Narduzzi: 'They fought hard; it just wasn't enough'

Pat Narduzzi met the media after Pitt’s 52-17 loss to Clemson on Saturday. Here’s the full rundown of what he said.

Narduzzi: Opening statement…you know, first of all, give Clemson credit. That’s a good football team. Trevor Lawrence, Etienne, they are what they are: great football players. We gave them some short fields early, for sure, with four interceptions, and that’s kind of been the tale against really good football teams - we’ve turned the ball over and not really given ourselves a chance or started slow. But again, give Clemson credit. They probably overwhelmed our offensive line a little bit with having three starters out again today, and we just didn’t get things done. Again, I give them credit.

Our kids continued to play, they fought hard, it just wasn’t enough. Too hard to make up. Number-three team in the country, you turn it over four times, you have no shot.

Do you think Kenny was pressing a little early once you guys got down?
Narduzzi: Maybe. Maybe. I’ll have to go watch the tape to see that for sure, but two of his picks were - the first one was a tip at the line of scrimmage and then they had one on the sideline where the receiver didn’t catch it, tips it right to him and gives them another short field. And again, one was tipped at the line of scrimmage, they did a nice job of getting their hands up, I guess, and batting some balls down and putting pressure on our quarterback. He was under stress all day, I think.

Down 31-0, you decide to kick a field goal at Clemson’s 5. Was that to ensure that you didn’t get shut out? What was the thinking in that decision?
Narduzzi: You’re going to take points when you have an opportunity to take points. Everything statistically says, ‘Take a field goal.’ It’s not a matter of - I thought we’d score again in the day. I’m not worried about just kicking a field goal not get shut out. Not even close. I think that was in the second quarter. No.

You guys came out in the second half, got a turnover and a quick score and your defense was able to keep fighting through that. What was going on on the sideline with the fight that you guys were able to put up in that situation?
Narduzzi: Our kids played hard. I can’t question their effort at all. We didn’t make enough plays. We dropped balls, we missed a lot of tackles on defense early. They came out with a reverse and we had a blitz on and one of our linebackers came through and just didn’t make the tackle. We didn’t tackle well. We gave them a lot of plays there.

But our kids, like I said, they came out at half and made some plays. We had a lot of three-and-outs in the second half defensively, but you’re down against a good football team, it’s hard to come back.

The rushing game today - was that a factor that you guys didn’t have because you were missing some offensive linemen?
Narduzzi: I’m not going to use that as an excuse. We rushed the ball a little bit. But it’s a good front four and they have a great blitz package and it’s hard to get a lot of game going. Our game is to throw the ball and then try to set up the run with our pass. You get so far behind, you don’t even have an opportunity to get some of your good runs in there when you’re trying to play catch-up.

Rashad Weaver had a couple sacks today, including the strip-sack in the third quarter to give you guys a short field. What can you say about his day and the way that he got after Lawrence?
Narduzzi: Rashad Weaver, Patrick Jones, those guys play hard every day. I don’t question what they do. But Rashad Weaver’s a good football player, gonna play at the next level and he’ll be playing on Sundays, getting sacks in the league as well. He’s a good football player; we just didn’t make enough of them.

You’ve had two games now against the top teams in the conference and they both had the same results. Do you see those games as measuring sticks and, if so, where do you think you stack up against those teams at the top?
Narduzzi: It definitely is a measuring stick, and you could add Miami to that one as well, because they’re in the top 15, at least, I think. Three really good football teams, the ACC is strong and it tells you where you are and what you have to do to get back where you need to be, which is getting to that ACC Championship Game.

We just - it was more about what we did. They’re a good football team, but we didn’t make plays today, on either side of the ball. Our best play was Christodoulou and his punts, and we didn’t have enough of those either.

Do you feel like, from a talent standpoint, you’re there and it’s just a matter of execution and turnovers in these matchups?
Narduzzi: No, I would not say that. I would not say we’re where we need to be, talent-wise, when you look at what Clemson has recruited and Notre Dame has recruited and some of those schools. We just have to continue to recruit. That’s kind of where we are right now: we get what we get and we’ll try to develop them as a football staff.

And again: I love our kids. I would take our kids any day because they’re going to fight. But everybody’s got a different talent level, and obviously Clemson’s got unique talent.

You have played two Clemson teams who won national championships; how would you compare this one to those two?
Narduzzi: They’re good. They’re going to be in the playoffs. I wouldn’t be shocked if they get to the final two. Those other ones are good, too. I’ll tell you what, Trevor Lawrence and that cannon arm he’s got - that one throw, I’ve never seen anybody throw a ball as far as he threw it. I don’t know how long that ball was in the air, but that was one heck of a throw in the third quarter. I mean, I’ve never seen a guy throw the ball that far.