Narduzzi: 'Every one of these games gets bigger'

Pat Narduzzi talked to the media on Thursday after defending Clemson, scoring on the Tigers' defense and a lot more.

Here's the full rundown of what he said.

Narduzzi: Had a good week of practice again. I’m continually just impressed with the way our guys come to work every week, every day. They’re a fun group to coach and we have a big challenge at hand dealing with Clemson’s defense and their offense and obviously their special teams. They’re talented. I think Pat Bostick told me yesterday they’ve had 10 straight top-10 recruiting classes.

So they’re a talented football team coming into our house, and the last couple times, we’ve not fared well, so I think our guys are looking forward to a gigantic challenge in Clemson, who is the measuring stick of this conference. Period. They know how to win. They’re a winning football team. They’ve won a lot of football games, big games, small games, all games. They find a way to win. Well-coached.

With the approach this week, how do you balance making it like every other week with getting the guys to buy into the fact that it is a big game, that there is a real opportunity you want them to embrace?
Narduzzi: It’s one game. Last week doesn’t matter. And I think they know it’s a bigger game. I don’t have to tell them it’s a bigger game. They know. And next week will be a bigger game. Every one of these games just continues to get bigger, okay? And it’s not necessarily the opponent; when you’re sitting with a record like we are, they just continue to get more important and they mean more. I think they all know that. I don’t have to spell it out for them. I don’t have to write a book for them. I think it’s just part of the process and part of what college football is. When you start to get to that point, they understand that. They know it’s another game and it becomes bigger and it’s easier to get into practice every week as well. It just becomes like - they know. But it should not change the way we approach the game, it should not change the way we practice, it shouldn’t get us more hyped for the game or motivated, because we have to go out and play like we play.

How did Wendell do at the Money?
Narduzzi: At the Mike?

Didn’t he play on the outside a little bit?
Narduzzi: No. Wendell Davis has played really good for us. I’m excited about him. Phil Campbell will be back, so you’ll have Phil, ‘Voss and Wendell - if Wendell needs a break, ‘Voss can go in and Phil can go in. It’s nice to have Phil back this week; I’ll give you an injury update because it’s a health update. So we’re glad Phil’s back. We’re not going to wear him out. The good thing is, we have guys that rotate in there.

Did it seem like SirVocea was more comfortable being back outside?
Narduzzi: I think he’s comfortable anywhere. If you ask him, flat out, ‘Which one do you like?’ ‘I like them both, Coach.’ I don’t think he feels more comfortable in one spot than the other. He’s good at both, I can tell you that, and he made a lot of plays last week with 10 tackles or whatever it was. He’s been productive. I don’t think he cares which one. It’s kind of, ‘Hey, where do you need me, Coach?’

What’s the importance of getting ‘splash’ from him? He’s one of those guys who can make those types of plays.
Narduzzi: It’s important, because he’s a smart guy, and sometimes you feel like he makes more plays on the edge, just because he maybe has a little bit more opportunity to make and affect the play. But he’s good at Mike linebacker, too; you just don’t notice the splash plays. He’s in his gap, he’s smart enough to get everybody lined up. He’s got a nose for the football; beside being really smart, he’s got a nose for the football. And he finds it.

Clemson doesn’t have a whole lot of huge numbers of sacks or interceptions, but their defense is still one of the best. Is that because they’re really good at situational football? And how do you guys prepare for the way they come at you?
Narduzzi: Yeah, getting interceptions and turnovers and sacks, that’s not making you a good defense. It really doesn’t. They play together. Sometimes you can be selfish, you know, on a run, trying to get a sack. Well, that’s a bad time to try to get a sack, a defensive end running up the field.

So they play together. They’re smart, they’re well-coached. It’s not about the stats; I tell you guys that every week. They smother you. They’ve smothered everybody they’ve played, pretty much. Just to think, the number-one team in the country didn’t score a touchdown on that defense. So that’s the buzzsaw we’re running into.

It was a pick-six. It was 10-7 and it was a pick-six, so Clemson’s offense gave that thing up. You just watch every game and they do a lot of different things, so it’s going to be a challenge.

What do they do well defensively in the red zone specifically?
Narduzzi: They stop you from getting in the end zone. They bend a little bit and get down there and buckle up. They’re so stout up front. When you get down there, it’s hard to throw it, because the field got shrunk, and then you better be able to run it. If you can’t run it on that defense, you’re going to have an issue. So we’re going to have to run it, find a way to squeak some runs in there like we have this year when we’ve gotten down to the red zone, and we have to throw it with efficiency. Guys have to be in the right spots, we have to make sure there’s good spacing in our pass concepts.

Who was the first guy who put Kenny Pickett’s name in your head five years ago? What was your first meeting like with him and why did you tell yourself, ‘I need to recruit this guy’?
Narduzzi: He was a no-brainer coming out of high school. We just loved him. We got on him earl. I don’t remember the first conversation. I remember the home visit when my wife was able to come; I think it’s the only home visit my wife has ever gone on. We were on the way to New York City for the Hall of Fame dinner, so we flew in there, met with the Pickett family at their house and went to the school. That was a good visit. My wife got that one done, I think.

What was it about him that you liked?
Narduzzi: We liked him like the other 85 guys that we had on scholarship. You love them all. Some end up being like Kenny Pickett - great character, great people, great player. And some are like SirVocea Dennis - you love them all. I can’t tell you he’s any different, except my wife went on the home visit. I’ll remember that one for a long time.

She connected with the family?
Narduzzi: She got it done.

Was there a lot riding on that visit? Because Canada had left and some other schools were trying to get him.
Narduzzi: I don’t know if there was a lot. You know, that early date in December, I think it heated up even more after that. There’s a lot riding on every visit. Every visit is important, whether it’s at the school or visit for a game on the weekend, they’re all important. You can’t say one’s more important. But a home visit, I only get one, so that was a great visit and it helped him get here.

You said you wanted to see how Izzy practiced this week, how he responded in practice. How has he done and what is the significance of getting some type of run game, not just red zone but throughout the game?
Narduzzi: The run game’s important. It’s not going to be easy, I can tell you that. They’re so good. It looks like the steel curtain out there coming back to Pittsburgh. They’re impressive. But the run game’s important. We’ve got to be able to get it. We can’t let them just tee off and think it’s a pass every down. So we’ve got to be able to mix it up, get the run game in there, but we’ve also got to take what they’re giving us, based on coverages and different checks that our offense will make, based on what they look like. We have to take - what are they giving us today? We don’t know. We don’t know what their game plan is, but we’ll find out once that game starts at 3:30.

How did Izzy practice?
Narduzzi: He practiced great. Izzy had a great week of practice. So did Vince. So did Rodney.

The red zone is an area where you guys have improved as much as anywhere from last year. Is there something you can put that on? What do you think you guys have done better down there? Is there a lot of things or is there one thing that stands out?
Narduzzi: I think it’s just an accumulation of a lot of different things. I don’t think you can put your finger on it. We practice a lot in the red zone, got a lot of spring ball in the red zone, got a lot of fall camp in the red zone. Your O-line is playing good, you’re running the ball, you’re throwing the ball; anytime you can throw it, it’s going to open up your run game and anytime you can run it, it’s going to open up your throw game. So I think it’s a combination of everything. There’s no magic wand that we wave and say, ‘Hey, let’s have a red zone offense today.’ It’s just an accumulation. It’s everybody playing well.

It helps when you have tight ends. A year ago, we didn’t have a tight end. We just didn’t have a guy like Lucas, and Gavin has been special for a freshman.

Has Gavin surprised you?
Narduzzi: No. Not at all. He hasn’t surprised me. He surprised me when he got here the first day of spring ball, like, ‘Whoa’, you know? But he’s been steady. You talk about Kenny Pickett’s played, you talk about how Jordan Addison’s played; Gavin’s another one of those guys that doesn’t have an up-and-down day. He’s the same guy every day. I’ll mention those three and maybe I can mention five more that are like that, maybe 10 more. But I don’t have 85 of them like that, I can guarantee you that. There’s up-and-down days.

You mentioned on Monday Clemson’s explosives; is it hard when you’re preparing for this team and their offense hasn’t really clicked yet, it hasn’t really popped - is it hard to relate that your players that this has the potential to pop, that they have the talent?
Narduzzi: I hope we don’t have to convince them. You’re a fade away, right? You’re a fade away and a push-off away from an explosive play. It’s just what it is. All you have to do is put on the tape from last year. We always have a game or two that are in those cut-ups of what it has looked like and how they attacked us compared to how they’re going to attack North Carolina or Georgia Tech, for that matter. What are they going to do to us? I think we’ve got a good feel for a three-year study. We’ve got to defend them and I don’t think anybody’s going to take their offense lightly. Better not, because they’re in trouble.

Do you feel like your corners have been really challenged yet this season?
Narduzzi: I think they’re challenged every week. Go to Virginia Tech last week, I think 12 or 13 of the first 15 plays were passes. They’re chucking it. So yeah, they’re getting challenged every game. They’re challenged regardless of what the coverage is. There are fades, comebacks, which is something we practice a lot of; they’ve been challenged.

They’re going to be challenged with some 6’3” - I think they lie on the depth chart. They might be 6’5” wideouts, instead of 6’3”, which is tall. You guys ought to go down there with a measuring stick and find out pre-game.

What have you seen from their offensive line? Their quarterback is good at moving and trying to extend plays, he’s a big guy; what does the offensive line do protection-wise that impresses you on tape?
Narduzzi: They play together. They’ve got three returning starters from last year. They lost a big left tackle who’s in the NFL…he was strong and he’d get his hands on you. But their left tackle, 71, is their best player up front, so they’ve got another left tackle. They’re a good football team. We’ll find out Saturday. I’ll let you know Saturday after the game.