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Sunday Edition of MMQB: NC-42 Pitt – 24

monday-morning-qbEditor’s Note: This is an early edition of the MMQB article because, much as Narduzzi is out hunting for his next great transfer QB, I’ll be Snipe Hunting with friends tomorrow and will be gone overnight.

At the risk of my repeating myself on these MMQB articles… I’m not sure anyone should be all that surprised at what happened on Saturday evening when the University of North Carolina (NC) beat Pitt by a score of 42- 24.

Yes, in the same way Louisville (UL) whooped us last Saturday the Tar Heels strung us along for a bit over two quarters until they said enough is enough and proved Pat Narduzzi to be an idiot when he says stuff like ‘at this point we are undefeated’.  Granted he meant only since the end of the UL game but still – a rather ridiculous statement to make at this particular point in his history with Pitt.

In the UL game the Cardinals waited until the 4th quarter to quit playing around and put up 17 points to win, the Tarheels did much the same when in disbelief after seeing the score 24-14 in favor of our guys they went on a tear and scored 21 unanswered points.  I’m just surprised that the game didn’t start out that way from the coin toss.

What happened was this; Narduzzi saw Slovis complete a few decent passes early on and said to himself “See, we have no other QB on the roster that can do what he does.” Well, one never knows, do one? But I bet either of our two viable QBs-in-waiting could have completed more than 50% of their passes and for at least one TD against that rather porous NC defense.

That NC passing defense was, going into the game, 121st in Passing Yards Allowed with 283.2 and 112th in Passing Efficiency Defense at 149.39. To make that more clear Slovis had only 236 yards and a horrid 109.1 efficiency rating (compared to Maye’s 188.9 efficiency rating). I know – lots of numbers, but in this case stats actually do tell the true story.

Here is what Slovis did, or didn’t do, depending if you are a believer in him or not. Obviously I’m not:slovis1-2

Yes – it’s a foggy graphic but suffice to say it shows just how continually poor Slovis has performed lately. That 45% completion rate really sucks but when you look at what he accomplished (or not) in the 2nd half it hurts even more – 6/13 (46%) for 67 yards and one sack… thank goodness for that 50 yarder to Jared Wayne to set up up last TD or the NFL would turn their backs on Kedon completely. 

Well, its easy to point fingers at one player but that really isn’t solely the case in this loss – as predicted our pass defense came up very short, like really, really short…miniscule actually… again this game.

Granted the NC QB, rsFR Drake Maye will be, perhaps, the second multiple Heisman winner in CFB history, he sure is playing like it.  Here is how he carved us up. Look at the two CFB QB ratings for the game – Maye played over twice as well as The Big Kedon! 

The Big Kedon! Yes – the NIL in action!

We saw what Maye did in HIS 2nd half and, folks, there-in tells the tale of how successful QBs react under pressure. He was cool, calm and moved his feet while still always looking downfield to complete his passes.  As compared to Slovis who seems to look to the sidelines in confusion if he’s forced to budge an inch.

Izzy was on his game again with 127 yards on 26 carries with three TDs, but it is just too damn bad that he is the absolute only bright spot we have in our offensive arsenal. ‘Arsenal’ might be the wrong word here – more like ‘toy box’.  Look at where we sit nationally in the important pieces of the game puzzle:

I wrote about this last MMQB also – what might look OK defensively with Total Defense at #39 and Rushing Defense at #30… they are countered negatively with our Scoring Defense at 78th (27.9 ppg) and especially the Red Zone Defense at 98th. All that overrules anything else we may do.

What do the last two weeks mean for the future? I’m thinking it means we suck now and will do so again over the next four weeks. We’ll probably beat Virginia, although we haven’t done so well on the road this year standing at 1-2 and we play at their place in two weeks.

However, I can’t help but think we’ll come up short against the other three opponents we have left with games at home next week against now #16, 6-2 Syracuse, home again for the 5-3 Duke Blue Devils then playing at 4-4 Miami to end the regular season.

Which leaves us at 5-7…maybe. But since we are undefeated going into each match that upper-level math is just too hard for me to comprehend.

Here is the condensed Pitt-NC game on YouTube… and here is the full game if you are into masochism.  Here is PN’s post-game mumbling and deflection class.

Dan72 was nice enough to offer me a ticket to the SYR game next week so I’ll see the true die-hard POVers at the Red 5A tailgate on Saturday. I actually have a media pass for that game but prefer to be with people who can scream bloody murder whenever they feel like it!

HTP!

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155 thoughts on “Sunday Edition of MMQB: NC-42 Pitt – 24”

        1. Maestro…I for one love a crappy bowl game to watch around the holidays. Give us the Beef O’ Brady in Tampa, the Quick Lane again in Detroit, or even a trip back to scenic Birmingham. Let’s get to 6 and 6 baby!

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  3. The Steelers are an even bigger dumpster fire than Pitt….and both teams have a coach for life., neither of which have a clue on how to hire good assistant coaches.

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  4. Poor Kenny today. Horrible line. Terrible OC. And a number one back that can’t get a yard when needed. It really is an ownership problem today. That’s you Rooney.

    I did notice something funny. Shock jock madden isn’t allowing anyone to tweet unless he follows them or approves their tweeting.

    I’d like to personally kick him between the legs one day. I’m sure some would say the same of me. But I at least approve of your right to drink the koolaid. Vinegar isn’t for everyone. Nor is Balcones.

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  5. I think the problem for this team began right after the ACC victory. Fans were too quick to think dynasty, or at least an ACC Championship repeat was almost a given. And Narduzzi fed into this misperception. He’s always been a big talker, but this time he really suckered us.

    Face it, everyone thought Slovis was the second coming. He is a good QB, but we were all taken in by this supposedly experienced and stout offensive line. At this point in the season it is mostly offensive. Narduzzi plugged a few holes with transfers, but they have not worn well. The WR transfers are big disappointments, especially Mumpfield.

    And the defense was filled with experienced players. It turns out they were mediocre experienced players, especially in the secondary. On the DL, players like Baldonado have lost a lot of money by coming back this year. The 4th quarter collapses show just how little depth this team has on defense.

    Narduzzi should have managed the attitude of this team so much better, creating more of a “they will be coming after us” mentality that championship coaches use to motivate. Instead, he talked up expectations that fell short and the players are now demoralized. With nothing left to play for, we’ll see how he motivates them now..

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  6. I’m still nervous about 8-4 or 7-5. Winning a few now will just reinforce poor decision making.

    H2P!!! TGFV

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  7. Has anyone looked around our conference? Sure Clemson is at an elite level and way above the rest of the ACC. The whole world recognizes that they have been for 10 years or more. But there are 13 other schools/teams in this conference. Does anyone see us as being significantly worse or significantly better than those others? I don’t. We each take turns having a flash-in-the-pan season when we stumble onto an above average quarterback or just happen to get the majority of breaks. UNC is having theirs this year due to having a budding superstar at QB. But year in and year out, we are all about the same. Usually in that 5-7 to 8-4 middling range.

    But we fans think we should be above those other 12 schools. Why is that? Is it because we are a larger school with a bigger fan base? Is it because we have a deep pocketed booster organization that can out-NIL the rest of them? Maybe because we have a win-at-any-cost administration willing to look the other way. Are we paying our coaches way more than the others? What is it?

    By the way, what do you think Drake Maye’s NIL value will be to the Alabamas, Georgias, Texas’, USCs of the world? If Addison was worth 3 Million, I’m thinking Maye will be offered 5, maybe 6 million after this season? I wouldn’t be surprised to see him announce his entry into the portal right after their bowl game unless UNC has deeper pockets than I imagine.

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  8. Pitt is paying their HC far more than most schools for sub par recruiting, sub par coaching and overall mediocrity. I wouldn’t complain so much if this was Wanny making a measly one million.

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    1. I’ll take your word on that, Tex, because you appear to be a lot closer to that info than I am. But do we really know that Coach Narduzzi is paid significantly more than our peers in the ACC? Then again, do any of the other ACC coaches have as long a tenure at their current school other than Dabo?

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      1. We actually do know Wolfe. I believe he is the second highest or possibly third highest compensated coach in the ACC. I want to say that he’s near 8 million.

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  9. Long overdue shout out to Reed and all the writers for propagating this blog so the resident nut jobs (myself especially) to rant and complain.

    Lots to say, but most of it has already been said.
    I will note, however, that it would behoove Coach Pat to show some humility…throwing Whip and Marion under the bus, despite them having a role in last year’s championship season. Looks petty and accomplishes nothing other than to make him look like a small, bitter man.
    H2P.

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  11. Some positive news for you Pitt fans out there! Pitt women’s volleyball team downed Virginia Tech today is straight sets. This Pitt team knows how to play defense! They held Va Tech to a -0.037 hitting percentage. For the weekend Pitt swept both of their ACC opponents! Our portal transfers continue to meet or exceed preseason expectations!

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  12. The best I can summarize this effort is that we have returned to PITT, unlike that mysterious team we saw last year.

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  13. VoR, there were a bunch of POVers who didn’t buy into the Slovis hype. I wrote some very strong articles about what I thought he’d do for us when he transferred in.

    He’s cut from the exact same USC cloth Max Browne was. Went downhill with the Trojans then had the door held open for him to transfer by the staff.

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        1. I thought it was Ricky “Bobby” Towne 2.1

          Coaches make deals with portal players and tell them the position is theirs to lose. They are afraid to pull the plug too early and risk not getting next years portal potty players.

          I would give Jerry dipaola a crisp $100 if, instead of asking a question about the game, he would explain to Nardstop why he didn’t put the football team in the top 25 this week, despite the coach thinking they would be national champ contenders and remain undefeated.

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          1. My payment to Jerry would be to ask the defensive genius why UNC was allowed to run variations of a simple screen pass about 75 TIMES LAST NIGHT, and why we NEVER MADE A SINGLE ADJUSTMENT to try and stop it.

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    2. I know it’s just spring ball, but I thought Slovis showed poorly. Looking back, he displayed the same characteristics we see now – slow decisions, poor down field passing, etc. Patti looked far sharper.

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  14. I would take savage 2.0 over this guy. Start the Texan. I’m biased. I know. But seriously, it has more to do with the OC. And the HC is the man responsible for this hire. So ultimately it’s on Pat. But then I can say it’s on AD Lyke for the extension. And then on Gallagher for hiring Lyke. And then on the BOT for appointing the Chancellor. And then on those nasty nitters for their covert sabotage. In the end, I blame Penn State for all of this.

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      1. That’s the only petition one I saw .. thought it is still relevant…. We had our great year under Narduzzi… I don’t see anything other than mediocrity going forward…FIRE NARDUZZI….. I can see him getting his ass handed to him 10 or 11 weeks in a row…. that starts with the three game losing streak he is on at this time… Oh but in Pats mind he is on an $8 million winning streak…. No accountability… Need some people on the board of directors who believe in merit based pay…

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  16. There’s a comment on this site Big B from three years ago that still rings true

    ‘My sock has better play calling abilities.’

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  17. Pitt’s women’s volleyball was ranked #4 by the NCAA women’s volleyball committee in the second ranking reveal of the season. Louisville was ranked #2. Pitt was ranked #5 in the previous reveal. Trying to keep some cheer among POVers with all this gloom and doom.

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  18. And Pitt mens soccer is ranked 23. As Obi Wan might say that Pitt football is our only hope. The wise Jedi Master Joda says ‘ No, there are two others.’

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  19. I’ll jump on John in SC’s bandwagon. AccuWeather is calling for no rain and a high of 74 in Pittsburgh for the tailgate this Saturday. The prediction thread is not up yet but I’m predicting an EPIC TAILGATE! And it sounds like we will have dignitaries from all over the country joining us!
    Get that doom and gloom out of your system before Saturday. You’re not bringing me down. Time spent with friends is more valuable than any game. Let’s make it a great one. I gather we have Reed, Dan, Tex, Erie, JoeL…joining us. Any other out of towners? Can’t wait to see you all!

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    1. Boy oh boy how I wish I could join everybody and share the fun in Red5A and at the game no matter how lousy we play. On Tuesday I am having my second back operation and the “kid from Brooklyn” Class of ’63 is not gonna make it to the Burgh. I can’t begin to tell all of you how much the POV means to me >>>>despite our occasional disagreements I am proud to say that I am a Panther fan forever and this is my lifeline to an amazing community.
      H2P !

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  20. Bernie, are you and Jeannie going to be in for the tailgate? Larry in Virginia Beach? Matt in the Ville? Mike in York? Our other southern friends, John and Rich?

    My fear is that our record will condemn us to a noon kickoff against Duke. Those 7AM tailgates don’t seem to be as robust as afternoon/evening affairs. That being the case, this may be our last chance this year to have a true Red 5A tailgate.

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  21. Wolfe… My next trip home will be for Thanksgiving… I always come up that time of the year to cut my Christmas tree have only spent one Thanksgiving in North Carolina in the past 48 years…. Been running back-and-forth to PA about every three weeks… Had to get my mom in a personal care unit… Haven’t had a lot of fun this fall… Narduzzi and Company certainly haven’t been an outlet of positivity….Thanks for asking!!!

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  23. Bernie, thanks for your astute assessment of UNC quarterback Moye. You really nailed it with this guy. We can only hope he hits the transfer portal after the season is over!

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  24. Referring back to my Clemente comment on the previous article it appears that for the NC game The Great One was called out on strikes…☹
    Isnore, good luck with your surgery tomorrow..and heal quickly.
    Wolfe, I’m totally with you on the tailgate.
    Lets make it epic!
    Flying back today from Myrtle golf week today and will need to restock the POV booze tailgate pantry asap.

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  25. If Duzz ever had an opening to bench Slovis, its now — no ACC title or even division hope left, just playing for pride, a mediocre bowl game, and next year…get the young kid some PT for next season or give Patti his long-overdue shot. Duzz gets irrationally attached to players it seems, and it works out about as often as it doesn’t. Remember two years ago when he couldn’t get enough of Vincent Davis as his starter, despite the dude averaging about 3 yards a carry and getting flung thru the air like a sock-puppet about once a quarter…ironically, he’s playing pretty well these past two years, but as a sub. to Izzy and Hammond. For some reason he loves Slovis and cannot see clearly. We need a strong-minded OC who can tell Duzz to give his input but then buzz-off when it comes time to writing the two-deep.

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  26. Hate to beat a dead horse, but it all comes down to QB play. The team with the better usually wins. This is not fixable this year.

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  27. The general consensus on twitter is that outside RB’s, every position has regressed this year. And this includes the coaching staff.

    A comment by someone who banned me since I said I wouldn’t be attending any of his parties (true tweet)

    “Pitt has tens of millions of dollars invested in two guys that they won’t get rid of because they won’t, or can’t, spend the exorbitant money to get rid of them. Capel has to go first. So Narduzzi better find another Kenny Pickett very soon.”

    In basketball it comes down to guard play. In football, it’s the QB.

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    1. and we have quality TE who our coaches rarely target….maybe Blue Mountain reaches the All-American status somewhere else…I hear there is a team to our east that utilizes this position with a proven record of sending a few TE’s to the big league…I imagine the thought has crossed Bart’s mind more than once….

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  29. With many coaching is always at fault. I get it, but it always comes down to players making plays.

    There just aren’t enough playmakers on this team.

    Better play calling and schemes could help some but probably not enough to make that much of a difference, if the kids can’t execute them.

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  30. Losses on the roster are a way of life in CFB now due to lifted transfer restrictions. That are no excuse for this sort of mediocre play.

    The fact of life now is if you don’t play your 2nd and 3rd string players in their FR & SO years then they feel like they should go elsewhere for a better chance at starting when they are upper classmen.

    PN and his staff don’t believe this at all – blinders firmly affixed.

    In 2020 & 2021 Nick Patti, in his first two years at Pitt, was allowed to attempt only 24 passes. Last season, even with blowout wins, he had 19 attempts.

    Had the staff had any foresight whatsoever in those past seasons he would have been used more to make him ready to replace a poorly playing Slovis this year- but PN can’t envision what an offense is let alone feel responsible for it’s success.

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    2. The failure to give Patti and Yarnell more playing time is beyond my comprehension. Bart is on the field primarily as a blocker (covering for a weak OLine) and is not being targeted as a receiver nearly as much as he would be on any team with an OC who was in the modern era of football. Maybe we should throw other teams off their game plans by trying the single wing formation.

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  31. Also losses due to transfer had never been your superstars until this year, so impossible to overcome especially if you don’t have many. Who else took the kind of hit that Pitt did when Addison left?
    If you don’t think this made a huge difference you aren’t paying attention. Last year he was the difference in winning vs losing multiple times, and that was with a highly skilled QB.

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  32. I am concerned that the plan might be to give Slovis another year at the helm since Peterman and KP had great success with experience. However both of those guys were surrounded by a stronger cast of characters. Peterman with a strong O-line and KP with Addison, Mack, Krull and Wayne.

    Slovis’ inability to avoid the rush will not change. He also has a less imaginative OC, and lesser skilled receivers. If Minchey changes course the future is pretty bleak.

    Maye shows what a highly skilled QB who can extend plays does for a team, just like KP did last year. He makes everyone better including the defense.

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  34. I hope the Kedon sandwich pictured above does not give patrons the same after affects that viewers have following his in game performances…headache, heightened blood pressure, a queasy feeling in the tummy, and general anger.

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  35. What’s wrong with you people?

    Pitt is undefeated! Their only losses were to their inept egocentric condescending head coach and his equally inept staff!

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  36. How does Heather Lyke not get criticized? Is it that actaully no one cares about Pitt Athletics except for a handful of over 50 year olds. In any program that places a priority on Athletics, Capel would be canned and Narduzzi on a hot seat. Heck the AD would even be on a hot seat. But worry not we have a Womens Vollyball Team that is good that 176 fans watch in person.

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  37. All these posts and I saw one or two mentions of the OC. Come on, are we protecting a fellow yinzer, LOL.

    You can throw Pickett or Marino out there in Cignetti’s offense and they may get slightly better, but I doubt it. The guy is horrible and needs to go. Remember PSU kept the Minnesota OC for one year and canned him because it wasn’t a good fit. Pitt needs to do the same.

    He was supposed to be able to create mismatches for his best players. Poor Bartholomew and Mumpfield. They were sold a bag of crap.

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    1. He’s not great but if Slovis would stop underthrowing/overthrowing receivers or throwing into double coverage, Cigs would look a lot better — absolute drive killers these, and the D gets worn ‘ot’.

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  38. Kickoff Time for Pitt’s Nov. 12 Game at Virginia Announced

    PITTSBURGH—The Atlantic Coast Conference announced that Pitt’s November 12 game at Virginia will kick off at noon and be televised by ACC Network.

    The Panthers’ remaining 2022 football schedule and announced kickoff times:

    Nov. 5: Syracuse* (ACC Network), 3:30 p.m.

    Nov. 12: at Virginia* (ACC Network), Noon

    Nov. 19: Duke*

    Nov. 26 : at Miami*

    *ACC game

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  39. gc, sure losing those two was a big hit, but the fact is the rest of the returners are not of high quality.

    I just don’t think PN has the ability to plan more than one season ahead.

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    1. Obviously your opinion of PN is well documented and not unfounded. However they are not going to fire a coach that won an ACC championship. Doubtful they even fire Cignetti.

      It is also obvious that your evaluation of Slovis was correct although the porous play of the O-line and average wide receivers have contributed to his lackluster results. Addison would have made a huge difference in that he gets more open and catches the difficult ones at a high rate, just like a Larry Fitzgerald or Tyler Boyd. Taking that home run hitter away makes all the difference.

      There are those guys that make that kind of difference. When Polamalu sat out due to injury the Steelers usually lost. One guy can make that kind of difference. That guy can raise the level of play of everyone around him.

      Not to mention the difference between Addison and Devonshire returning punts, a world of difference.

      Every team in the ACC other than Clemson can’t afford to lose their superstar.

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  40. Pitt News on FB

    “Slovis has draft eligibility and one more year of NCAA eligibility. After his poor showing this season, it feels logical for him to forgo the draft and return for another season. But Nate Yarnell showed promise in his start against Western Michigan and four-star recruit Kenny Minchey is joining Pitt for the 2023 season, leaving the quarterback room quite crowded. If Slovis is a question mark for 2023, it’s time to move on and give someone else experience”

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  41. Pitt should not be used to help Slovis improve his draft prospects. He can do that at IUP. Yarnell and Minchey give Pitt its best chance of winning over multiple seasons. Build the offense around those two.

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    1. Totally agree — in theory. The only problem is practical: all the Kennywood fatties (aka the 5th year OL) are gone after this year. As mediocre and terrible as they have been, no other OL on the roster have supplanted any of them = massive lack of talent. Why in the world would Minchey want to step into that, or for Yarnell to stick around ? Borbley has yet to recruit one stud OL. That’s why KP kept running for his life, and Slovis is getting hammered. You win in the trenches, always has been, always will be.

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      1. Pitt does not (rarely does) replace players. What makes you think any of the OL would be replaced outside of injury? The LT replacement has played solid. He never would have seen the field otherwise.

        Every one of the DBs should be replaced except maybe for Halet. It will never happen. Devonshire should be replaced at punt returner. Will never happen. This plays out over and over across many positions. This idea of not pulling players falls squarely on the leadership of the HC.

        On another rant, how in the world is Pitt favored over Syracuse?

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  42. The defensive collapses are also troublesome and I think affected by the lack of confidence in Slovis to lead a final winning drive. Last year the D knew if they got the ball back for KP chances were very good that he would lead them to victory. Football is an emotional game, you could see it in the last two games when the blood was in the water the sharks were looking to feed. Unfortunately they were not our sharks.

    A huge difference has been our offensive turnovers and our defensive inability to even the score.

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    1. Midget secondary playing on an island manned up and never changing is the main problem!
      That and no rush.

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  43. I’d be willing to bet Narduzzi sticks with Slovis as his starting QB if he stays at Pitt for one more year. I’m just wondering if he will ever change QB’s this year if Pitt continues on its current losing streak right up to the Miami game. He’s so dam stubborn that its likely he never makes the change.

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  44. Why are you assuming that is Narduzzi that makes the call on which QB plays. Isn’t that the job of the OC? He should be the one making the call since it is his offense.

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    1. Narduzzi hired a yes man retread so he could be king pat and make all the decisions. The truth is he is not a good HC. He is a avg. DC and he is an atrocious recruiter. Heather extended him bc the previous Pitt coaches have been way worse. If you get beat everyday for 5 years and meet a new partner that is a drunk but doesn’t beat you then you think you hit a homerun when in reality you traded one issue for another.

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      1. Makes no sense. Whipple stayed the length of his contract, he was no yes man. The yes man theory is a joke. Narduzzi gives his OC total control of the offense. If you want to say he made a bad hire, I agree. He tried to hire a guy that would keep a pro scheme, but he hired an incompetent one.

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        1. Agree with this. And lets be clear – Whipple wasn’t recruiting well at all and really didn’t work with the entire offensive unit. His communication/coaching was limited to the QBs. He needed to go. Duzz has gone through too many OCs though.

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          1. You guys are crazy…. He needed to go? He didn’t cater to Narduzzi and wasnt a Yes man like Narduzzi likes. No team has had the turnover in OC’s that Narduzzi has had. He is a terrible evaluator of coaching talent. He makes 8M and doesn’t report to anyone and has no accountability since he got the extension. He won the ACC with Pickett and Addison and luckily Clemson had a down year. He is a life long 6-7 wins coach in a weak ACC and makes money like he has a consistent 9-10 win team and top 15 ranking year in and year out. The guy is and always will be a fraud. Were undefeated shows he is a clown.

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  45. After Jalen Hurts put a hurt to the Steelers on Sunday, I’d love to see Pitt modernize their offense by going to an RPO. Minchey seems to fit that system. Cignetti does not.

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    1. Players coming from HS and portal want to play for exciting RPO offenses. Not plodding dull pro sets ala Pitt.

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  46. By the way, when Pitt got down and had to throw every down. Cignetti never deployed a four WR set to spread the field with fast receivers. He had Barthalomew as the fourth WR which mean he was covered by a DB. A mismatch would be Bart covered by a LB. This guy is can’t even spread the field when need be. Four WR sets are common in all of football. Even high school.

    If he is OC next year, I won’t watch one game. I’ll take Tex as OC over him. 🤠

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    1. But we don’t have 4 WRs who will scare anyone (and apparently who will run the correct routes)…

      Go Pitt.

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      1. Well, they did put Slovis out there as a WR a few times…..LOL! I would pee my pants if the opposing defense put a DT out there to guard him 1 v 1.

        Thinking back a few years I used to put on the prediction board that Pitt would go 1-0 on Saturday because they were never too good to look past an opponent. Now that Nardstop uses that terminology, I will retire that phrase from this blowhards vernacular. Ha!

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  48. It’s tough for a guy born and raised in boise to make it in the Deep South. I never thought he was a good fit. Good coach he is however.

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  49. I really appreciate Heather and all she’s done! Minor sports success is spectacular. She has little say over major revenue sports. I judge people by their success’s and she’s had many. I’ll say again, Pitt Basketball will be a major surprise!

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    1. Dan, I hope your post isn’t a Halloween prank! 💀

      I think if Christian Dior was playing, I’d agree with you though…

      Go Pitt.

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    2. I have reservations about Heather especially when it comes to hiring and firing, but she is trying to improve our athletic situation. (How about a track team without a track).

      Despite my dislike for the job that Coach Capel has done I agree with you about basketball.
      yeah, we have been picked for next to the bottom in the ACC>>>I think we will be somewhere in the middle of the pack.

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      1. We will know soon. WVU and Michigan coming up in 15 days.

        Unless I’ve lost all concept of basketball talent (possible at 72)
        Pitt will be the surprise team in the ACC this year. Only Capel can screw this up!

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  50. I’d take Bryan Harsan from Auburn in a NY minute over the condescending ogre who now runs?? This team.

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  51. Narduzzi doesn’t have to go snipe hunting to find his next QB. He’s got the Texan and a 4 star coming in next season. But it better not be Slovis.

    Slovis can practice his trade elsewhere. Maybe he signs a NIL deal with some company based in Maine specializing in slow releases, lock on vision and non scrambling abilities. He would be the perfect spokesman for some lobster boating outfit.

    Like

  52. This is a new era of college football. The stars will never stay at a college for 4 years. If a college is lucky enough to fall into a QB like Maye it better win now because he will be gone. Who really thinks Maye will stay 4 years? Since he has 1 more year of college football after this year he will probably transfer to Georgia or Alabama to try to win a national championship in his last college year. BTW, Maye comes across as aloof on the sideline, and I wonder how he gets along with his team mates. Maybe he won’t share his NIL money with his OL!

    College recruiters must assume that transfers will be a constant to deal with and the top players will soon be gone. Players are either not playing enough, are being misused (Bart) or, like Mumpfield, they think they can do better at a higher level. One bad recruiting class can be a disaster for a team like Pitt. Since QBs drive the train, there must always be several quality QBs on a team to prepare for the inevitable transfers.

    Like

  53. BTW, Reed, you were right about Slovis. We all felt strongly that he had a strong, accurate arm, but his deficiencies such as slow foot speed would be compensated for with an offensive line that was expected to be one of the best in the country. And Addison would give him the deep weapon to keep opposing defenses honest. We were all hornswoggled!

    Like

  54. October 31, 2022

    Pat Narduzzi Press Conference

    Syracuse Week

    PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO

    PAT NARDUZZI: Well, again, we closed the chapter on a really, really good North Carolina football team last night with our guys. Our guys were in a good mindset. They see the mistakes they made, again, coaches and players. There’s always preparation errors that you can put on coaches, as well. We all take a responsibility in any win or loss as far as the team goes.

    But again, I feel the same way I did after that game. North Carolina is a good football team. We’ll start there. Mack Brown has done a nice job. The quarterback is really good. Josh Downs is really good. Had trouble stopping either one of those guys.

    I thought Kancey’s departure from that game was a turning point. I even heard their team after the targeting cheering saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got a chance now, we’ve got a chance now.’ That’s something I heard from our guys on the field when that happened, which I thought was interesting, because they must have felt the same way.

    He was pretty much — regardless of tackles or sacks, he was disruptive and he’s been disruptive all year. I think that kind of tells you that.

    Like I told our team last night, we played three really good quarters, and we’ve got to find a way to finish it. I’m going to change some things up in practice this week. It’s really two fourth quarters that we’ve let two of them get by the last few weeks.

    Historically I think we’ve been a pretty good fourth quarter team, so is that something we’re doing or is it something the other team is doing? If the other team is a good fourth quarter team, and both of them (games) are on the road in good atmospheres, so as a coach you never know what to attribute it to. Again, look and see what Louisville did last weekend to Wake Forest; Louisville is a good football team.

    I think the parity in college football and obviously around the ACC is strong, as well.

    With that, we’ve got the No. 22 ranked team in the country. There’s no rest for the weary. Dino Babers is coming into town. They’ve had two tough losses against two really good football teams, too, the last two weeks, but they’re still ranked No. 22 in the country and they’re coming in to Acrisure Stadium and we’ve got to be ready to go.

    Dino is having a great year. Coach Babers is having a great year as far as what they’ve done this year. They started off with six straight wins and got up in the rankings pretty high. Again, two tough losses.

    Tony White is their D-coordinator. He’s done a great job. I think they’re ranked 16th in the country on defense as far as total defense goes. And Robert Anae, their new offensive coordinator — you guys remember probably the Virginia game here at home. Robert Anae, the offensive coordinator for Virginia a year ago, who did such a great job with Brennan Armstrong, is their offensive coordinator there now, and you see a lot of similarities.

    Obviously we’ll go back and watch the last couple years at Virginia, as well, just to see what they like against us because you watch tape and sometimes it’s like they like certain things against other teams that they’re not necessarily going to run against you, but when you have previous games, you can always retreat back to that to find out what concepts did they do. They got a lot of empty stuff, and that’s what they did with Armstrong.

    But I give Coach Anae a lot of credit for what they’ve done with the Shrader kid, the quarterback, and even the backup with Del Rio-Wilson. He does a nice job with quarterbacks. Also the quarterback coach from Virginia went to Syracuse, as well, so I don’t want to say it’s a package deal, but they’ve got two of those guys.

    You look at how productive Virginia was a year ago offensively, and then you see it leave to go to Syracuse and then really you see a totally different offense as far as what they’re doing, how they’re doing it and the success they’ve had in the quarterback position, not only throwing the ball but running with Garrett.

    We’ve got our (work) cut out for us. It’s another athletic quarterback that’s had a lot of success this year.

    Questions?

    Q. When you look at the video, what displeased you the most?

    PAT NARDUZZI: You know what, I’ll start with the defense. Offensively, again, three good quarters. I guess I’ll start with the offense because it’s probably less.

    Obviously we didn’t play a great fourth quarter. The turnover changes things. When you look at the last three drives of the game, I don’t have the numbers, but I think it was a 48-yard line, the 35-yard line and the 44-yard line I think were the three last possessions our defense (faced).

    The score didn’t indicate really what kind of game that was. They got us in the fourth quarter late, and obviously we were up for three quarters, I believe, or at least up until a couple minutes into the third quarter. I’m not sure what that number was. But it’s just how we finished.

    On offense, the one turnover, which is better than four, so that stands out to me, we didn’t throw any picks, which is huge, we protected the ball a little bit there. But it’s another turnover that ends up getting you beat fast, okay, when you get the ball into plus territory.

    But the thing on defense that disappointed me the most was obviously the ability of the quarterback to scramble, which I told you guys he was good, but once he started to scramble, our linebackers were all eyes in the backfield instead of eyes on the receivers and getting the re-routes and doing their deal. They started getting like, we’ve got to stop this quarterback; we can’t let him scramble again. Then when you do that, the D-line is hanging out the linebackers because they’re not containing the quarterback and making bad decisions trying to get sacks, and the linebackers are going, okay, we’ve got to cover for the D-line, so when you cover for the D-line, you leave your DBs hanging out.

    That’s why it takes 11 to play great defense, and when you do that, you’re going to be in trouble. We lost our faith that we were going to put pressure on the quarterback and then it just goes from the front end to the back end.

    Q. On offense in the fourth quarter, aside from the one possession they had the fumble, you guys went three-and-out and then turned the ball over. What led to that kind of collapse offensively where in the first half you guys were moving the ball so well and even in the third quarter. What changed in the two possessions that didn’t end in a fumble?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Hard for me to say exactly, but a little bit of what they were doing, playing a little bit deeper, not giving us as much of the deep stuff, and then we just didn’t execute underneath, whether it was a drop — we had an RPO where we had a first down going and then Marcus Minor is downfield, which to his defense it was an RPO; maybe we didn’t get the ball out fast enough. He was uncovered; that made it a lot easier for him to get down the field about seven yards, so it was a good call.

    But we’ve got to coach that better based on being uncovered and just running like you would in an outside zone play, which was an RPO, and Jared caught the ball over the middle. That was a huge first down, I think on a second and 2. But we just didn’t execute as well in the second half. I don’t know what it was. Did they over-execute? Did they play better? They batted down a couple balls. A little bit of everything. Again, more than one guy, I can tell you that.

    Q. A lot of players on offense had success. Your receivers, all these guys you’re counting, have played well in the past, and it seems like they’re struggling this year. What do you feel like is holding them back, maybe playing as well as they have before and as well as you expect them to?

    PAT NARDUZZI: You know, I mean, your expectations are your expectations. You can say Konata played at Akron and not in a Power Five. Same thing with Bub playing down at Louisiana Tech. You can go back and look at the stats; it doesn’t matter what they did in the past. What are they doing here, what are they doing now. It comes down to execution.

    It comes down to that, and it comes down to blocking. Konata has got a chance on a third down, going back to another question, third down late in the half, I want to say it’s third down and 10, and we throw a bubble to Konata. If you look at the coverage there, you’re going, this is going to be a first down. But we don’t block the guy and he comes through, corner comes through, we don’t block him.

    That’s execution. That’s not on — Konata can go for 25, but we don’t give him a chance to, so it’s execution and whoever that guy was that missed the block – I’m not even going to call his name out – but that’s what happens. It takes 11.

    I hope that answers your question.

    Q. Specifically with Gavin Bartholomew, what’s missing with that connection?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Just happens — it’s like — comes down to the down and who’s open and what they’re taking away and what they’re giving you and what you’re seeing. There’s times back there, and again, I know we make comments — when you watch videotape, you go, ‘Oh, that guy is open. Why didn’t he throw it to him?’ He can’t see it. Again, there’s somebody in his way. You know there’s a lot of things back in the pocket, whether you’re 6’3″ or you’re 6’0″, we know things change that way, but nobody is 6’8″ back there that can see over everything. When there’s linemen getting in your vision, you don’t see some of those crossing routes, which we missed a couple crossing routes or check-downs that maybe we should make — call them runaways through that linebacker territory that maybe we didn’t hit that we’d like to hit.

    Q. Talking about the defense earlier and the struggles that they’ve had, focusing too much on maybe Drake Maye running versus maybe other guys, how much of it was also the angles that your guys attacked on, on Josh Downs in space, Maye in space, and how much is that something you prepare for versus execution in the moment?

    PAT NARDUZZI: A lot of it’s prepared for. We had angle problems earlier in the year against a tailback — a quarterback from – (Sims) from Georgia Tech. Since then we haven’t really seen it, but they lined up Downs in the backfield and swung him out there, and we adjusted after the first time. We didn’t execute it after that. It comes down to practice.

    Again, we’ve got to get wider. We’re going to see the same thing with Sean Tucker. They’re going to do the same thing with Sean Tucker. They’re going to motion him out quick, throw him the ‘T-bubbs’ and we’ll get a chance to practice this week, and we’ll practice it 100 times. We’ll get our backer out there wider.

    It’s one of those things that Hallett didn’t pull the trigger fast, but if you go back to the week before at Louisville, you remember what happened; it was the same thing. It was a bubble, bubble go, so he’s playing back, and until Bangally or the Star, that outside linebacker on the field triggers faster, he’s got to hang on to it so he doesn’t run by him, so it’s kind of like there’s plays off of plays that the normal eye, but it looks like you’ve got it.

    But those are things that you wonder why he pulls slow; he’s making sure he doesn’t give that back again. But then Downs runs, he’s fast. You talk about angles, there were some angle problems there.

    But, hey, they’ve got a guy that runs a 4.4 out there and we’ve got a 225-pound linebacker that ain’t running a 4.4. We’ve got to put ourselves in better position. And again, we talked about it but we didn’t get a chance to coach it as well as we’d like to, and didn’t have a walk through or run a play on the sideline.

    Again, it shocks me that we weren’t able to figure that out quicker. Like after he’d run it once, man, as a linebacker I know what I’m doing. As soon as that thing goes or as soon as I see 11 lined up at the tailback spot to the field, I’m widening it up a little bit just getting ready for it. I don’t have to react to it. But it didn’t click in.

    Q. Stopping those type of plays earlier on and then it kind of withered down throughout the game, how much of that is coaching for consistency or how much of that is, hey, guys during the game we’ve got to keep adjusting or keep talking?

    PAT NARDUZZI: You know, we adjust throughout the game with a bunch of different stuff, and again, I’ll tell you this, we didn’t see a lot of stuff that we practiced all week. We saw a heck of a lot more passes. Their favorite play is the counter; they didn’t run counter all day. I don’t think they ran it at all.

    Obviously they felt like they couldn’t throw to that point, or excuse me, couldn’t run it. They were just going to let their best player throw it to one of their other best players and let those tailbacks do what they do, protect a little bit and sneak out every once in a while.

    Again, good game plan by them. They used their tools, and again, something you have to adjust to all the time.

    Q. How do you prioritize things that you got beat on in last week’s game while preparing for what you’ll see this week?

    PAT NARDUZZI: It’s not easy. We tell our guys every week, whether it’s offense or defense, if you put something on tape, whether it’s a protection on offense and you get beat on a blitz — they don’t even run this blitz but we’ve got to practice this blitz because they can put it in. Same thing on defense; hey, they don’t really run a bunch of bubbles, but last week we got hit on the bubble go, so we’re protecting, making sure we don’t give up the bubble go and then they’re throwing bubbles. As soon as you stop that — they loved bubble go’s last week. We knew — really North Carolina didn’t run many bubbles; they ran more bubble go’s than they even did bubbles. We knew the 3-by-1 formation was some bubble but really bubble go’s, which was where they were killing people on, so we were very conscious of that. But they got the right guy out there to attract the bubble, that’s for sure.

    Q. You said last Thursday that Barden would start and he didn’t even get in the game. Something going on there?

    PAT NARDUZZI: No, there was nothing going on. He’s a great kid. To be honest with you, last Thursday I didn’t think that Bub Means would play. He was available game time. That’s the only reason. Again, I felt guilty kind of saying he’s going to play and all of a sudden he doesn’t. He was ready to play. From the week before, I don’t know if you remember this, from the week before I was excited for him to get a chance, and then again, we got him at a different position that wasn’t fair to him.

    It seems like every week there’s something going on, and then last week we got him switched around. We were going to put Konata in that position because he’s played it before and just leave Jaylon where he was. However, then it goes down to — comes to game time and Bub is ready to go and he played the whole game and did a nice job.

    That’s why. But I thought — Jaylon had started all week. Bub didn’t get many reps. But that’s kind of what we did.

    Q. I noticed you had Tylar Wiltz starting last week. You were working in two right tackles. You are 4-4 with four to play. Is it fair to say that there’s some of those positions that are a little more up for grabs due to that lack of production and the way things are going right now?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Not really. Go back to the tackle position. We feel like we’ve got three guys and I think we gave up one sack at that left tackle position. We wish maybe Matt Goncalves was in there instead at the time. We got beat inside on a sack, but those three — nothing is open. You feel like you’ve got guys that can be starters. Same thing at outside linebacker. Bangally didn’t start pretty much because he didn’t practice on Tuesday because he was banged up. As a matter of fact, we didn’t think he was going to go, either. The trainer told us last Tuesday he wasn’t going. Then — he’s a tough, tough kid.

    But some of his maybe lack of practice maybe showed up on the field, too, but that’s some things you have to deal with. That’s why Tylar was out there. Nothing is up for grabs. I feel good with Tylar; I feel great with Bangally; I feel great with Solomon DeShields getting out there and playing, and obviously Shayne Simon.

    It’s not up for grabs. There’s some people around the country that don’t even do depth charts anymore because depth charts make guys feel bad. You guys like a depth chart, who’s starting. But we’ve got guys — we feel like M.J., A.J. and Marquis are three starting corners. Those are your three guys you see out there. You can’t say one is a starter over the other because they’re all playing significantly.

    Even when you look back at Bangally didn’t start. Bangally ended up having more plays than Tylar when you look at the play count. So it really doesn’t matter. It comes down to who’s playing and playing well and then we’re going to go with the hot guy.

    Q. You talked about so much being on the line, what your team hopes to accomplish in the big picture. Do you feel you guys can almost play with nothing to lose? With the ACC championship pretty much out of reach, you guys can really just play looking to defy some odds or anything?

    PAT NARDUZZI: I hope that’s what we’re already doing. We try to go 1-0 every week, so I don’t know if the mindset really changes, because my mindset hasn’t changed. We’re still trying to be 1-0 every week and not looking too far ahead to what could be.

    I wouldn’t say it really matters. We’re not going to play any looser than we play; we’re going to play the same type of way. I don’t see changing our philosophy, what our mindset is. Our goal is to go 1-0 each week, and we’ve got a really good Syracuse team coming in here that’s hungry. They’re hungry for a victory like we are, so it’ll be two hungry teams looking to get back in the win column.

    Q. What makes Sean Tucker unique as a running back?

    PAT NARDUZZI: You know what, Sean Tucker, a year ago they were running the ball a lot. I think they might have rushed for 28 yards on us total, total offense last year.

    You know, he’s fast. They will get him the ball out of the backfield more. We just talked about the Josh Downs ‘T-bubb.’ They’re going to run the bubble to him without a question, and they’ve done it already so you’ve got it on videotape, so it’ll be interesting to see how we defend it this week.

    I’m sure they’ll do some bubble go’s, after which I haven’t seen a bubble go yet, which means bubble and then those guys block and go.

    But he’s fast. He’s elusive. He’s got good wiggle. He’s a really good tailback. Actually we got him in the run game last year, but now you’re going to deal with him in space this year in the passing game. He’ll be on the backside of a 3-by-1. He’s running wheel routes. He’s running bubbles over there into the boundary. Shrader looks for him a lot. He’s going to look for Gadsden and look for Sean Tucker. So those are two guys he wants to get the ball to.

    Q. Do your guys look at Syracuse as a rival?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Yes, I think we all go back to the Big East days. Is it one of those where we’re going to go fight in the tunnel? I don’t think so. But it’s a rival game. But I don’t know if it’s to that extent.

    Q. What’s the difference between a bubble and a bubble go?

    PAT NARDUZZI: A bubble is when the guy swings and they throw the ball, like Josh Downs. You know which play I’m talking about. Then they fake the bubble, like if EJ is the tailback, fake the bubble, and those other guys are blocking for him is when they block and then they go vertical. Okay, so the quarterback can pump there and then they go vertical.

    That’s what got us against Louisville, the one touchdown when he’s wide open in the end zone. Erick Hallett pulls to get the bubble, and the guy runs by him. So that’s what slows people down. We’ll get a lot of work at that this week with what we’ve seen the last two weeks.

    Q. It’s not 100 percent certain that Shrader will be ready to go. Are you preparing for Del Rio-Wilson?

    PAT NARDUZZI: We’re preparing for both for them. We won’t change our scout team quarterbacks for that matter, but they’re both guys that are athletic. They both throw the ball well. I don’t know if the offense changes a whole bunch based on who plays. I would think just watching the TV copy that he looks like he’s in good condition on the sideline. I don’t know what it is, a lower leg injury or concussion, got kneed I think on play 24 and he looked wobbly at that time, so I don’t know what it is, but he didn’t have a towel over his head and light wasn’t bothering him it didn’t seem in the Dome. So we’ll see.

    Q. Syracuse has had a couple down years. What do you think has changed this year and obviously that’s a credit to Dino Babers?

    PAT NARDUZZI: Yeah, it’s a credit obviously to Dino holding it together, but I would say they were good on defense a year ago, so Coach White has done a good job there.

    I started out by saying Robert Anae has been a difference maker for them on offense. But we’ve seen some different coordinators go through Syracuse in Dino Babers’ career there, and if Dino is a fast-tempo, Baylor-ish type, very similar to Tennessee tempo, there was years we’d go up in that dome and they were tempo, tempo, tempo, tempo, snap the ball in 10 seconds like a Tennessee. They’ve obviously slowed that down; they’re about 22 to 25, 26 seconds on average, which is about the same thing Virginia was back when they were there.

    We’ll be ready for their fast tempo. They’ve got a dozen plays, 20 plays that will go in 10 seconds. But like everybody, it’s the same tempo everybody is running nowadays. Nothing is real fast except Tennessee and some other teams throughout the country.

    But everything else they’re going to be lined up, make you be ready early, and they’re going to speed it up to slow down.

    But Robert Anae and the quarterback coach have made a big difference in my opinion, and they’re making it simple on the quarterback as far as his reads and getting it out of his hand quickly. There’s been times we’ve had 10 sacks up there, and they’re not giving up a ton of sacks right now I don’t believe. You see the quarterback scrambling. If he doesn’t like it, he’s taking off, just like we saw last week.

    We’ll have to be prepared for all those quarterback draws you saw. Same stuff.

    Q. Was it the right call on Calijah?

    PAT NARDUZZI: You know, it’s hard to say. I’m not going to criticize the officials. They do an outstanding job. It’s tough. The whole rule is tough. But the guy is going down and you don’t know it; Calijah is going, he doesn’t know he’s going down. Before you leave your feet if you knew he was going down then you wouldn’t even do anything. But you’ve got to say it’s a good call because they said it was a good call. But it wasn’t a good call for me on the sideline; I’ll tell you that. It was not one we wanted to lose.

    Like

    1. PN goes on and on about how great the OC and QB coaches who came over from UVA are doing at Cuse. Why didn’t he hire them when Whipple left?

      Like

    1. PN goes on and on about how great the OC and QB coaches who came over from UVA are doing at Cuse. Why didn’t he hire them when Whipple left?

      Like

  56. PITT (4-4, 1-3 ACC) vs. #22 SYRACUSE (6-2, 3-1 ACC): Complete Game Release Link

    November 5, 2022 • 3:30 p.m. (ET)

    Acrisure Stadium (68,400/Natural Grass) • Pittsburgh, Pa.

    ACC Network • 93.7 The Fan • Pitt Panthers Radio Network

    PittsburghPanthers.com • @Pitt_FB

    GAME STORYLINES

    √ Pitt returns to Acrisure Stadium for an ACC encounter with Syracuse. The Panthers will be playing their first home game in nearly a month following back-to-back road contests.

    √ Pitt and Syracuse have played every year since 1955, when both schools were independents. The Panthers and Orange were Big East football conference members from 1993-2012 before entering the ACC in 2013.

    √ Pitt and Syracuse play annually as ACC divisional crossover opponents. With the ACC’s elimination of divisions beginning in 2023, the yearly meetings will still continue as Syracuse is one of Pitt’s three designated permanent foes.

    √ Pitt has won 17 of the past 20 games in the series. However, tight games are commonplace. Six of the past 10 contests have been decided by single digits.

    √ Pitt is 9-1 against the Orange at Acrisure Stadium (formerly Heinz Field). Syracuse’s lone win occurred in 2001, the venue’s inaugural year.

    √ Israel Abanikanda has established himself as a highly viable candidate for All-America honors and the Doak Walker Award, presented to the nation’s top running back.

    √ Abanikanda leads the entire country in all-purpose yards (177.88) and ranks fifth in rushing (135.75).

    √ He additionally paces the nation in rushing touchdowns (16), total touchdowns (17), scoring per game (12.8) and total points (102).

    √ Since 2015, Pat Narduzzi has directed Pitt to 37 victories in ACC play, the third-highest win total during that span. The Panthers trail only Clemson (58) and Miami (39).

    BROADCAST INFORMATION

    Television • ACC Network

    Chris Cotter (play-by-play)

    Mark Herzlich (analyst)

    Lericia Harris (reporter)

    Pitt Radio • 93.7 The Fan & Pitt Panthers Radio Network

    Bill Hillgrove (play-by-play)

    Pat Bostick (analyst)

    Larry Richert and Dorin Dickerson (reporters)

    SiriusXM Satellite Radio

    SiriusXM Channel 134 or 194, SXM App Channel 956

    WPTS Radio (Pitt Student Station) • 92.1 FM

    Like

  57. Unless I missed it, not a single question about Slovis’ missed passes — under/overthrows, passes into double/triple coverage — and the open receivers who continually not get hooked up with?! The press needs to grow a pair and start pointing out how this kid is just not getting it done for near four quarters…every game he has one good quarter, one okay quarter, and two stinkers?! Must we lose by 40 to get a change here?

    The only possible rationale for this is that Patti still isn’t healthy and able to run and protect himself, and Yarnell’s arm is so weak that Duzz can’t see playing him? Otherwise, play Patti and at least he can run — and throws a pretty nice ball — or play Yarnell if you think he could be the future…all other choices just lead to more of the same?!

    Like

  59. Slovis is not good enough

    Cignetti needs to go

    Two questions from Peak with very easy answers

    But narduzzi is a stubborn fool

    Like

  60. North Carolina players were chanting: NOW WE HAVE A CHANCE!
    Puhlleeeze. What galaxy was this?

    Not to be Johnny Raincloud (again), but can you imagine how bad we’re going to be next year with Izzy, Wayne, most of the D-line, safeties and a chunk of the inept(but we’re still better than what’s waiting in the wings) O-line gone? And. Killer schedule?

    Good thing we’re undefeated this year because I don’t want to think about 2023

    Liked by 1 person

  61. I see where Auburn pulled the string and fired their coach in mid season. I was reading an article on the 12 likely candidates and I was shocked, shocked I say, that neither the Duzz or Cignetti was mentioned!!! Typical SEC, bypassing two outstanding candidates.

    Liked by 2 people

  62. Stay safe tonight given 🎃. Homes of bad football coaches have been known to be egged and toilet papered historically on this night. But what does Pitts undefeated coach have to worry about right.

    Like

  63. One of the things l don’t like about Narduzzi is that when he’s being pressured by reporters in his press conferences to, you know, explain things he does crap like this…

    “Same thing on defense; hey, they don’t really run a bunch of bubbles, but last week we got hit on the bubble go, so we’re protecting, making sure we don’t give up the bubble go and then they’re throwing bubbles. As soon as you stop that — they loved bubble go’s last week. We knew — really North Carolina didn’t run many bubbles; they ran more bubble go’s than they even did bubbles. We knew the 3-by-1 formation was some bubble but really bubble go’s, which was where they were killing people on, so we were very conscious of that. But they got the right guy out there to attract the bubble, that’s for sure.”

    The last resort of a man being asked, in simple terms, to explain why he failed.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. What in the heck is Narduzzi talking about? Maybe a professor from the literature department can explain Pat’s use of the term bubble. I think he’s full of psychobubble…or is it psychobabble.

        Liked by 1 person

  64. What I don’t get about our defense is that with 11 guys on each side, why are there wide open guys on every play? But when we are on offense no one gets open.

    Liked by 3 people

  65. Well narduzzi can sit in his tub tonight and blow all the bubbles he wants. You have to be kidding me. His answer was bubbles. I counted 11 of them.

    Like

    1. Not really I expect the ACC network will not carry the Pitt Duke game figuring that there will many other ACC games that need covering that day.

      Like

  69. Gordon you really hit on something. I read that Maye hit 10 different people with passes. Yet we can’t find the tight end even once. Besides the running backs there is nothing going right with this team. And Narduzzi’s press conferences are ridiculous nonsense!

    Liked by 1 person

  70. Listen, Pitt runs a pro set…..from the 1990’s. Even the pros don’t run the system Pitt does anymore. Some people are just stuck in the past, and because it worked then they feel it should work now.

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    2. WR coach Tiquan Underwood and/or Cig should have spoke up during the game (halftime adjustments) and reminded Duzz of Barden’s lack of snaps.

      Integrity matters and a lot of coaching miscues by this staff are killing what should have been a good season.

      Duzz’s comments on this subject were disturbing. I expect Barden will transfer soon.

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      1. One would think that Cignetti and Underwood would insert the WRs they wanted without conferring with the HC…unless there were other factors.

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  72. Cignetti is no genius but if Slovis hits guys in stride instead of repeatedly making them wait or dive for balls, we are 7-1 and ranked in the top ten. Every game he has at least 4-5 drive killing misfires with his receivers, who are not always perfect but better than him. At least two of the deep throws he made to Wayne would have been TDs had he led him properly…he cannot throw any one open…most good high school QBs can do that?!

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    1. 100% agree on Slovis, even on the inexcusable Wayne drop, the pass should have been better but Wayne adjusted to it enough to make a very makeable catch and obviously didn’t

      imo it’s still clear that Cig is mostly the problem and the QB, receivers, and o-line earn the rest of the blame – 40%, 30%, 16%, 14%

      I still don’t think we see enough screens or use of the TE and we seem to still suck at the WR bubbles and I can’t ever recall us running a “bubble go”(is that what UNC did?)

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    1. Kamara has been a consistently weak tackler all year and maybe worse on position and attack angles

      Dennis whiffing on Maye was surprising

      think any of this has to do with “me, not we” players looking for splashy TFL plays to celebrate rather than doing their jobs

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  75. I think a bigger question is why are these guys running in space in the first place. Why are our guys so out of position that they have to tackle these guys that are running at full speed.

    Why is no one covering a back running out into the flat with a blocker in front and only one Pitt guy within 10 yards and a blocker between him and the back? I lost count of the number of times this happened.

    But when we have the ball Slovis is throwing to guys that are double or triple covered and getting gang tackled and missing the wide open guy?

    It all comes down to being in the right place and making blocks and tackles, so we have two problems, we are out of position and we are missing our blocks and tackles much too often.

    As much as Slovis and the receivers have been underwhelming, the fact that our lines have not lived up to their potential is most disturbing. No one wins every battle but our lines have been getting beat far too often. Then they appear to wear down instead of getting stronger in the fourth quarter.

    I know I am old school but the individual celebrations after decent plays in an overall losing effort is just plain dumb and frustrating, wait till you make a touchdown or a turnover.

    Better still wait till you win a freaking game.

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  77. Out of 131 schools, here is how Pitt ranks on a few relevant metrics

    Total D 39
    Total O 63
    Fewest penalties per game 105
    Red zone D 98
    Red zone O 85
    Third down conversion 70
    Turnover margin 92
    Passing efficiency 99

    So a very undisciplined team that doesn’t win the turnover battle and struggles both offensively and defensively in the red zone.

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  78. A solid offensive line cures many problems. This OL seems to break down at the worst possible moments. They cannot seem to pass protect on third and long situations when a pass is obvious and they must give the QB sufficient time. This is surprising coming from a seasoned group that got much experience last year with Pickett. Losing two starters to injury doesn’t help, but this group supposedly had significant depth. What does this say about next year’s offensive line when many of these guys will be gone?

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    1. While I agree, Slovis’ inability to evade the rush is making the O-line look much worse than it is. Defenses don’t have to worry about containing him or even him making an outlet pass since they get blocked or he throws them in the dirt or with no touch.

      A stationary QB is a dinosaur in today’s football.

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    1. I do not see Pitt winning two more games this year. 5-7 does not qualify a team for a bowl game. For once Lone Star may be optimistic?

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  80. It just dawned on me that Cam Bright and John Petrishen used to blow up those bubble screens before they ever got started. Is it the defensive scheme or just inept play?

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  81. The kid from Brooklyn is home after my back procedure and recovery will take some time, but no major problems. I admit that my focus is rapidly shifting away from Pitt FEETSBALL toward basketball and our terrific Lady Panthers volleyball team. I can easily see the Pitt Pussycats losing at least 2 more games and playing some mediocre team that will display the talents of the GENIUS NARDUZZI (“our guys played hard..hmmm) in the SKUNK BOWL. Bring on North/South/Western/Eastern/Central Idaho. Our team ain’t going anywhere no matter how much we want to see things turn around. And yes,,,,,,,we are beginning to discuss how bleak our prospects will be next year (bleak is a nice way of saying *%^$#).

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  82. Another thought about Pitt “we pretend to play football”….if the earthquake strikes Pitt and we lose every remaining game (negative thought but not impossible) will Heather put our genius coach on the warm or very hot seat. Assistant coaches will be dumped, recruits will de-commit and the portal will provide players who will never be better than second or third-string talent on most p5 teams. Heading into the 2023 season with a very tough schedule and a team stacked like the 1-9 days of Coach Hart will Pitt can The Youngstown Flash by finding buyout $$$ after a 2-10 season? Slovis will not suddenly become a (I love this word). ..juggernaut and the defense will be in the medical tent from being pounded into the ground.. Minchy could easily head elsewhere…Patti transfers and Yarnell goes to greener pastures and Ivy League graduates>>>>Some of you may call me a wackadoodle, however, I have been watching Pitt Football since 1959 and this team is headed for the dumper. Acrisure Stadium will have maybe an average of 15,000 per game and nobody will want FANTA.

                          I WANT TO BE WRONG ABOUT ALL OF THIS>>>HELP!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Last years coaching staff won the ACC. What two coaches are different on this years staff? They coach the problem areas on this team. Bad hires.

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