Pitt Take 5: Panthers seek 2nd 3-0 start in Pat Narduzzi’s 10 seasons
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Pat Narduzzi surely hasn’t given this any thought, but if Pitt defeats West Virginia on Saturday at sold-out Acrisure Stadium in the 107th Backyard Brawl, the Panthers will be 3-0 for only the second time in 10 years and the third in the 14-season post-Dave Wannstedt era.
Pitt was 3-0 in 2020 and 2014, the latter in former coach Paul Chryst’s final season. That ended with a 3-7 limp to the finish line and the need for the athletic department to find a new football coach and AD. That new coach is still here, but Pitt is looking for its fourth AD since December 2014.
Not that the ouster of Heather Lyke earlier this week will have any effect on the game’s outcome. The timing of the change in leadership sounds strange to outsiders, but it’s really not.
With 70,000 people in the house, including the school’s new hall of fame class, having a lame duck AD hosting the festivities would create an odd flashback when she would have been fired within the next two days.
Better for Pitt to rip off the Band-Aid and get on with the complicated business of college athletics.
1. An OC’s best friend
The game will mark quarterback Eli Holstein’s third collegiate start. When offensive coordinator Kade Bell spoke to reporters Wednesday, he mentioned one attribute that Holstein, a redshirt freshman, had been displaying all summer.
Bell said Holstein has “a great feel for the pocket … creating space and finding running lanes. You don’t want a guy who holds onto the ball and takes sacks. You don’t want a guy who tries to force it down the field.
“As a play-caller, I can be a lot more aggressive calling the game when I have a guy who checks the ball down, who takes off and runs for a 4-yard gain (if the play breaks down).”
Bell likes to open up his playbook to all possibilities. He was not calling a vanilla game to start the season — Bell and Holstein were brilliant in the second half against Cincinnati — but he said every game demands something new, based on the opponent.
Currently, the ratio of pass-to-run is 83:65, and it would be no surprise if that gap stays constant as the season progresses. Bell loves gaining large chunks of yardage, and the aerial game is a good way to achieve that.
2. Is Neal Brown feeling anxious?
West Virginia coach Neal Brown is wary of Holstein’s scrambling ability, especially in light of Penn State quarterback Drew Allar gaining 44 yards on six attempts two weeks ago.
“I’m impressed with how he’s run,” Brown said. “He’ll probably be excited after watching our tape because quarterbacks have been able to run on us.”
3. Saved by Kade Bell
The beauty of the Pitt offense — OK, at least after only one-sixth of the season — is those large chunks can come on the ground with Desmond Reid, who leads the ACC in rushing (293 yards). His per-attempt average is 8.9, which is surprisingly only third in the conference behind Louisville’s Duke Watson (13.7) and Isaac Brown (12.8).
Another little nugget thrown out by Bell this week: Reid almost committed elsewhere after his 2023 season at Western Carolina.
“He was already in the portal for a couple weeks before I got (to Pitt),” Bell said, “and he was going somewhere else.”
Imagine if Narduzzi had not decided to overhaul the offensive staff last season: Reid would be elsewhere. Couple that with running back Rodney Hammond’s ineligibility, and Pitt’s running back situation would have settled into turmoil.
“(Reid) never asks for the ball. He never complains. He’s always in here doing extra,” said Bell, who’s known the 20-year-old since he was a sophomore at Miramar High School in Miami Gardens, Fla. “He’s my type of guy. I want guys who love football as much as me. I want guys who want to play in the NFL. He just brings that type of mentality, that chip on your shoulder. Prove yourself. You’re not afraid to fail.”
Bell remembers selling the 5-foot-8 Reid on his father, the coach at Western Carolina.
“Des’ film was so special. It wasn’t just long runs. He was running through people,” Bell said. “You just can’t be fast. This isn’t track. You have to play football. He’s a football player, not a fast guy.”
Said WVU defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley: “Hard to see, hard to find.”
4. WVU’s ground game
Runners aren’t supposed to find success on the ground against a Narduzzi defense, but Cincinnati’s Corey Kiner was the sixth in the past seven games, including three Syracuse players last year, to rush for triple-digit yardage.
The good news is Pitt’s defense didn’t allow Kiner to affect the outcome, but they must do the same to WVU’s duo of C.J. Donaldson and Jahiem White, who together are averaging 6.8 yards per carry.
“I thought (Cincinnati) did a nice job of scheming us in the first half, and we didn’t adjust well,” defensive coordinator Randy Bates said. “It took us a little while to adjust, but once we did, I thought we played OK.
“We have to make those adjustments that we did in the first half sooner. These guys are good running teams and they’re going to be able to run it some. The critical thing is to minimize those gains. Once in a while, they’ll pop one.”
WVU quarterback Garrett Greene also can tuck it and run.
“He is a great athlete,” Bates said. “He has good sense to find an open window.”
Defensive back Nate Matlack said the Mountaineers get physical in the trenches. “We have to match that and be even better.”
5. A game of ‘goosebumps’
Bates is 64 and has been coaching continuously since 1982, but he said he still gets “goosebumps” before a game.
“If I don’t (get goosebumps) before a game, it’s probably time for me to join you guys (in the press box),” he told reporters. “I get them for every game, certainly for this one.”