Pat Narduzzi: ‘A chance’ Pitt players’ parents can get into Heinz Field on Saturday
Pat Narduzzi said there’s “a chance” a small number of spectators will be allowed inside Heinz Field on Saturday for Pitt’s game against N.C. State. The coach said he assumes players’ parents would be No. 1 on the priority list, but he added, “There’s a chance for anything. Who knows?”...
Big Ten, Pac-12 teams back in most unusual AP Top 25 pollVideo
No. 6 Ohio State, No. 10 Penn State and No. 14 Oregon returned to the Associated Press college football poll Sunday, weeks before they start playing, creating a Top 25 as unusual as this season. At the top of the rankings this week, Clemson remained No. 1 with 55 first-place...
Pitt notebook: Alex Kessman meditates, kicks 3 field goals
Pat Narduzzi said defensive end Patrick Jones practiced “like an animal” last week before getting three of Pitt’s seven sacks Saturday in a 23-20 victory against Louisville. Alex Kessman took a different road, as kickers often do. He met with a sports psychologist, took copious notes about their conversation and...
Defense rules for No. 21 Pitt in win over No. 24 Louisville
Days before Pitt lined up against Louisville, Pat Narduzzi took offense to repeated references to Louisville’s speed. The coach’s thinking appeared to be, “How dare anyone imply Pitt’s defense couldn’t keep up.” He wasn’t happy about the expectations of long gains, busted coverages and Pitt defensive backs futilely chasing Louisville’s...
Pitt Take 5: Panthers hope to match Louisville’s speed in Top 25 showdown
Pat Narduzzi sounded hurt, indignant and defensive when he was asked if Pitt will be equipped with enough speed to counter Louisville’s big-play offense in Saturday’s game at Heinz Field. Although the intent of the question was not to denigrate Pitt’s team speed — to the contrary, Pitt has plenty...
NCAA denies transfer guard Nike Sibande’s request to play immediately for Pitt
Nike Sibande, a 6-foot-4 transfer guard from Miami (Ohio), may have to wait until the 2021-22 season to play basketball for Pitt. The NCAA has denied Sibande’s waiver request to play immediately, instead of sitting out one season as a transfer. He has one season of eligibility remaining. Pitt plans...
Steelers ‘optimistic’ about hosting fans at Heinz Field in October; Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi says parents could sit 60 feet apart
The upcoming weekend marks the final games in September for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pitt, but there has been no word in regards to officially lifting the ban on allowing fans inside Heinz Field. Before the season, Steelers and Pitt officials jointly agreed to play their five September games in...
Rashad Weaver says Pitt is ‘tired’ of being the underdog
Pitt is favored by three points Saturday, but Rashad Weaver probably is not aware and it wouldn’t matter. Weaver believes the No. 21 Panthers (2-0, 1-0 ACC) don’t get enough respect around the country, and he said it’s time to change that big-picture perception. He figures Saturday’s game at Heinz...
Defenses take early edge in ACCVideo
Defense seems to have the early edge in the ACC after the start of this pandemic-affected college football season. There are 11 ACC teams among the top 40 in defense nationally, and that’s with Virginia and Virginia Tech sidelined so far because of covid-19 postponements. Still, the ACC is off...
Veteran announcer Wes Durham lumps Pitt among cluster of ACC contenders
Wes Durham counts the first seven years of his life as the only time he wasn’t surrounded by ACC football, basketball or baseball. His father, legendary play-by-play announcer Woody Durham, called North Carolina games on radio for 40 years (1971-2011) after replacing Bill Currie, who left for a job at...
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi looking for touchdowns, not field goals
If Pat Narduzzi is getting weary of questions about kicker Alex Kessman, who missed all three of his field-goal attempts in two games, there is a foolproof solution. “How about scoring touchdowns?” Pitt’s coach said. Rest assured, Narduzzi and special teams coach Andre Powell are working on Kessman’s mechanics and...
Pat Narduzzi hopes Pitt justifies his expectations for a special season
Pat Narduzzi’s message Monday after he dissected Pitt’s 2-0 start to the season was simultaneously sincere, hopeful and cautionary. • Sincere because he believes the Panthers could be the most successful of his six Pitt teams, and he wants his players to know it. • Hopeful because he may be...
Pitt will wear alternate uniforms geared to pay tribute to city’s steel heritageVideo
When unbeaten and 21st-ranked Pitt welcomes No. 24 Louisville to Heinz Field on Saturday, players will wear alternate uniforms for the first time since the university unveiled new colors and branding in April 2019. ?.??.??ꜰᴏʀɢᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴜᴛᴜʀᴇʙᴇᴀᴛ ʟᴏᴜɪꜱᴠɪʟʟᴇ⛓️ #H2P ⛓️ pic.twitter.com/BegciILZs9— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) September 20, 2020 The jerseys and...
Mark Madden, Tim Benz: Limited fans should be allowed at Heinz Field games
Don’t get your knickers in a twist, Pitt fans. I know you enjoy doing that. But I’m not here to offend. I’m not here to make the all-too-easy jokes about attendance at Heinz Field for Panthers football games. “How would Pitt players know the difference if fans were in the...
Pitt moves to No. 21 in Associated Press poll after victory against Syracuse
Pitt made the second-largest jump in the Associated Press poll Sunday when the Panthers landed at No. 21 after their 21-10 victory Saturday against Syracuse. Pitt (2-0, 1-0 ACC) was ranked 25th last week. Only Miami, which leapfrogged from No. 17 to No. 12, made a bigger jump. Next up...
Pitt notebook: ‘Old man’ Rashad Weaver hasn’t forgotten how to sack quarterback
Pitt defensive end Rashad Weaver’s 14-game absence didn’t hurt his ability to sack the quarterback. Perhaps just as important, he retained a most refreshing character trait: honesty. In a 21-10 victory Saturday against Syracuse, Weaver experienced his first game competition since the Sun Bowl on New Year’s Eve 2018. After...
Pitt survives series of mistakes in 21-10 victory against Syracuse
While Pitt was preparing for its game against Syracuse, practice went so well one day Pat Narduzzi looked around and was convinced something was wrong. “I had to yell at them for something, just to yell at them, because it was so clean,” he said. Clean would be the last...
Pitt will start answering questions in ACC opener against Syracuse
Pitt’s 10-game journey of discovery through the ACC begins Saturday against Syracuse. It represents the most conference games the Panthers have played in the ACC or Big East since discarding its independent status in 1993. Each game matters, and none are expected to be easy. While some fans wonder what...
Former Pitt running back, Johnstown High School great Artrell Hawkins Sr. dies at 63
Artrell Hawkins Sr., who played running back at Pitt after a career as one of the all-time great players at Greater Johnstown High School, died Thursday of natural causes in Johnstown. He was 63. Hawkins set rushing and scoring records at Johnstown from 1973-75, totaling 3,552 yards and 234 points....
Baldwin defensive lineman Dorien Ford picks Pitt
Pitt landed its fourth 2021 recruit from a WPIAL school Thursday night when Baldwin defensive lineman Dorien Ford tweeted his intention to enroll next year. Tim Sweeney, the first-year coach at Baldwin, didn’t meet Ford face-to-face until two months ago, but he knows a talented player when he sees one....
To smell a victory against Syracuse, Pitt must avoid those nasty tackles for losses
The best way for Pitt to keep Syracuse’s defensive front socially distant Saturday might be for the offensive linemen to wear what Pat Narduzzi calls those “stinky, smelly” T-shirts under their jerseys. Even right guard Jake Kradel wondered about the bonding ritual Pitt’s linemen adopted in training camp, every day...
Pitt accepting ticket deposits for men’s basketball while hoping fans can attend
Pitt’s ticket office is accepting deposits for the 2020-21 men’s basketball season, with the hope that fans will be allowed in the Petersen Events Center for games. Currently, no fans are permitted at any Pitt athletic event through September, but university officials said a $100 risk-free deposit will ensure priority...
The long, strange football history of Pitt-Syracuse. And it’s getting odder by the year.
Saturday marks the 75th college football game between Pitt and Syracuse. And one word sums up the history of this series. Weird. It’s one of the strangest, goofiest rivalries in terms of historical trends that you will find. Just look at Syracuse’s three most recent trips to Heinz Field. 2020...
NCAA sets Nov. 25 start date for men’s, women’s basketballVideo
The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball season will begin Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving. The Division I Council voted Wednesday to push the start date back from the originally scheduled Nov. 10 as one of several precautions against the spread of coronavirus. The later start date coincides with the...
SirVocea Dennis aging well as a young Pitt linebacker
Perhaps you’ve heard about Pitt’s starting linebackers Wendell Davis, Cam Bright and Phil Campbell III: Athletic players who bring the necessary elements of speed and athleticism to the three positions. But linebackers coach Rob Harley will tell you — without even being asked — there is competition every day at...
