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Pat Narduzzi never thought his team would have a hangover or any negative lingering effect from Pitt’s 43-42 upset at Clemson last week.
That’s good, but everyone else wondered if it might happen.
“I know you guys worry about that; I really didn’t,” Narduzzi said to the assembled media after Pitt beat Duke 56-14 at Heinz Field on Saturday. “We had a great week of practice and expected to get what we got today.”
Narduzzi added that the types of players on Pitt’s 2016 roster are what gave him confidence that the Panthers would avoid a “letdown” game.
“It tells you we have some smart guys that understand,” Narduzzi said. “It tells you this was the same message that our coaches are delivering, from a team meeting with me to individual meetings. And it tells you our kids understand what’s going on and they trust their coaches in what we’re asking and telling them to do. I think that’s the important thing. They’re not just like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah,’ you know. ‘So what, Coach?’
“I’ve said since we’ve been here, we have special kids, we have very, very smart kids that take coaching well, and when you do that, good things happen.”
Dealing with adversity
There were signs early in Saturday’s game that it might be another shootout for Pitt. Duke answered the Panthers’ first touchdown and then cut the lead to one score with a pick-six after Pitt went ahead 21-7.
After that big play that made the score 21-14, the Panthers needed to respond - and respond they did. Facing third-and-7 from their own 44, Nathan Peterman went over the top of the defense to drop a pass into Jester Weah’s hands for a 56-yard touchdown.
That was the start of a string of 35 unanswered points.
“That’s the game of football,” Narduzzi said. “It’s called adversity. Like I said every week, there’s going to be ups and downs. It’s not going to be perfect. I think that’s key to prep your team before the game starts.
“I mention every week, it’s one of those things that I want to make sure they don’t go, ‘Oh my God, here we go.’ Like you did; you kind of got that ‘Oh gosh.’ We don’t get that ‘Oh gosh.’ We’re composed, we understand what we have to do. Those things happen.”
A second debut
Maurice Ffrench made his Pitt debut in the loss at North Carolina in September, but on Saturday, he made his second debut, so to speak. In the third quarter against Duke, Ffrench took the field - with the defense.
The freshman from New Jersey had played in six games this season, and each of those appearances came at receiver. But the defensive coaches have had their eyes on him since he was a recruit.
“We’ve been working that for the last couple weeks,” Narduzzi said. “It was good to get Maurice in there. We recruited him as a corner and when he got here, we moved him over to the wideout spot. We had him in camp so we knew he could do both; we had him at both in camp, so we knew he had a chance to do both and he’ll continue to do both as we move forward. It’s a great opportunity for him to get game reps.”
On Signing Day in February, Narduzzi said there was a possibility Ffrench could play on both sides of the ball.
“We have him listed as a receiver, but he’s an athlete…we have needs at the receiver position and I think he can come in there and fill in for a Tyler Boyd-type guy. But we know in a pinch that he can line up in the secondary and help us there.”
On the season, Ffrench has gained 45 yards and a touchdown on 11 rushing attempts.
Where’s Hamlin?
Ffrench played at cornerback on Saturday but one of his fellow freshmen didn’t. Damar Hamlin, who debuted against Virginia Tech and has played the last three games, did not get on the field against Duke.
“We’re working him,” Narduzzi said. “He’s a great kid. He’s just a little banged up and hopefully we’ll have him for next week.”
No more throwbacks
Pitt wore its retro uniforms for the second time this season when the Panthers put them on for the Duke game. But despite the positive feedback from players and fans, Narduzzi said the uniforms were put away after Saturday
“You won’t see them back out again,” he said. “It’s something special, I think. We know what our normal stuff is…we know what our normal blue and gold is, but this is a nice retro throwback, whatever you want to call it; it’s special to get to put it on. But we won’t make a big habit of it.
“I know some people will be upset with that but we want it to be special to put them on. And they are special, our kids enjoy wearing them, but we’ll be back to standard next week. I can promise you that.”
In the 10 games prior to Saturday, Pitt had used nine uniform combinations (including the retros in the win over Georgia Tech.
Here are the nine combinations Pitt has already worn this season:
