Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi promises Phil Jurkovec at QB, bigger workload for RB Rodney Hammond
Share this post:
The outcome of Pitt’s game against North Carolina hinges at least partially on what results from two declarative statements made Thursday by Pat Narduzzi.
One was expected. Asked directly if Phil Jurkovec will start at quarterback Saturday night at Acrisure Stadium, the coach answered with a quick and emphatic, “Yes.”
The other also was not surprising, but its ramifications will have just as much influence on who wins the game as Jurkovec’s presence under center.
“We’re going to put a load on Rodney,” Narduzzi said of junior running back Rodney Hammond. “He needs to go. You (reporters) will all be happy with that. He was a little banged up during camp, but we got him probably back to as good a health as we’ve had. Rodney’s ready to go.”
Narduzzi admitted the loss of Izzy Abanikanda to the NFL hurts. “We miss Izzy,” he said.
Pitt’s coach knows the best way to minimize North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye’s effect on the game is to win the time of possession battle. Maye can’t complete passes from the sideline.
That’s the challenge in front of Narduzzi and offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. Pitt’s run game needs to be better than its current No. 12 standing in the ACC (an average of 143.3 yards per game).
Related
• Pitt Take 5: With No. 17 North Carolina in town, Panthers hope to avoid rare 1-3 start
• Ex-NFL QB Tim Hasselbeck says Phil Jurkovec’s struggles at Pitt create a ‘head-scratching case study’
• With ACC opener looming, Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi backs struggling QB Phil Jurkovec
In three games, Hammond has carried only 25 times for 95 yards, a total that doesn’t even place him among the top 25 rushers in the ACC. He carried 28 times against Syracuse and 25 in the Sun Bowl victory against UCLA last year.
Hammond said he’s ready for anything coaches decide to put on his shoulders.
“We have a plan. Whatever they need me to do, I’ll be ready to do it,” he said.
Hammond said he is better student of the game in his third season at Pitt than he was as a freshman, when he ran for a career-high 504 yards. He credits running backs coach Andre Powell.
“When I first came in, he used to always tell me, ‘You know how to play football, but you don’t know football,’ ” Hammond said. “In high school, I felt like I was just running. I see grass. I just run.”
Hammond used to claim he had sufficient football knowledge. Eventually, he grew to understood Powell’s thinking and learned the finer details of playing the position.
“As I got older, he showed me (about) breaking down defense, pressure gaps, trust your reads. Now, when I trust my reads, everything is right there.”
Hammond is confident he can help Pitt’s struggling offense.
“On any given play, I can make something happen,” he said. “If you sleep on me, that’s your choice.”
Narduzzi said he is seeking more “explosives” in the run game. Pitt is averaging only 3.9 yards per rush, 11th in the ACC.
“How do explosives happen? Receivers have to go downfield on the runs and help Rodney, help Daniel (Carter), help C’Bo (Flemister), help Phil,” he said.
On the quarterback topic, Narduzzi said Jurkovec asked this week to meet with the team’s leadership council (the Eagles).
“They had a great meeting,” the coach said, “and (offered) a show of support like everybody needs.”
Narduzzi said he was pleased with the week of preparation, but he added, “You don’t snap your fingers and fix everything you’d like to. But, hopefully, we’ll go out and play like we expected to when the season started.
“It’s been little things here and there. I don’t want to get in the weeds, but we got some good work in this week. I can tell you that. We will get it right. That’s what we do.”
When asked to explain why he hasn’t made a change at quarterback, Narduzzi sounded not only self-assured, but even a little brash — while leaving himself an escape hatch.
“I watch practice every day. I watch the game tape every day,” he said. “I watch the pressure the quarterback has been under and I see all the issues. I’m going to be patient with it. No one’s saying there’s not going to be a change.
“I look at the whole picture. I think I’m smart enough and done it long enough that we’ll make the right decision when the time is right.
“And, hopefully, you (reporters) will come in here and say, ‘Coach, you’re darn right. Good job.’”