Narduzzi: 'Execute and play Pitt football'

Pitt improved to 5-1 with a 28-7 win at Virginia Tech on Saturday. Here’s a full rundown of everything Pat Narduzzi said after the game.

Pat Narduzzi: Obviously it’s a great road win, another team win. It’s not easy to come into this environment and get it done. The last two times down here, we have not, and I’m just proud of our kids. I love that locker room. Our kids played hard. They’re coachable. Credit goes to those guys; they made all the plays today. I was really proud of the way we ran the ball late in the game. We have to eliminate penalties, which drives me nuts. But besides that, it was a great day on offense and defense. And special teams. We challenged our special teams - I think we had some good punt returns. I think we won the special teams war, which was our goal.

The way you guys took the air out of this place, do you feel like that was a statement for you guys?
Narduzzi: I think every day is a statement. We just come to play. We’re not worried about the crowd - it’s not about that. But just come out and play and execute and play Pitt football. That’s what we came down here to do, is to play Pitt football. We didn’t care who was out there, we didn’t care what the score was like; just play Pitt football.

Is this the best your defense has played all year?
Narduzzi: You know, it’s hard to say. I think there’s been times when we played good. We played pretty good last week. I don’t care about yards, I don’t care about points; they’re coming along and we’re making plays. I think Erick Hallett made a heck of a pick. We’ve tweaked some things and they played good. Is it the best? I don’t know. I’m waiting on it. I hope the next one is the best.

With the wind, how much going into this game did you guys figure you would have to lean on your run game?
Narduzzi: We really didn’t feel like we needed to do that. We had faith in Kenny Pickett. I think he can throw it through the wind; he’s going to cut the wind with that ball. He’s got a great arm. So I don’t think wind was a factor for our passing game. But we wanted to come in here and win. To me, if you win the turnover war and you win the rushing war, and the last two times down here, we hadn’t done that, when you’re on the road and you win those two, you’re going to win the football game, and that was our goal coming in.

What have you seen from Izzy here over the last two weeks?
Narduzzi: Izzy Abanikanda is a beast. He’s strong, he’s physical, he rushed for over 100 yards today. I love watching him run the football. He’s physical, he’s getting extra yards all the time. When 2’s in there, it’s a different ball game.

I’m sure it helps being a couple years older, but what is different about this team from maybe two years ago when you guys came down here?
Narduzzi: It’s hard to tell. Two years ago, we came down here and it was a storm, a Bud Foster storm, a rainstorm, it was a storm, so you can’t compare the years. From what Kenny was two years ago down here to this year - you know, he’s the same player, a little bit more confident, and a lot smarter probably. But it’s hard to compare different environments and different games by the year.

How big is it for you guys to get - I know you don’t look past this game, but Clemson upcoming now, how big is it for you guys to get this win the way you got it?
Narduzzi: Yeah, we’re looking forward to it. Kenny said a few things in there. One of the reasons he came back was to play in big games like this. The Pitt fans better come out strong at home against Clemson. It’s going to be an epic game in Pittsburgh and we’re looking forward to it already. They’re already locked in. They said a 12-hour rule, not 24 hours; they want 12 hours and then let’s move on and get ready for Clemson.

You went away from Izzy in the third quarter. I don’t think he got a carry and you leaned on Vincent Davis. What went into that decision?
Narduzzi: Our offense is trying to rotate them. I think the plan was going in to rotate them by series and just get a play count as far as who had it and I’m assuming Izzy must have - depending on how many plays you’re out on a drive. So it came down to, Izzy had a few more carries and a few more reps and it was kind of going on a play count there. We’ll keep evaluating that game by game. But we try to share the reps and get both those guys active and give them an opportunity. Vince had some nice runs at the end, too. But Izzy’s 215 pounds, fast and physical, and that’s a little different.

Your offensive line kept Kenny pretty clean today and paved the way for some rushing totals. What can you say about them?
Narduzzi: The o-line, when you’re rushing the ball like they did and protecting Kenny, I mean, the o-line played well. They’re playing at a high level right now. It’s hard to win anywhere without an offensive line. All five of them played great and it starts up front, so I’m proud of those guys.

The second drive, you guys go QB sneak on fourth down in the red zone, is that a trust thing with Kenny, is that about setting a tone early? What goes into that?
Narduzzi: It’s fourth-and-1. It’s a trust thing with Kenny. It’s a trust thing with the offensive line, because you can trust Kenny all you want, but if they’re not getting movement - and there were times we had four yards on quarterback sneaks. I was telling Whip’, just call quarterback sneak and we’ll get a first down and keep going down the field with quarterback sneaks. So the offensive line was pushing them off the ball. We have a lot of faith in the whole group getting it done.

On the defensive side of the ball, what did you think of the safety play today from Hallett and Hill?
NarduzzI: I think they had some great tackles in space. People are going to attack our press corners and our safeties, and until I watch the tape, I can’t tell you how good they were or how average they were, but obviously when you hold a team to about 200 yards in total offense, they did a nice job. I think we gave up one big pass. It was a spin route, we call it, they ate up the safety and hit Tre Turner on a post. I think Marquis was in coverage, so we’ll look at that. Tre Turner is a great football player, so it’s not like they’re playing against average wideouts. That guy’s real.