Pitt Take 5: Loss to SMU doesn’t end hope for Panthers to finish season strong
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Simple math tells you Pitt can lose Saturday to Virginia and still maintain hope for getting to the ACC championship game.
Reality, however, tells you that’s not the case. Yes, conference co-leaders Miami and SMU could stumble, creating opportunity for Pitt or Clemson, but that’s not happening. The Hurricanes and Mustangs are unbeaten in conference games and appear destined to reach Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., for the title game Dec. 7.
Even a Panthers victory might not help, but they need to win:
• To restore momentum. The loss to SMU was ugly — a 31-3 halftime deficit turned into a 48-25 defeat — and threw shade at what was looking to be an exceptional season.
• To keep alive longshot hopes of finishing 11-1 and reaching the College Football Playoff. A one-loss ACC team that is not in the conference championship game has many hurdles to cross, but victories against Virginia, Clemson, Louisville and Boston College would create discussion. Even without a CFP invitation, 11-1 would be one victory superior to the 2021 regular season when Pitt won the ACC.
• To increase the possibility of winning nine or more games for the third time in the past four seasons. Even a 2-2 finish turns into 9-3, which would be a reversal of 3-9 last year.
Pitt fans, who are understandably anxious about what the rest of the season might bring, must hope tight end Gavin Bartholomew was right when he said, “One loss does not define us.”
Here’s some thoughts to ponder ahead of Saturday night’s matchup:
1. The race to Charlotte
Pitt (No. 18 in the first CFP rankings) will need Miami to lose a game — maybe two, depending on tiebreakers — from a list of opponents that includes Georgia Tech and Syracuse on the road and Wake Forest at home. No. 4 Miami (9-0, 5-0) might be hitting its stride after a 53-31 victory against Duke.
SMU (8-1, 5-0) appears to have the safest route to the title game, with Boston College and California at home and Virginia on the road.
2. Back home
Pitt’s road to redemption starts at Acrisure Stadium, with Virginia (4-4, 2-3) in town for another prime-time game at 8 p.m. Fighting a three-game losing streak, Virginia has allowed 113 points in that time while quarterback Anthony Colandrea has tapered off after a fast start.
Colandrea, a 6-foot, 183-pound sophomore, completed 75.8% of his passes (50 of 66) for 654 yards against Richmond and Wake Forest to open the season. Over the past three games against Louisville, Clemson and North Carolina, he’s 57 of 99 (57.6%) for only 594 yards.
Pitt has confronted Virginia coach Tony Elliott in the past after he spent seven seasons (2015-21) coordinating or helping to coordinate Clemson’s offense. Elliott is 10-20 in three seasons at Virginia.
“He’s building that thing from the ground up,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said.
Notable: Virginia was off last week. Pitt was not.
“Capable, rested team coming in here. Two weeks to prepare for us,” Pitt’s coach said.
3. Opportunity for sacks?
Pitt is only fifth in the ACC with 24 sacks, but this might be a week to match the six it recorded against California. Virginia quarterbacks were sacked 10 times Oct. 26 in a 41-14 home loss to North Carolina.
Elliott said pass-rush pressure makes it difficult to track Colandrea’s progress.
“He stood in there and threw some good balls,” Elliott said. “Then also, (he) wasn’t able to fully get through his progressions. It’s hard to evaluate.
“Right now, AC is our guy; do recognize that Tony (Muskett, backup QB) has come in and provided a spark. As I said at the beginning of the season, we’re going to need both of those guys throughout the course of the season to figure out how to win games.”
Pitt secondary coach Archie Collins said Colandrea can present problems for the defense.
“He’s good with his feet. If something’s broken down, he can utilize his feet quickly. There is no play that’s dead with him.”
4. A strong belief
Backup tight end Jake Overman caught four passes for 48 yards against SMU, his best outing since transferring from Oregon State. It’s no surprise he believes Pitt can recover from the loss, but he said the reason stems all the way back to the first days of the offseason with strength coach Michael Stacchiotti.
“Coach Stacc and those guys throw a lot of adversity at us,” Overman said. “When the adversity does hit at some point in the season, we’re ready for it and we know how to bounce back. We lean on each other and trust our coaches.”
So what does Stacchiotti demand of his guys?
“Running hills. We’re doing a bunch of crazy stuff with him in the weight room,” Overman said. “The list can go on and on. We can talk all day on that, if you’d like.”
Overman said consistency in practice and daily life helps, too.
“In order to win, you have to be consistent with everything that you do, whether it’s in the film room, whether it’s on the field at practice, whether it’s your eating habits, your sleeping habits, the things you are doing on the weekends and off days.”
For sure, this team has belief. Let’s see how it translates over the next month.
5. Next time, don’t bother asking
The question came up this week when reporters met with players, but they should have known better than to ask what it feels like to be recognized by the CFP committee.
There probably are not many, if any, Pitt players who think contrary to their head coach on this subject.
“I saw we were 18th. That’s great,” Overman said. “At the end of the day, we just have to take each day and handle our business each week and when we look up at the finish line at the end, I think we’ll be happy with where we’re at.”
Safety Javon McIntyre trotted out a well-worn Narduzzi cliche when he was asked if the ranking means anything to him.
“Not at all,” he said. “It’s just about going 1-0 every week.”
Holder/punter Cam Guess said it best Wednesday night on the “Pat Narduzzi Show” on 93.7 FM:
“The only thing that matters right now is tomorrow’s practice.”
Responded Narduzzi, “I love that kid.”