DURHAM, NC — Surprise, it’s Tuesday.

OK, maybe it’s not for you and me, but for the Pitt football team it is. After clinching a 54-29 win over Duke on Saturday, the Panthers had little time to celebrate. The Panthers host North Carolina on Thursday night in a pivotal game in the ACC Coastal race that had their full attention almost immediately following the game.

Normally Pitt has a team-wide ’24 hour rule’ in terms of focusing on a game, but in a condensed week there has been some alterations to the schedule.

“I think it’s 12 hours this week,” Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett said after the game. “We’re going to be right on North Carolina tomorrow and have practice. It’s such a short week. I know we have some guys banged up, but we’ll try to get as healthy as possible and it’s really kind of a mental preparation this week more than physical, especially being late in the season like this.”

Pitt played Saturday’s game without key players like Marcus Minor, Taysir Mack, Jaylon Barden, and Melquise Stovall. Starters like Gabe Houy and Keyshon Camp went down with injuries throughout the game.

Mixing injuries and a short week of rest is not something that pleases Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi. In fact, he is not at all in favor of the Thursday night game in general.

“The NCAA continues to let these Thursday night games and it’s not good for the health of these kids period,” he said of Pitt’s upcoming game. "You’d like to get a couple of extra days to get healthy, so it’s obviously concerning. We’ve got the best doctors and trainers in the country and our kids do a good job of taking care of their bodies. It’s emphasized. We’ll have a smart week of practice and keep our guys as fresh as we can.”

“I always wondered why growing up NFL guys were always complaining about Thursday night games, and now I see why,” Pitt linebacker Johnny Petrishen said. “We have a Tuesday practice tomorrow which is supposed to be the toughest practice of the week.”

While the optics of a Thursday night game aren’t ideal for resting the players, it is a showcase opportunity. Pitt gets a national TV spotlight against North Carolina, the preseason favorite of the ACC Coastal. Also it will be a chance to go up against Sam Howell, the preseason player of the year in the league as well.

“It’s definitely a game I look forward to because we know we’re going to have to put up a lot of points,” Pitt receiver Jordan Addison said of Thursday. "We’ve got a short week, I’m a competitor, so I’m looking forward to that game.”

Naturally many of the storylines for Thursday will be about the quarterback battle between Pickett and Howell, perhaps the top two quarterbacks in the league and potential first round draft picks.

“It has nothing to do with me and Sam,” Pickett said, quickly downplaying the individual quarterback battle. “It’s not one on one, it’s really just Pitt vs. North Carolina, so that’s the matchup.”

The Pitt defense knows this will be a tough challenge.

“Obviously we know he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the country still,” Petrishen said of Howell. “He’s really talented. Two years ago he had a really good game against us.”

As you are reading this, the film work will have begun and the Pitt players will be on the practice field prepping for Thursday night.

“We know we’ve got a good North Carolina football team coming here,” Narduzzi said. “They’re talented. Preseason favorites, got the trophy preseason - everything. They’re talented and we got to get to work. As soon as I jump on that plane I’ll be downloading North Carolina tape, probably in my locker room and the game plan starts as we get on that bus and airplane.”