Pitt got away with having duplicate numbers on the field for two punt returns Saturday.
Wearing a No. 3 jersey, starting free safety Damar Hamlin was on the field with returner Jordan Addison (3). Also, safety Brandon Hill (9) was one of the 11 with returner D.J. Turner (9).
Narduzzi said Hamlin asked to be on the punt block team, but he was taken off when Addison was sent on as the returner.
“We figured we were set,” Narduzzi said.
But Hamlin stayed on the field when it was fourth-and-short in the event Austin Peay decided not to punt. The mistake was repeated with Hill, who used to be No. 22.
“That’s kind of what we ran into by accident,” Narduzzi said. “It will never happen again. We’ll make sure we get our substitutions right this week. I thank those officials for missing that.”
Having two players on the field with the same jersey number is a penalty.
The situation was reminiscent of the Pitt/Notre Dame game in 2012 when the Irish had two No. 2 jerseys on the field when Pitt’s Kevin Harper missed a 33-yard field goal that would have won the game in the second overtime. By rule, Harper should have had the chance to kick again. Pitt lost in the third overtime.
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