Pat Narduzzi met the media after Pitt beat Kent State in Saturday's season opener at Acrisure Stadium. Here's video and a full rundown of his remarks.

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Narduzzi: All right, I'm sure you guys got a lot of questions. You know, happy with what we did today. I thought really all three phases did some good things. All three phases did some stuff we got to clean up. You know, opening day issues, whether it be a muff punt by Konata trying to make a play, just some stuff like that that's got to get cleaned up. Jumping over a punch shield, which we can't do, which we coach every single day. But guys trying to be aggressive. Too many penalties early in the game all on us. But overall, game one, there'll be a lot to teach from the video. And I'm happy with where we are at this point.

How would you evaluate Eli's performance today?

Narduzzi: You know, I'll let you guys. It doesn't matter what I say. I'm going to go back and watch the videotape. But I thought early, shoot, I think his first series, there wasn't an incomplete pass. Jerry, sorry you can't see me here, Jerry. You got the chairs all pulled up really close.

But Eli played really good, I think. I was really happy with where he was. He had the one interception, kind of threw it off his heels, I think. We'll go back and look and see what he did there. But overall, he got the ball out of his hand when he needed to. I think one series we gave up two sacks in a row, which is disappointing. We'll see if he needed to get rid of it or we had a protection problem. I think the corner came one time. But, you know, overall, 30 or 40 for 300-plus yards, I would say he looked pretty darn good.

It looked like Eli completed passes to four different receivers, two tight ends, and two running backs and from both sidelines, deep, intermediate; what can you say about his grasp of this playbook for being a redshirt freshman that transferred to you guys last year?

Narduzzi: I mean, he's a good football player, I told you. And so is Nate. But I think schematically, I think Coach Bell and the offensive staff do a great job at scheming you up and putting our kids in position to make those plays. The ball's getting spread out. I don't know how many different receivers caught balls here today, but when you look at the targets and Kenny, I mean, it was just some good stuff. The ball's spread out. You can't just focus on that guy over there. We’ve got different ways of getting guys balls, and we try to get everybody involved.

You had said that you had hoped that after the first game, it was pretty obvious who your starting quarterback would be. Do you go in next week, rest of the season, feeling pretty good that Eli's your starter?

Narduzzi: Yeah, I mean, we'll talk about that Monday. I'm going to sit down with the offense and sit down with Kade. But I think things look pretty good today. What we kind of thought coming out of camp, and Eli was sharp. You know, if things didn't look sharp early, we probably would have pulled him earlier just to see what Nate had. But like I told you earlier, I think I told you on Thursday, didn't have a plan for when and what to do. But the way he played with composure, obviously it's going to be - we're going to see a little bit more next Saturday at 3.30, I think, at Cincinnati. So just getting locked into that one.

You called Desmond Reid explosive on Thursday. Is that kind of what you were talking about in his performance today?

Narduzzi: That’s what I was talking about. I mean, the kid's been like that, and he's tough. You know, he gets a little calf down there, and he comes right back. He doesn't say boo. He just keeps going. He's like an ever-ready battery. I mean, he just goes. You know, the punt return, even the punt return, we had a base defense on the field. That was just – we were punt safe. We were keeping our base defense on the field. They made some blocks, and he made some plays. And he can pop through. I told you he could break one. It happened to be Izzy was here today, Abanikanda was here. And he's that kind of back that can go break one. And I thought Derek Davis did some good things and Daniel Carter did some nice things as well. So we got a lot of people involved. We got a lot of guys playing football today.

We got our second offensive line in there. We got, you know, shoot, I think we got our third D-line, you know, Jahsear got in there. Whittington, you know, got in and got some good things in. I think the last three plays defense we were TFLs. I did not like the way our defense came out in the third quarter.

We'll address that. I didn't like that at all. I don't know what they were doing, what they were thinking. I can't wait to watch the videotape, but that was not how I wanted to come out in that third quarter.

Big plays, especially in that third quarter. Did you notice anything common, anything that you guys were –

Narduzzi No, I mean, just, you know, execution and details. I don't know. I mean, I don't know if they felt like – I don't know what they came out in the second half as, but I'll get on the defensive coaches. It starts with us as coaches to make sure their minds are right and they don't think this game is easy and it's in the bag.

You guys got a lot out of Kenny Johnson as a sophomore, whether it was red zone, deep ball, over the middle, catching it off the ground. What have you seen that has allowed him to make the kind of improvements he's had?

Narduzzi: You know, he didn't practice a lot this fall. So, I mean, I can't tell you it was because practice makes perfect. I mean, he was banged up a lot and we were able to get him and C.J. Lee back on game day, which is good. C.J. was banged up more than he was, and I think he had a few catches today as well. But we'll continue to get better there.

Are the penalties one thing you're most concerned about today?

Narduzzi: I am. You know, but we talk about eight things critical to winning and penalties isn't one of them. Penalties doesn't lose games. You know, the one thing I – you know, how many illegal procedures do we have? Zero unforced. There's going to be some aggressive penalties that we had, but there were some ones early and I don't have my book on me here, but, you know, there were some early that just shouldn't happen. But they were aggressive ones, and I don't anticipate those. I think the first one was a block in the back or a holding on punt return just shouldn't happen. And we'll get that cleaned up, I think, for sure.

What is your biggest concern in going forward?

Narduzzi: I have a million concerns, Jerry. I mean, we've got a million concerns. My first concern is that next week EJ gets these seats backed up so I can really see your whole body and not just the top of your forehead. That's a concern. I mean, that concerns me that we've got the seats moved up closer than they've ever been in ten years.

But there's – I'm going to pick and pick and pick. You know, there's all kinds of stuff that we can clean up. But I'm not going to sit here and say I'm worried about penalties because that's not critical to winning, but it can cost you a game. We've just got to clean that up. It's just bad ball.

One concern is pass protection, four sacks allowed, and a couple of those, I think, coming kind of early with pressure.

Narduzzi: Yeah, I mean, you know, we'll look at that. And, again, sometimes it's plays. I mean, the one thing I can tell you about our offense is we're going to get five receivers out. So, I mean, we like all the explosive plays and guys out of the backfield and getting it, too. So the quarterback's got to get the ball out at times. If we're putting five of them, as you guys watch, if you're putting five out on the route, then the quarterback is hot off of somebody and we've got to do a good job of picking up corners and knowing they're coming - those ones that you can't see that we've got to do a better job at, you know. And that sometimes goes with fast tempo as well. When you're fast tempo, sometimes you can't see it coming.

So, you know, we just got to do a better job of that. And that comes with experience, I think, at the quarterback position and Coach Bell knowing what he's got there, too.

What did you think about how the linebackers played today, especially Kyle Louis?

Narduzzi: You know what, again, I'm going to refer to the videotape, but Kyle Louis, that one time he came through there and smacked that guy. The quarterback got beat up today. I hope he's healthy. But he took a beating today by our guys. It was like, you know, five sacks and another ten hits after that, so it's 15 hits on the quarterback. He took some licks, and he's a tough kid from Camden, New Jersey, so I'll give him a lot of credit.

But, you know, Kyle Louis and, you know, I think Rasheem Biles had the first sack of the year. We'll just continue to get better. Our guys, we've got a young front. We talked about it. But I think you probably saw a lot of penetration, even all the way down to the threes at the end there. You know, but I thought the linebackers did a nice job.

Francis Brewu was the guy you talked about a lot throughout the fall. Is there any reason he didn't play today?

Narduzzi: Yeah. Jerry, tell him.

Yeah, we hope we get him back. But, again, that's why I sit here and, you know, I can get to put all those ORs on there and if something happens during the week, you know, you don't anticipate. But he's been healthy all summer camp.

It was unfortunate that he wasn't ready to go today. But hope to have him back next week. There was a third and long that you guys converted off a draw, spread out the defense really wide with your wideouts, and then Desmond Reid just gets it and he goes 28 yards. Is that something that you guys uniquely designed up for him because of his ability, or is that just a normal play call?

Narduzzi: It’s draw on third and long, you know. Draw on third and long when you're throwing it a lot and all of a sudden you catch them by surprise. They had a four-man twist on. And the offensive line did a great job. Sometimes, you know, the twists are, you know, will negate the draw sometimes. But again, it's a great job by Jeremy Darveaux, our offensive line coach, of getting it picked up and coaching it and no one had to expect.

But, you know, again, it comes down to coaching and players making plays. It's a little bit of both. So it's a great play call by Coach Bell.

Can you offer any clarity on Rodney's situation?

Narduzzi: You know, we made an announcement about that already, and, you know, we've got nothing further to talk about.

Coach, how important was it for you to have such an offensive disclosure after Coach Bell's first game?

Narduzzi: Really important. I mean, I think our kids, I mean, you know, there's a different bounce. There's a different bounce about our kids. I mean, I watched them last night coming out of, you know, offensive meetings last night at 8, 8.30 p.m., and it's just like the smiles on their faces. They're excited. They had a lot of confidence going in. Again, it's a tribute to our offensive staff and Coach Bell and what he's brought to the offense.

There's a lot of confidence about what they're doing, how they're doing it. And, you know, it was important to come out there and put some points up like they did. And, you know, the great thing about him is he's in his locker room all mad because he feels like he left three touchdowns out there. Okay? So that's what I like about that. Okay? Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.