Pitt Military Bowl Snap Counts Reveal Significant Advantage

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers suffered perhaps their worst loss of the 2025 season in the Military Bowl.

Pitt was beaten 23-17 by an East Carolina team that was missing its starting quarterback, running back, second tight end and second wide receiver. The Pirates turned to true freshman quarterback Chaston Ditta in his first-career start, backup running back Marlon Gunn Jr., starting wideout Anthony Smith and just never completed a pass to a tight end. And they still beat Pitt.

The Panthers were without star running back Desmond Reid and All-American linebacker Kyle Louis, which were significant losses, but those positions were backfilled by true freshman Ja'Kyrian Turner, who led the team in rushing, and redshirt freshman Cameron Lindsey, who played in 12 of the 13 games this season.

The Pro Football Focus snap counts have revealed just how many starters Pitt had available in this game, including several injured starters at the end of the season who returned for this game. Pitt was as close to full strength as a team could be at the end of a season and still lost.

For reference, PASS is passing snaps, PBLK is passing blocking snaps, RUN is rushing snaps and RBLK is run blocking snaps, offensively. RDEF is run defense snaps, PRSH is pass rushing snaps and COV is coverage snaps, defensively.

Dec 27, 2025; Annapolis, MD, USA; East Carolina Pirates linebacker Jackson Barker (1) celebrates with defensive back Tavius Horne Jr. (23) after a fumble recovery during the first half of the Military Bowl against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Quarterback

Mason Heintschel — 82 snaps (50 PASS, 3 RUN, 29 RBLK)

Running Back

Justin Cook — 41 snaps (27 PASS, 4 PBLK, 8 RUN, 2 RBLK)
Ja'Kyrian Turner — 35 snaps (12 PASS, 5 PBLK, 16 RUN, 2 RBLK)
Caleb Williams — 3 snaps (1 PBLK, 2 RUN)
Jalynn Williams — 3 snaps (1 PBLK, 2 RUN)

Wide Receiver

Kenny Johnson — 76 snaps (46 PASS, 1 RUN, 29 RBLK)
Raphael "Poppi" Williams — 64 snaps (43 PASS, 21 RBLK)
Censere Lee — 43 snaps (29 PASS, 14 RBLK)
Caturus "Blue" Hicks — 40 snaps (22 PASS, 18 RBLK)
Bryce Yates — 11 snaps (6 PASS, 5 RBLK)
Deuce Spann — 6 snaps (4 PASS, 2 RBLK)

Tight End

Justin Holmes — 60 snaps (33 PASS, 2 PBLK, 25 RBLK)
Jake Overman — 16 snaps (8 PASS, 8 RBLK)
Malachi Thomas — 12 snaps (7 PASS, 5 RBLK)

Offensive Line

Ryan Carretta — 82 snaps (50 PBLK, 32 RBLK)
BJ Williams — 82 snaps (50 PBLK, 32 RBLK)
Ryan Baer — 82 snaps (50 PBLK, 32 RBLK)
Lyndon Cooper — 82 snaps (50 PBLK, 32 RBLK)
Jeff Persi — 82 snaps (50 PBLK, 32 RBLK)

Offensive Takeaways

Every single offensive starter for Pitt, besides Reid, played in this game. Ryan Carretta, who did not play the final two games of the season, returned for this one and didn't allow a single pressure, according to PFF.

The number that stands out the most from the snap counts is the number of snaps Justin Cook played. Cook had just 13 snaps of offense all season, but played more than Turner. Cook finished the game with eight carries for 28 yards and six catches for 30 yards, but Turner had 16 carries for 93 yards.

Defensive End

Isaiah Neal — 55 snaps (36 RDEF, 17 PRSH, 2 COV)
Blaine Spires — 42 snaps (27 RDEF, 15 PRSH)
Jaeden Moore — 19 snaps (11 RDEF, 8 PRSH)
Joey Zelinsky — 10 snaps (6 RDEF, 4 PRSH)

Defensive Tackle

Sean FitzSimmons — 46 snaps (31 RDEF, 15 PRSH)
Nick James — 32 snaps (19 RDEF, 13 PRSH)
Francis Brewu — 25 snaps (17 RDEF, 8 PRSH)
Jahsear Whittington — 23 snaps (14 RDEF, 9 PRSH)

Linebacker

Rasheem Biles — 63 snaps (40 RDEF, 13 PRSH, 10 COV)
Braylan Lovelace — 60 snaps (39 RDEF, 9 PRSH, 12 COV)
Cameron Lindsey — 57 snaps (37 RDEF, 37 RDEF, 20 COV)
Abe Ibrahim — 3 snaps (1 RDEF, 1 PRSH, 1 COV)

Cornerback

Rashad Battle — 37 snaps (19 RDEF, 18 COV)
Tamon Lynum — 33 snaps (20 RDEF, 13 COV)
Shadarian Harrison — 31 snaps (21 RDEF, 1 PRSH, 9 COV)
Shawn Lee Jr. — 23 snaps (18 RDEF, 5 COV)

Safety

Javon McIntyre — 58 snaps (36 RDEF, 22 COV)
Cruce Brookins — 43 snaps (28 RDEF, 15 COV)
Kavir Bains-Marquez — 33 snaps (20 RDEF, 13 COV)

Defensive Takeaways

Like with the offense, Pitt's defense also had every starter, besides Louis, play in this game. Sean FitzSimmons has been out since beating Stanford on Nov. 1 and also returned for this game to post five tackles and one for a loss.

Rasheem Biles was perhaps the biggest advantage Pitt had in this game. The star linebacker had a season-high 16 tackles, five for loss, two sacks, a pass breakup and a 23-yard fumble return touchdown.

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