Freshman Boyd receives multiple honors after big day

After compiling 195 all-purpose yards in Saturday’s 49-27 win over New Mexico, Pitt freshman receiver Tyler Boyd earned weekly accolades from the football community — one from the ACC and one from 247Sports.

The ACC named Boyd Receiver of the Week for his six-catch, 134-yard performance, which featured one touchdown reception. Boyd averaged more than 22 yards per catch Saturday, hauling in two particularly challenging throws in the process.

The first improbable catch came on Pitt’s second drive of the day, with just more than three minutes off the game clock. Redshirt senior quarterback Tom Savage let loose a high-arching throw to his right side on first-and-10. Boyd, who had been streaking downfield to position himself underneath the ball, grabbed the pass outside the hash marks amid single coverage. Though the New Mexico defender was flagged for pass interference on the play, Boyd completed the catch cleanly for a 51-yard reception and set up the Panthers’ first touchdown of the afternoon.

Boyd said the penalty upped the catch’s degree of difficulty.

“At first I thought I was going to fall and trip up,” he said after the game. “I was real anxious. I wanted to make that big play, so that’s what I did.”

On the final play of the first half, Boyd displayed his heroics yet again. Savage scrambled out of the pocket toward the sideline, time expiring off the clock, before heaving a line-drive throw to the end zone. With four players — two Panthers, two Lobos — clustered toward the back corner, Boyd emerged from the crowd by leaping to snag the pass, all while falling backward and driving his right foot into the ground to complete a successful 34-yard touchdown.

His performance was also littered with dynamic rushing plays and included a 22-yard kick return, leading 247Sports, a college sports website, to dub him the National True Freshman of the Week.

Boyd ran the ball twice and accumulated 39 yards and a touchdown. The scoring rush started as an end-around sweep that showcased his dazzling speed and athleticism, as Boyd dashed through the New Mexico defense and dove from 5 yards out to break the goal line.

“The [big play] I liked best was at the end of the half — the catch,” he said. “Then [my favorites were] that real deep pass where I got interference, then the run.”“[The running score] was my first touchdown, so I probably should have gone with that one,” he said.

Perhaps Boyd, now ranked third in the ACC with 173 all-purpose yards per game, just knows there could be plenty more touchdowns where that first one came from.