Pitt Take 5: Scrimmage on Saturday at Acrisure gives quarterbacks avenue to make their case
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Pat Narduzzi will take his team over to Acrisure Stadium on Saturday for Pitt’s final scrimmage of the summer.
Big surprise: Quarterbacks will be a major area of focus.
Narduzzi reiterated Friday morning that he doesn’t know when he will make his decision public between Kedon Slovis and Nick Patti, but he said the scrimmage will have major bearing on it
“What they do, how they do it,” he said.
After the scrimmage, the next step is getting ready for guys in different color jerseys and starting to prove all that national championship talk is more than just words that sound nice. Narduzzi said there will be some serious study on West Virginia next week.
What would a victory — coupled with another nine days later against Tennessee — mean to the No. 17 Panthers? Probably a top-10 ranking.
Here are five thoughts to ponder before practice — endless practice — resumes Monday.
1. Another Aussie
Special teams coach Andre Powell said freshman Sam Vander Haar will be the starting punter, Pitt’s second in a row from Australia.
Like Kirk Christodoulou, who was Pitt’s punter for the previous four seasons, Vander Haar is a native of Melbourne, who played Australian Rules Football as a youth. He’s 25 years old and a newlywed. His wife, Hallie, is a Duquesne graduate.
“When you get those guys from Australia that don’t play American football, there are some things that they have to learn,” Powell said. “But he can punt the football pretty good, and he’s getting better.”
Pitt was practicing directional punting Friday morning, and Vander Haar received a hand slap from Narduzzi after a particularly accurate punt.
“If he catches the ball and kicks it where we want it and gets it out of his hands at a pretty rapid pace, he’ll be OK,” Powell said.
Australian Rules football is not a game for the meek. Players can tackle, push, bump and block, and there are no protective pads to absorb the contact.
That said, Vander Haar (6-foot, 205 pounds) must be a tough guy, right? Actually, Powell is not so sure.
“I’m not going to endorse him for being a tough guy,” he said. “I ain’t never seen him in a fist fight.”
2. Kancey’s trip north
Getting defensive tackle Calijah Kancey, a preseason All-ACC pick, to enroll at Pitt might be one of line coach Charlie Partridge’s greatest triumphs.
How did he do it?
Kancey said he met Partridge in his locker room at Northwestern High School in Miami in 2017.
“He said, ‘I don’t like your film. I love your film,’ ” Kancey said. “I said, ‘Oh, OK. I like this coach.’ ”
Partridge was relentless in his recruiting effort.
“I talked to him a lot. I thought I was on the team already,” Kancey said.
Kancey learned quickly that Partridge is all business on the practice field.
“That’s the transition young guys have to learn,” Kancey said. “It’s not official visits and recruiting. Now, it’s business. Now, it’s time to get to work. It was easy for me to understand that, and I just came in and worked.”
3. 14 vs. 14
It will be interesting to see who becomes Pitt’s go-to receiver. The Panthers were champions last year in large part because Kenny Pickett had a special connection with Jordan Addison.
Jared Wayne and Konata Mumpfield might be the leading candidates to assume the Addison role. Wayne is a reliable, possession-type receiver. Mumpfield uses quickness and acrobatics.
“He’s different,” cornerback Marquis Williams said of Mumpfield. “He’s a dominant receiver. He’s the best first-step receiver I’ve seen in my college career. His first step is crazy.”
Wiliams and Mumpfield have developed a friendly rivalry on the practice field: one No. 14 against another.
“After each rep, whether he wins or I win, we’re asking each other what I did wrong or how can I fix this,” Williams said.
4. Safeties, older and younger
Safeties coach Cory Sanders insists starting jobs won’t be assigned until closer to Sept. 1.
“We’ll know our starters the week of the game,” he said. “We have six or seven safeties that will get reps with the (first team). Four to five guys at cornerback.”
It will be a shock — and a big mistake — if Erick Hallett and Brandon Hill don’t line up at safety for the first game. Because Hallett and Hill are so experienced, coaches aren’t afraid to try new designs and techniques.
“We’re not shy to experience new things,” Sanders said . “It’s not like, ‘Ah, can we handle it? Right now, let’s put it on them and see what they can handle and what they can’t.’ ”
But Sanders said he is developing some depth at safety, with sophomore P.J. O’Brien and redshirt freshmen Khalil Anderson, Stephon Hall and Javon McIntyre.
“Even the questions they ask and where they’re at, they are more advanced (mentally) than your typical redshirt freshman,” Sanders said. “You love it as a coach if you get a text at night asking a question about practice. Or, when they come in the meeting room with questions prepared. It’s good to be able to talk ball and situational football with those guys.”
5. Outsiders’ view
ACC Network analysts Jordan Cornette, Eddie Royal and E.J. Manuel were at practice Thursday and had plenty of praise for the Panthers. Royal, a nine-year NFL veteran at wide receiver, said Pitt looks the part.
“I said this looks like an NFL team. This is what big-time Power 5 football should look like.”
Cornette came to town thinking Miami would win the ACC Coastal, but he changed his mind after watching the Panthers practice.
“Games are won in the trenches,” he said, “and this team has it on both sides.”
Cornette openly speculated that Slovis will beat out Patti at quarterback, but he likes Pitt’s depth at the position.
“I watched two capable quarterbacks out there. I think it’s going to be Kedon. I think everybody would say that,” he said. “But if Nick had to go out there, we saw Nick in the Peach Bowl and I’ve seen what Nick’s done out here.”