Tim Benz: As Pitt beat Clemson, the better team just took care of business, now it needs to keep doing so
Saturday’s game against Clemson wasn’t the kind of showdown where Pitt’s football team had to rise to the occasion. It was a day when the Panthers just needed to take care of business. Pitt came in as a three-point favorite. With the higher ranking. A better spot in the ACC...
Kenny Pickett shines as Pitt knocks off Clemson, tightens grip on 1st place in ACC Coastal
Pitt needs the yards and touchdowns through the air, and the sharp, snap decisions that set Kenny Pickett apart from most quarterbacks. But his worth to the No. 23 Panthers goes far beyond the stat sheet. Early Saturday evening at Heinz Field, Pickett showed 60,594 patrons and nine NFL representatives...
Peach Bowl CEO ponders possibility of Pitt, Penn State clashing in Atlanta
Beechview native Gary Stokan is in town this week on official business. The CEO and President of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl will attend the Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame dinner Friday night at Heinz Field and stick around for a scouting mission — Clemson vs. Pitt at 3:30 p.m. Saturday....
Pitt Take 5: Significance of Clemson game soars beyond ACC Coastal standings
A look at the ACC standings shows Pitt in first place in the Coastal Division. Even if Pitt (5-1, 2-0) loses to Clemson (4-2, 3-1) on Saturday at Heinz Field, the Panthers will remain in the lead and might stay there until almost Thanksgiving. Pitt’s next three opponents — Miami,...
Whiffing on sacks no fun for Pitt’s Habakkuk Baldonado, but he still leads team
Charlie Partridge is serious about showing Pitt’s defensive linemen the best way to topple a quarterback. And it shows: Pitt’s linemen have accounted for 13 of the team’s ACC Coastal-leading 21 sacks. But he also knows a good-natured joke when he hears one. Partridge, who is Pitt’s assistant head coach...
On a busy Wednesday, Pitt’s Kenny Pickett focuses on settling a score with Clemson
Kenny Pickett walked with long, purposeful strides down the steps into the auditorium where Pitt players gather. A busy day already was underway, with Wednesday morning practice concluded. But more meetings and video sessions were scheduled – some after dark — with offensive coordinator Mark Whipple and teammates. There was...
Washington releases longtime kicker, signs former Pitt player as replacement
ASHBURN, Va. — Washington released longtime kicker Dustin Hopkins on Wednesday and signed Chris Blewitt as his replacement. Hopkins was in his seventh season with the team but seemed on the hot seat with coach Ron Rivera for several weeks. He missed a 42-yard field goal attempt in a loss...
First Call: Steelers-Seahawks replay debate sparks Twitter spat; Von Miller trash talks Browns tackles; praise for Kenny Pickett
Wednesday’s “First Call” has some social media fallout from the Steelers-Seahawks replay controversy Sunday night. There was an ex-Bucco battle on the mound in the NLCS Tuesday. Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett is getting a strong endorsement from one of Clemson’s coaches. And Denver Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller is talking...
Banchero, No. 9 Duke headline preseason ACC basketball picks; Pitt tabbed to finish next to last
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Ninth-ranked Duke is the preseason favorite to win the Atlantic Coast Conference in its final season under Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski, while touted Blue Devils freshman Paolo Banchero is the pick to be the league’s player and freshman of the year. The ACC released results...
Pitt players, coach try to block out hype surrounding Clemson’s visit to Heinz Field
With attendance at Heinz Field climbing above 63,000, snow in the air and temperatures falling into the 30s, 13-year-old John Petrishen sat inside Heinz Field one December day, watching Pitt try to claim the 2009 Big East championship. “I remember having my heart broken,” he said, recalling the 45-44 loss...
Pitt’s favored status in Clemson game draws uninterested shrug from Pat Narduzzi
Pat Narduzzi won’t take your bet, but he’ll say this about Pitt’s game Saturday against Clemson. “I don’t care about favorites and points and spreads and all the rest. In my opinion, they’re favored, coming into our house, again,” he said of Clemson, a 3 ½-point underdog according to betql.com....
First Call: Browns badly banged up in loss; ex-Steeler a hero for Jaguars; Le’Veon Bell scores; Pitt favored to beat Clemson
The Steelers’ next opponent after a bye is the Cleveland Browns. Yet, it’s the Browns who need a bye more than just about any team in the league. In Monday’s “First Call,” we get a lengthy medical report from Cleveland. A former Steeler plays the role of hero in London....
5-1 nothing new at Pitt, but 2021 team may be built to avoid problems that plagued its predecessors
Walt Harris did it twice, Dave Wannstedt three times. Pat Narduzzi has joined his predecessors, claiming two 5-1 starts in seven seasons — 2015 and ’21 with a team that is now ranked No. 23 in the nation. Pitt just won consecutive ACC road games by 20+ points for the...
Pitt surfaces at No. 23 in Associated Press Top 25
After producing three consecutive victories with 20-plus victory margins for the first time since 2001, Pitt moved into the Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday at No. 23. Pitt’s first appearance in the Top 25 since winning its first three games of the 2020 season precedes a nationally televised (ESPN)...
Amid sports program cuts nationwide, local colleges played on during pandemic despite millions of dollars in losses
As college football stadiums, basketball arenas and hockey facilities sat idle during the coronavirus pandemic, Western Pennsylvania universities did not waver. They continued to field their teams. From Pitt and Penn State to Slippery Rock and Duquesne, local colleges bucked a nationwide trend of cutting athletic programs to offset crippling...
Pitt uses defense, running game to defeat Virginia Tech
Pitt players are changing the rules, and all it took was a victory against Virginia Tech, a 5-1 start to this season and, of course, the looming shadow of six-time defending ACC champion Clemson coming into Heinz Field next Saturday. Much like many — if not all coaches — Pitt’s...
Pitt Take 5: Stakes high when Panthers visit Virginia Tech
When the University of Pittsburgh lines up its football team Saturday inside Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va., to confront Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (the game carries enough importance to require the proper names of both schools), the winner will have an advantage to take into the final six...
When Pat Narduzzi speaks on Thursdays, you never know what to expect
Every Thursday, promptly at 1 p.m., and with most game prep finished, Pat Narduzzi sits down at a long, wooden table in a conference room and chats casually with reporters. Colorful scenes from Pittsburgh’s North Shore and Pitt’s Oakland campus strategically are hung to cover up game plans and recruiting...
Even after putting away the footballs, Pitt’s Jordan Addison learns from his brother
Whenever he confronted his older brother, Michael — one-on-one with the football in the air on a deserted field in Maryland or in the backyard — Jordan Addison met his match. Which doesn’t happen especially often. Just ask any of the defensive backs on the five teams Pitt has played...
Jeff Capel preaches togetherness in his 4th season at Pitt
After five players left Pitt’s basketball program at the end of last season, Jeff Capel’s theme for his 2021-22 team is togetherness. And he told a story Tuesday at ACC media days in Charlotte, N.C., that embodied what he wants to see from his team. It was early in Capel’s...
Mark Whipple builds relationships with his players, productive offense for Pitt
He enjoys the victories, of course, and the calls that work and those times when a Pitt player is standing in the end zone, holding the football aloft. But for Mark Whipple, the best of times might be in his office – day or night — when Pitt’s quarterbacks voluntarily...
Back after an off week, Pitt must deal with lofty expectations and Virginia Tech
Pat Narduzzi is in the midst of a difficult week of preparation for Saturday’s game against Virginia Tech at loud Lane Stadium. And for good reason. • Pitt hasn’t won there since 2015 — only twice in nine games since the series’ inception in 1993. • Two years ago, Virginia...
Transfer forward Mouhamadou Gueye shows off versatility at Pitt’s open scrimmage
Equipped with a pair of shot-blocking hands nearly as large as dinner plates, Mouhamadou Gueye showed off another part of his game Saturday during Pitt’s open scrimmage at Petersen Events Center. The graduate student from Stony Brook found the 3-point arc on the floor, stepped behind it and hit two...
Pitt transfer guard Jamarius Burton out 4-6 weeks after successful knee procedure
Jamarius Burton, one of five players added to the Pitt basketball roster after last season, will miss the next four-to-six weeks — and, possibly, the first four games of the season — after undergoing a procedure on his left knee Friday morning. Pitt coach Jeff Capel said the procedure was...
Clicking off social media gives Pitt guard Ithiel Horton new outlook on 2021-22 season
Ithiel Horton could try 1,000 bad shots this season, but his better judgement will remain unquestioned because of a decision he made off the court. Horton, a returning junior guard for Pitt’s reconstructed basketball team, told reporters last week he has been off social media for the past two months....
