking the best defense in college football

Pitt football has one of the most talented defenses in the nation, loaded with players that can make an impact at both the college and pro level. The defensive line for the Panthers is the best in the nation and is supported by some excellent linebackers and defensive backs as well. Pitt’s defense is stacked even with the loss of one of its top players, defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman, who opted out of the season.

Twyman was named as a first-team preseason All-American and will certainly be miss
Deceptive Speed •

Pitt football running game is back

After the struggles Pitt football had running the ball in 2019, there were a lot of questions as to whether it would get back to the excellent ground game it had in 2018. The Panthers went from having two 1,000-yard rushers and over 3,000 yards on the ground in 2018 to only 1,544 rushing yards in 2019. It was clear the Panthers needed to get more of a run game going if they hoped to round out the offense. After their game against Austin Peay on Saturday, it feels safe to say that the run game is
Deceptive Speed •

Pitt football: Kenny Pickett set to make big jump

After leading Pitt football to an upset win over No. 2 Miami on Thanksgiving of 2017, fans thought they had found their quarterback of the future in Kenny Pickett. Pickett threw for 193 yards and one touchdown and rushed for another two in his first start at Pitt while knocking off the undefeated Hurricanes. This was far more than any fan could have expected from the then-freshman quarterback and had Panthers fans expecting great things from Pickett in the years to come.

Many were hoping that w
The Pitt News •

Pitt basketball’s recent stretch defined by disappointment

This article details the losing streak that the Pitt Men's Basketball team was on. I wrote this article for the Pitt News.

The Pitt men’s basketball team found itself on the wrong end of another blowout, falling 73-57 to Georgia Tech Wednesday night. It was the Panthers’ seventh straight loss, with their last win coming Feb. 8 against this same Georgia Tech team.

Throughout the course of this losing streak, the Panthers have appeared unmotivated. They haven’t looked hungry or aggressive at all. They’ve actually looked quite the opposite — complacent with their play, not striving to turn things around.

Pitt came ou
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