Pitt QB Kenny Pickett not 100% healthy, but Pat Narduzzi feels good ‘with where he is right now’
Pat Narduzzi doesn’t like to talk about injuries, especially when the information might help an opponent’s preparation. But Pitt’s coach did offer 57 words Thursday when he was asked about quarterback Kenny Pickett’s left ankle that was injured in the second half of the Boston College game. He didn’t give...
Pitt lives, hopes to survive on Cornerback Island
Pat Narduzzi has been preaching, teaching or designing defensive strategy for 30 years. He believes in recruiting athletic, tough-minded cornerbacks who don’t mind — in fact, prefer — pressing up against wide receivers at the line of scrimmage and covering them with little help from safeties. So it was no...
Pitt, WVU reschedule postponed game to 2023-24 basketball season
Pitt and West Virginia officials have worked out an agreement to move their basketball game, postponed this year by covid-19 restrictions, to the 2023-24 season in Morgantown, W.Va. That extends by one season the two-year agreement, finalized earlier this year, for games during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. The teams...
Pitt will welcome 5,500 spectators inside Heinz Field for final 2 home games
Spectators are returning to Heinz Field for Pitt games, too. Following the lead of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who welcomed people inside for the first time last Sunday, Pitt officials announced Thursday approximately 5,500 fans can attend each of the final two home games — Notre Dame on Oct. 24, and...
U mad, bro? Fans think Steelers are overrated; Readers pout about Pitt, Pirates, Patriots
When is a 4-0 start in the NFL not good enough? When you live in Pittsburgh and root for the Steelers. That’s how we start “U mad, bro?” this week. We also hear from persnickety Pitt fans, bummed-out Buccos backers and stubborn New England Patriots conspiracy theorists. After the Steelers...
Pitt offensive lineman Bryce Hargrove inspired by Kenny Pickett’s ability to ignore pain
Although there is no word on the status of Kenny Pickett’s left ankle — practice, of course, is closed, and coach Pat Narduzzi wants to keep Miami’s coaching staff guessing — there is something else that can’t be questioned: The value of Pitt’s quarterback goes far beyond his ability to...
No longer ‘stuck on myself,’ Pitt’s Xavier Johnson ready to build a winnerVideo
Perhaps it was a sign of growth and maturity that Xavier Johnson willingly admitted Wednesday — on his 21st birthday and the first day Pitt officially opened basketball practice — his head might have been somewhere else last season. “I learned last year I was really stuck on myself a...
Duquesne, PPG Paints Arena chosen to serve as hosts of 2024 NCAA Tournament
Duquesne is getting accustomed to sitting in the NCAA Basketball Tournament spotlight. The NCAA chose Duquesne on Wednesday to host the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship first- and second-round games. The event will mark the seventh time since 1997 Duquesne has hosted tournament games, including the previously announced 2022 first...
Pitt’s Patrick Jones approaches college football like it’s his job
Charlie Partridge encourages open dialogue of all kinds when he gathers his defensive linemen in their meeting room. “A lot of guys are looser in meeting time and having fun with each other,” Pitt’s defensive line coach said. “Which is fine. “Our meetings rooms are designed in a way where...
Through the years, Pitt has learned to bounce back from tough defeats
Those who dare to compete in the unforgiving world of college football often find the other team wants to win, too. Defeat is part of the equation, and Pitt has had its share of tough ones over the years. When Alex Kessman’s extra-point try went wide right in overtime last...
First Call: Le’Veon Bell ‘likes’ criticism of Jets; Big Ben erased from Browns record books; Pitt, WPIAL QB promoted in Dallas
Former Steeler Le’Veon Bell disses his coach on Twitter. Ben Roethlisberger is finally erased from the Cleveland Browns record books. The Dallas Cowboys may turn to a Pittsburgh product at quarterback if Andy Dalton gets hurt. “Ground Chuck” is still in playoff form. All that and more in Tuesday’s “First...
Pitt football notebook: Panthers will need fresh cornerbacks in Miami’s heat
Temperatures are expected to soar as high as 84 degrees Saturday when Pitt plays Miami in Hard Rock Stadium. But even if South Florida is hit with a sudden cold front, Pat Narduzzi plans to give his beleaguered cornerbacks a break against the No. 13 Hurricanes. “With the tempo we’re...
Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi encouraged by Kenny Pickett’s initial response to ankle injury
Pat Narduzzi didn’t pull out X-rays of Kenny Pickett’s injured ankle and display them in front of his computer for reporters on Zoom to see. But he did talk about his quarterback’s injury Monday — a slight upset — and he didn’t rule him out of Pitt’s next game Saturday...
Pitt postpones 2020 Hall of Fame induction ceremony until next year
Concerns related to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic have compelled Pitt officials to postpone induction of the 13-member Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame 2020 class until 2021, the university announced Monday. The induction ceremony was scheduled for Friday at Heinz Field. Members of the class, the third since the Hall of...
Madden Monday: Steelers’ hot start is ‘least impressive 4-0 in history’; Pitt is like its coach
The Steelers won the battle of Pennsylvania Sunday. Sorry, “BENsylvania.” The Penguins traded a Stanley Cup-winning goaltender. Sorry, a two-time Stanley Cup-winning goaltender. And the Pitt football team lost in unbelievable fashion. Sorry, completely typical Pitt fashion. So it was quite a week. Mark Madden and I recap all of...
Strong Pitt connection at USA Wrestling Senior Nationals
Pitt volunteer assistant wrestling coach Luke Pletcher, former Panther heavyweight Demetrius Thomas and junior Nino Bonaccorsi competed in the 2020 USA Wrestling Senior Nationals on Sunday in Coralville, Iowa. Bonaccorsi (Bethel Park) completed in the 97 kilos weight class in Greco, while Thomas and Pletcher (Latrobe/Ohio State) competed in men’s...
Analysis: Pitt’s problems extend far beyond its kicker
Walking to the car after a quick, Sunday morning trip to Shop ’n Save, I ran into a Pitt grad I’ve known for years. “How about that game yesterday?” I said. “Should be 5-0,” he responded, offering an accurate indictment of Pitt’s season. Pitt will carry a 3-2 record, if...
Pitt notebook: Replay review doesn’t support Panthers’ fumble recoveries
Pitt’s defense appeared to force three fumbles in its 31-30 overtime loss to Boston College, but only two ended up changing possession of the football. Coach Pat Narduzzi calmly discussed those two potentially game-changing plays, but he clearly didn’t agree with them. “I thought both of them were fumbles,” he...
Pitt loses to Boston College as record-setting kicker Alex Kessman misses OT extra point
Pitt’s Kenny Pickett and Alex Kessman experienced pain on different levels Saturday night, and the hurt ended up radiating through the entire team in a 31-30 overtime loss at Boston College. Pickett played the fourth quarter and overtime in serious pain, hobbling on an ankle injury that kept him on...
’51-6, that’s all I got to say’ – before homecoming, Miles Sanders recalls last game at Heinz FieldVideo
He went to high school about 10 miles from Heinz Field, and he was afforded two opportunities to play at the venue during college. Forty-eight hours before his first game at Heinz as a professional, Miles Sanders recalled the most recent time he played there. “51-6,” Sanders told reporters on...
Masked Pitt Panthers hit the road for Boston and a test of resiliency
The Boston hotel where Pitt will stay Friday night in advance of its game against Boston College is off-limits to outsiders. Coach Pat Narduzzi already has warned his team about the perils of travel during a pandemic. “I told them everybody up there’s got it. So, just stay away from...
Pitt, Boston College are opponents Saturday, but fighting the same battles
On Saturday, the Pitt and Boston College football teams will be opponents. Most of the rest of the year, though, these two teams fight many of the same battles. They are city schools in pro sports towns, trying to reestablish the national pulse they had in the 1980s. Doing the...
Pitt remains confident offensive line, run game will improveVideo
There are three reasons why Pitt needs improved play from its offensive line: • Coach Pat Narduzzi wants a strong running game, simply because he believes a team can’t win consistently without one. • He realizes the passing game’s effectiveness is tied to a good ground attack. • And, perhaps,...
WVU, Pitt won’t meet in basketball version of Backyard Brawl this season
Pitt has played West Virginia 187 times on the basketball court — more than any other opponent — but the game won’t happen this season because of the coronavirus pandemic, WVU coach Bob Huggins said Thursday. “It’s been postponed, moved back, delayed, whatever,” he said. “That’s not going to happen...
U mad, bro? Steelers fans are smoldering. Pitt fans upset. Penguins fans ‘fond farewell’ to Matt Murray.
I’ve gained a whole new respect for Steelers fans. They’ve proven to me that they can get just as uncontrollably agitated about a game the Steelers didn’t even play as they can get about a game that the Steelers didn’t win. I mean, this Tennessee Titans postponement really has Western...
