Pat Narduzzi met the media Thursday to talk about quarterbacks, how Pitt will spend the day on Saturday and more. Here’s a full rundown of what he said.

Narduzzi: Okay. Three days of prep work are in the books. Our guys did a great job of really focusing. I was as impressed with our Tuesday and Wednesday practices as I’ve been. Our guys are ready and it should be a lot of fun in the city of Pittsburgh this weekend.

It seemed like Albany did some things to maybe neutralize some of the speed and aggressiveness you have up front - the screen pass, some reverses - do you expect that teams will try to do that a lot?
Narduzzi: It’s what they always do. That’s college football. That’s spread. That’s kind of where college football is, and we expect to see a lot of that spread, we’re going to see a lot of RPO’s with linemen seven yards down the field and no calls. That’s kind of what it is. That’s what we will see, yes.

When you look at the two quarterbacks in this game, from my perspective physically, there’s a lot of similarities; they seem like pretty similar players. What’s the big difference to you? Is it just the experience?
Narduzzi: I would say it’s the experience. I think you’re exactly right: they’re two guys that love the game of football and that are smart, both are athletic and make plays with their feet, they can make plays with their arm. But Trace has got years on Kenny. He’s got game experience. He’s been there before and played in big games and made big plays in big games, too. He’s learned from mistakes that he’s made. Kenny’s the puppy of the two. But they are very similar guys, which is a good thing for them and a good thing for us for the future.

How do they use Juwan Johnson? Where do they line him up and what kind of problems does he pose?
Narduzzi: He’s a big dude. He lines up to the boundary. You’re going to see him in the boundary, maybe all the time, I’d say, unless they change something up and I’m sure they’ve got different packages in the red zone or goal line. But he’s a big fade, comeback guy, he’ll push off you pretty good. Our guys have got to be physical with him because he’s going to be physical. There are some times…he did it last year where there were some two-hand push-offs and catching the ball, and he’s pretty good at it. We used to call it the ‘run-it’ route, because he’s trying to run into you and push you away and come back to the ball to get people off him. But he’s a great football player and he’ll also run some boundary drags across the field that our ‘backers have to be alert to intersect him.

I know it’s one game, but what can you glean from their offense with a new coordinator? Has much changed?
Narduzzi: I think they’re very similar still. Just as many RPO’s, especially when you get down to the red zone; we’ve got a little package for what they do in the red zone with some of their RPO’s. But people do them all over the field now, so they’ll still be about 30% RPO in the middle of the field, just trying to read a ‘backer and try to pop it over his head and get you in man coverage, which is what everybody does. You’re starting to see it with - the only difference in the NFL is the line’s going sideways and not going downfield; our guys, what we’re seeing is all linemen running downfield.

You talked Monday about how dangerous Hamler can be, especially returning kicks; what about the punt return guy they have, Thompkins, what makes him pretty challenging? I think he was one of the best in the country last year.
Narduzzi: Thompkins, No. 3, is a guy you have to - their return game is a huge factor. Either one of them are elusive. There’s always 11 guys on the field that you have to worry about, and KJ is fast and elusive and obviously took one to the house. But Thompkins is a guy - and I’m sure that they’ve got a guy behind him that’s pretty good, too.

Are you curious to see how your punter does in that situation? You barely had to wake him up last week, but it will be a big moment for Kirk.
Narduzzi: It will be. It’s funny, he told me at practice today, ‘Coach, I get really focused on game day.’ I was like, ‘I wish you’d get really focused every day in practice, too.’ But he gets cranked up there. He had a good mindset the other day, so I think he’ll be okay. We will find out.

With this series, there’s obviously a rivalry and a sense of passion from the fans; how far does that extend to the coaches and players? Is it something you guys feel, too?
Narduzzi: No doubt about it. I’ve felt it every game I’ve been, whether it was a rivalry at Rhode Island or Michigan State or Pitt. Everybody’s got a different way of looking at it. Young kids, do young kids embrace rivalries? I don’t know. Have they been a part of them? I grew up with rivalries and they’ve been important to me. Maybe it’s just us old people that care about them. I don’t know. But it’s a big game and I think our kids know.

Who is URI’s rival?
Narduzzi: I don’t even know. Don’t even ask. I don’t know.

Do the young guys when they get here, do they learn pretty quickly about what Pitt-Penn State means to this program and to the fans?
Narduzzi: I think they learn pretty quickly, and again, they’ve watched the game be played for two years, so they’ve seen the right hook and the uppercut the first two years, so I think they kind of know. They’ve been a part of the recruiting process during the time that this game has been played, too. So a lot of those guys were sitting in the stands, watching the ball game going, ‘Next year I get to play this.’

You mentioned that Ditka is going to speak to the team Saturday morning. What kind of effect can a guy like that have on a team right before a game?
Narduzzi: You don’t know. Every Saturday morning we have an honorary captain come talk to the team, and sometimes you don’t know what you’re going to get. We had a great one last week, but I don’t say, ‘Hey, can you talk about this, talk about that?’ We don’t have that conversation. So you sometimes don’t know what you’re going to get. But I would think Mike Ditka knows what to do, so I’m not going to coach him up at all.

But it can have a major effect. I want our guys to know about the history, the past of what it used to be like and where we’re moving in the future and try to bring those guys back and bring it in today’s football. I think that’s the key, is them understanding, ‘Hey, I was in your shoes.’ I don’t care if it’s 30 years ago, 40 years ago, 60 years ago - what this playing and putting the gear on at Pitt means to those guys.

What’s that moment in the room like when one of those guys talks?
Narduzzi: We’ve got video; someday maybe we should release it and have a big old series. Maybe I’ll sell it. But it’s - our kids are locked in, you know? Our kids are locked in. They’ve got their favorites. They rank the honorary captains, as far as who they - ‘Man, that guy was good.’ We’ve got a list of them, so they know what games they’ve been; there’s been some classics that are good.

Who was the most memorable one?
Narduzzi: Everybody’s got their own choice.

Who was yours?
Narduzzi: You know what? I loved Bill Fralic. Bill Fralic was a classic. He’s good. Our kids loved him. Plus he gave a little postgame, too. He came in the postgame, too. He did it all.

Which game was that?
Narduzzi: That was here at home.

Is there any concern with the atmosphere, guys being maybe too amped up at the start and worrying about an undisciplined play or a blown assignment?
Narduzzi: Yeah, I mean there’s always - that’s going to happen. I think they’re going to blow assignments whether they’re amped up or not. I think that’s all part of it. But composure will be something I’ll talk to them on game day about, we have to be composed. A Big Ten crew has got this game; last year - we know about composure, this crew threw seven flags for unsportsmanlike, so we’re aware of exactly - we’ve gone down every little detail for this game, so composure is important and we don’t want to be one of those guys getting one of those flags. That helps you lose a game.

They threw seven last week?
Narduzzi: No. They threw seven last year. That crew. We do a detailed job of knowing, ‘Who do we have? What do they like to call?’ If they’re not going to call that, then we’ll do that. You know what I’m saying? Sometimes I want to ask them, ‘Hey, what are you guys going to call today so I can tell our guys?’

With an 8 pm kick, what do you do to keep the players occupied during the day and the night before?
Narduzzi: I don’t know if I should tell you or not. Ever see some of those movies where, you know, there’s all of a sudden a road block and we can’t get in anywhere? But no, we’re going to bring them back here tomorrow. We’re going to bring them back in a familiar atmosphere, get them out of the hotel, come back here, watch some tape, have some special teams meetings, some offense and defensive meetings, do a little recovery with them in the weight room, just to get their bodies feeling good, just to get them out of that hotel and not - I don’t want them sitting in their rooms all day. So that’s what we’ll do as kind of a change-up. Then they’ll go take a nap and get ready to play ball.

So they’re staying in the hotel Friday night and then coming here Saturday?
Narduzzi: Exactly. We’ll come back during the day and do some more football.

How do you kill the time?
Narduzzi: You don’t really want to know. But we have recruiting calls to make; we’re allowed one phone call a week. So I’ll do a lot of my phone calls that day. We’ll have a lot of guys here; obviously we’ll have a big list of visitors. But it’s recruiting, I’ll be watching tape, I’ll be studying stuff, just tendencies and mentally getting ready to go as well.

How do you keep yourself calm? You’re a pretty energetic guy; do you pace the halls of the hotel?
Narduzzi: During the game?

In the hours leading up to the game?
Narduzzi: You keep busy. Game day, you get kind of cranked up. But before the game, you ‘ve got work to do. There’s still work to do, whatever it may be. There’s time to get cranked up and there’s time to be locked in. I like studying. We’ve got iPads, everything’s on our iPads, so I can just flip through the scouting report and look at different routes - ‘Oh, we have to look out for this, what if they do this, what are we going to do’ - there’s all different scenarios that go through your head. So the preparation never ends until game time.

Any update on Bookser, Dane or Pinnock?
Narduzzi: No.