Coin toss, failures on the ground plague Pitt on eve of Georgia Tech game
Pat Narduzzi believes he has found a solution to the problem that has plagued his team longer than any other. The coin toss. Pitt has lost the past nine pregame coin tosses, dating to the Sun Bowl on New Year’s Eve. How will he fix such a vexing problem? “I’m...
Pitt staffer gives big scares in Halloween videoVideo
The great thing about Halloween is everyone can get involved. Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi tweeted a video Thursday showing assistant director of player personnel Karlo Zovko getting into the haunted holiday spirit. In the video from Pitt Football, Zovko donned a Pitt uniform and helmet and stood on a platform,...
Pitt shows off new-look team in exhibition rout of Slippery Rock
Eric Hamilton had only one word to describe the first half of his first game as a Pitt basketball player: “Ridiculous,” he said, a look of disgust on his face. It didn’t matter Pitt was on its way Wednesday night to a 98-47 exhibition game victory against Slippery Rock at...
Pitt’s upperclassmen only can dream of video game glory
Saleem Brightwell’s timing is a bit off, so he never will know the joy of playing himself in the NCAA Football video game. “I’m so mad,” Pitt’s senior linebacker said. “I wanted to go to college just to be in the game.” But athletes who follow him at Pitt and...
Ex-Pitt defensive coordinator Josh Conklin ready for return trip to Death ValleyVideo
When Wofford coach Josh Conklin walks into Death Valley on Saturday, faced with the daunting task of confronting No. 4 Clemson with his FCS Terriers, he might look around and declare, “This looks familiar.” And, then, he could smile. It was three seasons ago, when Conklin was Pitt’s defensive coordinator,...
How Pitt tight ends coach Tim Salem deals with players who drop passes
Tim Salem has been around football for most of his 58 years. Pitt’s tight ends coach played quarterback at a high level as a prep star at St. Thomas Academy in Minneapolis. At Minnesota in 1980, he set the Big Ten record for consecutive completions. He also is the son...
No triple option and fewer cut blocks, but Georgia Tech still a challenge for PittVideo
For college coaches, the process of preparing a team to play a football game is long and arduous. Video study of your team and the opponent. Practice. Grading video of practice. More practice. Meetings with coaches and players. Fielding and making recruiting calls. And, of course, practice. Pitt tight ends...
Pitt prospect Timothy Brown arrested in Florida on charges of robbery, battery and kidnapping
Palm Beach (Fla.) Gardens High School defensive tackle Timothy Brown, who verbally committed to Pitt in June, is under house arrest after he was charged with robbery, felony battery and kidnapping in connection with an incident Thursday in Lake Park, Fla. The Palm Beach Post, citing a police report, reported...
Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi hopes `complacency’ didn’t plague his team in loss to Miami
Since the loss to Penn State six weeks ago, Pitt’s season had gone so well that coach Pat Narduzzi wasn’t sure what led to the loss to Miami and the end to his team’s four-game winning streak. “Tough one for our kids, tough one to swallow,” he said Monday during...
Pitt women’s volleyball moves to No. 2 in nation, highest ranking in program historyVideo
A week of upsets saw the Pitt women’s volleyball team move up one spot to No. 2 in the AVCA Division I coaches poll, which was released Monday. The Panthers (21-1) received 18 first-place votes and 1,529 points to achieve the highest ranking in program history. Texas, which moved up...
Tim Benz, Mark Madden discuss Steelers, Penguins, Pitt loss, Pirates’ new president
Mark Madden makes his triumphant return to the “Madden Monday” podcast. After a week off, “Double-M” joins me to look at the state of the Pittsburgh Steelers as they get ready for the hapless Miami Dolphins Monday night at Heinz Field. The terrible AFC is keeping the Steelers mathematically alive....
John Steigerwald: Same old song for Pitt football since Dan Marino left
Pitt is still Pitt. There was an opportunity Saturday for a program that has been struggling since Dan Marino left in 1982 to move beyond mediocrity and actually be considered a good team. But Pitt, being Pitt, managed to play just well enough to lose a homecoming game to a...
Title hopes alive, but ACC standings are the least of Pitt’s concerns
One month to go in the college football regular season, and Pitt finds itself in the middle of the ACC Coastal’s cluttered mess. Pitt remains in the hunt to repeat as Coastal champion, but the Panthers could have been leaders of the pack. One stop on defense, more care when...
Alex Kessman’s four field goals not enough in Pitt loss
All signs were pointing toward Alex Kessman walking away from Heinz Field on Saturday as the hero, the savior of a Pitt team that didn’t score a touchdown among its 78 offensive snaps. But as it turned out, his four field goals – one off Conor Lee’s school record set...
Kevin Gorman: Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi gets it wrong on fourth-and-goal againVideo
Pat Narduzzi got it right, even though he got it wrong. The Pitt football coach took the blame for a 16-12 loss to Miami on Saturday afternoon at Heinz Field, a loss that crushes the Panthers’ chances of repeating as ACC Coastal champions. That much he got right, pointing the...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Panthers can’t find end zone as Miami rallies for last-minute upset
Kenny Pickett has had a love-hate affair with Miami, a team that represented his best and worst games as Pitt’s quarterback. Pickett made his first career start against Miami when they were ranked No. 2 in the 2017 season finale, passing for 193 yards and a touchdown and scoring on...
Pitt goes down without a touchdown in ‘terrible’ loss to MiamiVideo
Jimmy Morrissey asked the question and, really, he didn’t care to hear the answer. “Was it four field goals?” he said when reporters looked to the Pitt junior center and tri-captain Saturday for some explanation of the 16-12 loss to Miami at Heinz Field. All Morrissey knew was Pitt (5-3,...
Miami stands in the way as Pitt hopes to stretch winning streak to 5
Pitt has been here before. It likes the neighborhood, but eventually it is forced to leave. The current four-game winning streak is the third of that length under coach Pat Narduzzi in his five seasons. But Pitt hasn’t won five in a row since 2009. The previous two were followed...
Pitt’s best hope against Miami might be a healthy Jimmy Morrissey
Pat Narduzzi spent the week watching video of Miami’s 24-3 victory against Pitt last year. Mostly, he focused on the Miami offense, trusting Mark Whipple, his first-year offensive coordinator, to figure out why the Hurricanes sacked quarterback Kenny Pickett six times and held 1,000-yard rushers Darrin Hall and Qadree Ollison...
Mark Whipple wants Pitt’s Kenny Pickett to take cue from Ben RoethlisbergerVideo
Pitt has plenty invested in Kenny Pickett’s arms and legs, but if he must throw himself at a defensive tackle who is almost 100 pounds heavier, he said he’ll do it. It might have happened Friday night in the fourth quarter at Syracuse. With Pitt ahead 27-20, Syracuse’s 308-pound defensive...
Playing at Pitt ‘dream come true’ for Pitt safety Paris FordVideo
Pat Narduzzi seldom brags in public about a victory, whether it occurs on the football field or in the living room of a recruit. But he was feeling good in 2017 on signing day. Three months earlier, Pitt had defeated Clemson, the eventual national champion, in Death Valley (an unlikely...
ACC midseason awards: Tar Heels freshman Sam Howell emerges
Sam Howell has moved past freshman-level studies at North Carolina. He is playing his way to the top of the class of ACC quarterbacks. Howell leads the conference with 20 touchdown passes after tying the North Carolina record with five in last week’s 43-41, six-overtime loss to Virginia Tech. He...
Pitt offensive coordinator Mark Whipple still seeking ‘complete game’ from his unitVideo
When Mark Whipple looks at the progress Pitt’s offense has made since spring drills, he allows himself one moment to smile. Then, it’s back to work. Pitt’s passing game is better by a large margin, and his insistence on emphasizing it and his hands-on work with quarterback Kenny Pickett is...
Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi focused on Miami, not rankings or ACC standingsVideo
Pat Narduzzi made his plea Monday to the media, knowing he might have been wasting his breath. While players and coaches try not to get distracted while preparing to play Miami on Saturday at Heinz Field, the talk surrounding Pitt’s program is about the four-game winning streak, why the Panthers...
4-game winning streak looks good, but Pitt needs to address issues
Pitt committed eight penalties, allowed three quarterback sacks for the second consecutive game, dropped two passes in key situations and was the recipient of some good luck during a 27-20 victory Friday night against Syracuse. But it was more than luck that carried Pitt to its fourth consecutive tight victory....
