There are few parallels between Pitt’s season opening game last season and what the Panthers will face tomorrow when they take on Wofford for a 3:30 kick at Acrisure Stadium.
Pitt opened the 2022 season against West Virginia in a tightly contested rivalry game in the most attended sporting event in the history of Pittsburgh with ESPN’s College Gameday making an appearance.
Don’t expect to see Lee Corso strolling around the North Shore tomorrow, however.
Wofford is a member of the Southern Conference at the FCS level. The Terriers are coming off of a 3-8 season and the prospects are not expected to be much better in 2023, as they were picked to finish eighth out of nine teams in the SoCon this season.
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi was asked multiple times this week about his preference in the type of season opening game he would like his team to have each season.
“You’d like a warm up, but I like the urgency the team had last fall,” the Pitt coach said on Thursday at his final press briefing of the week. “If you made me give you an answer, I'd say I’d rather have an easier game, but nothing is easy.”
The Terriers are not expected to put up much resistance against the Panthers, but there is a bit of an unknown factor heading into tomorrow's game because they are coming from a smaller level.
The one big connection, however, has been well documented all week long.
Shawn Watson is the Wofford head coach. Watson took over the program midway through the season last year on an interim basis, and was named head coach in the offseason. He, of course, was Pitt’s offensive coordinator in the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Watson helped guide Pitt to an ACC Coastal title in 2018, but after the team only mustered two offensive touchdowns in the final three games, he was fired. While there is an obvious link between the two head coaches tomorrow, Narduzzi has downplayed there really being any advantage for either side.
“Offense is offense,” Narduzzi said of facing a Watson-coached team. “I mean, they’re going to do different things. I don’t think that helps you a bit.”
The element of surprise may be one thing the Terriers have going right now. They have not named a starting quarterback, though it seems like it will likely be Bryce Corriston, who started two games back in 2021. That inexperience for the quarterback also leads to lack of scouting opportunities for Pitt.
“It’s hard to tell,” Narduzzi said when scouting his opponent.
He did praise the offensive line, which looks to be perhaps the biggest strength of the Wofford team. The Terriers return three starters up front, led by Anthony Garcia at center, who has 19 career starts to his name.
“I think their offensive line is pretty good, they’ve got four guys who have played a lot,” said Narduzzi.
Wofford has a few weapons returning that should be the focal point of the offense. Kyle Parsons rushed for 485 yards last season, while Dylan Djete posted 27 catches for 431 receiving yards. Both were named to the SoCon all-Freshman team in 2022.
The key, Narduzzi believes, will be more about his own team on Saturday. The Panthers will have a couple of new starters in some prominent roles on the defensive end, including two new starting safeties on the back end. He is looking for good communication from his group in a game setting.
“I think they do a lot of different things,” Narduzzi said of the Wofford offense. “I think the first thing they do is a lot of unbalanced formations, so we’re going to have to communicate. Communication is critical with all the new guys.”
While there are some unknown elements to this Wofford team, the Panthers should feel confident heading into Saturday. Pitt is 20-1 all-time against FCS opponents, including 8-0 under Narduzzi.
