Pitt using bye week to prepare for tough finishing stretch

With no game until Oct. 22 in Louisville, Pitt’s players and coaches are spending the week on the South Side working on fixing those “little things” — their words — that have dropped them from the Associated Press Top 25.

• Bad angles by defensive players toward ball carriers.

• Failure to properly identify opponents’ blitzers.

• Unexpected and disturbing leaks in the run defense.

• Passes gone awry and receivers running open, unseen by quarterback Kedon Slovis.

These are not problems that should linger, especially when coach Pat Narduzzi has assembled a veteran team with players who know what it takes to win. That includes Slovis and key players at every offensive and defensive position.

“We’ve got to make (Slovis) better as coaches, so we’ll look into that,” Narduzzi said. “I’ve got some ideas, and we’ll figure that thing out.”

Asked to assess his defense, which is a respectable but hardly dominant fifth in the ACC (337.2 yards per game), he said, “Just average at times. That first half (against Virginia Tech), I’ve just never been around where we get the ball run on us (4.4 per carry, two touchdowns). I’m not used to it. So, we’ll reevaluate where we are.”

The off week gives coaches and players a chance to scout themselves, something that is otherwise difficult to do when given only a few days to prepare for an opponent.

Pitt (4-2, 1-1) is attempting to become the first ACC team to repeat as Coastal Division champion since Virginia Tech in 2010-11. With four road games among the final six, it won’t be easy. But Izzy Abanikanda’s broad shoulders and breakaway speed sets Pitt’s ground game apart from the rest of the conference.

Here is a look at Pitt’s six remaining opponents (in order):

At Louisville (3-3, 1-3) — Before winning at Virginia on Saturday, the Cardinals had allowed a total of 100 points in losses to Syracuse, Florida State and Boston College. Quarterback Malik Cunningham (concussion) had his school-record streak of 40 consecutive starts ended last Saturday when he sat out the 34-17 victory at Virginia.

At North Carolina (5-1, 2-0) — Ranked just outside the Top 25, the Tar Heels are led by redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Maye, who tops the ACC in passing (317.4 yards per game) while completing 69.4% of his throws.

Defense appeared to be a problem when North Carolina surrendered 61 points to Appalachian State and 45 to Notre Dame, but the Heels responded the past two weeks by defeating Virginia Tech, 41-10, and Miami, 27-24.

Syracuse (5-0, 2-0) — Who would have guessed a Top 20 ACC showdown in mid-October would feature Syracuse? But the No. 18 Orange welcome No. 15 N.C. State to the JMC Wireless (formerly Carrier) Dome on Saturday.

Syracuse defeated cupcakes UConn and Wagner by a combined 107-14 and needed five field goals to beat Virginia at home, 22-20. But a 32-29 victory against a good Purdue team that almost beat Penn State was impressive.

Sean Tucker (109.2 yards per game) was the favorite to win the ACC rushing title, but Abanikanda is now averaging 138.3.

At Virginia (2-4, 0-3) — Quarterback Brennan Armstrong threw for 487 yards and three touchdowns against Pitt in 2021, but he is completing only 55% this season while throwing seven interceptions and averaging 227.2 yards, down 177 per game.

Coach Tony Elliott’s only victories in his first season after 11 years as an assistant at Clemson came against Richmond and Old Dominion.

Duke (4-2, 1-1) — There wasn’t much expected from the Blue Devils, but they dragged Georgia Tech into overtime last week before losing 23-20.

Still, there are issues on offense. Duke didn’t score a touchdown against Georgia Tech until Sahmir Hagans’ 81-yard punt return with less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter. Riley Leonard’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Nick Dalmolin with eight seconds left shows the team has plenty of fight.

At Miami (2-3, 0-1) — Tyler Van Dyke looked like the ACC’s best quarterback, but then the games started. Now, he has only seven touchdown passes in five games while Maye and Wake Forest’s Sam Hartman have thrown for 21 and 16, respectively.

Strange team, these Hurricanes. How do you explain going to Texas A&M and holding the Aggies to 17 points and a week later giving up 45 to Middle Tennessee State at home?