Other than offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr.’s group, no Pitt players can impact the score of a game more than those who answer to assistant coach Andre Powell.

Running game not working?

Look to Powell, who coaches that unit.

Kicker misses two field goals in an overtime loss?

Powell is the man huddling with the kicker, snapper and holder, trying to keep them sane and on point.

Somehow, Powell keeps everything straight in his head.

Since 2015 — he was one of Narduzzi’s first hires — he has coached three of the top four scorers in Pitt history. Kickers Chris Blewitt (363 points) and Alex Kessman (341) are second and third on the list; running back James Conner (338) is fourth.

Powell missed all-time leader Tony Dorsett by a few years. Powell was a 10-year-old running around Lockhart, S.C, when Dorsett recorded the last of his 380 points.

Powell’s groups experienced the best and worst moments of the overtime loss to Tennessee last week.

• Izzy Abanikanda ran for a career-high 154 yards. Then, on the tying drive in the fourth quarter, running backs were involved in seven of the 10 plays and recorded all but 11 of the 39 yards.

• He gave his backs’ pass protection a C-plus. “That’s always the area where you have to be sharp. We have to really improve there,” he said.

• That touchdown drive started when Powell’s long snapper, Byron Floyd, recovered a fumbled punt.

• Also, kicker Ben Sauls missed two field goals in the third quarter that could have made a difference.

How did Powell handle Sauls, who continues to compete with Sam Scarton in practice?

“My message is keep stroking, man,” Powell said. “You can overreact (as a coach), and when you overreact, they feel it. I really haven’t said much to him. Just looked at the kicks, looked at the snaps, looked at the holds, just talk about it. There’s no need for alarm.

“Obviously, we would have liked to make those two kicks, would have been a big deal in the game.”

But there were 135 plays from scrimmage, and many of them could have reversed Pitt’s misfortune, too.

“There are a couple runs we’d like to have back (that) would have made a big difference,” Powell said. “There were probably a couple plays on defense that would have made a big difference. There are a lot of places where we could have improved.”

Yet, he emphasized, “The expectations are to make those field goals.”

He said Sauls’ approach (to the football) was “a little bit off.”

“If you’re off a couple inches … it translates to maybe feet down the field,” he said.

In regards to the running backs, Powell likes to use five, which is what he did in the opener, but only two (Abanikanda and Vince Davis) carried the ball against Tennessee. Rodney Hammond Jr.’s foot injury had a lot to do with that.

One of Powell’s most important jobs is monitoring his backs’ activity on gameday and in practice. He noted Abanikanda was on the field Saturday for 73 plays and 7,600 yards, according to the GPS tracker.

“We’re trying to make sure they’re peaked for the game,” he said. “Just like race horses, you have to get your horse to the race fresh.

“He has to have work. He has to know what’s going on. He has to be able to feel some of those things. But he can’t be worn out when he gets there Saturday.”

To that end, Powell uses GPS data to follow a player’s activity. When Abanikanda reached about 3,000 yards in practice Tuesday, Powell shut him down.

“It allows the other guys to get more reps,” he said. “When they get their at-bat, they’re better prepared.”

Powell also relies on his eyes and ears when monitoring a player’s activity.

“That’s a machine, and it can’t see and it can’t feel,” he said.

But he has used its data since 2018 when he shepherded All-ACC running backs Qadree Ollison and Darrin Hall to 1,000-yard seasons.

Powell said top speed for Ollison and Hall was 20 mph on the GPS, but they never hit it on game day when they reached more than 3,000 yards each Tuesday and Wednesday.

Abanikanda’s top speed is 21 mph, and Powell would like to keep it there.

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