The 3-2-1 Column: Inching closer towards football season

We have hit the end of the line in a sense. July is the quietest month out of the year in the college football calendar. The news cycle is starting to dry up and it is becoming repetitive, but football camp begins on August 1st and it is approaching quickly. We will preview this Pitt football team from every angle leading up to the season opener against West Virginia starting today. We also talk about Pat Narduzzi and the stir he caused this week, and oh yea Pitt will be playing in a ‘new’ stadium this fall. So what were the greatest moments in the old one?

We’re in the dog days of summer, but of course we got you covered in this week’s 3-2-1 Column.

THREE THINGS WE KNOW

The calm before the storm

10 days.

Pitt’s official start to its ACC title defense begins September 1st against West Virginia, but the preparation officially begins in ten days as the team will report to the Southside for the start of fall camp. It will be the first time the entire 2022 Pitt football team will be working together: the 10 2022 recruits, the nine transfers, all the new walk-ons, and of course the bulk of the team that is returning who won 11 games and an ACC Championship a season ago.

July is a slow month of sorts for college football. After a lengthy offseason stretch that extended from spring practice in March and April, to the evaluation period with the coaches out on the road in May, up through the hectic recruiting month of June, the offseason can be as busy for coaches as the season itself. July is truly the only relief on the calendar. They were able to go on vacation and spend time with their families, because once August rolls it’s pretty much non-stop action up through the new year.

The storylines heading into the 2022 season are a plenty.

Can Pitt overcome the loss of Kenny Pickett and Jordan Addison?

What will Frank Cignetti’s offense look like?

Who will be the starting quarterback?

Can Pitt live up to the highest preseason expectations the team has had during Pat Narduzzi’s tenure?

Let’s face it, those are all exciting questions heading into this season, and it is about to get very real here and the answers will start to come out when the team starts camp.There will be new storylines that emerge, top performers in camp, impact newcomers, and of course position battles galore. The talk about conference realignment can die off for a little while, and the focus will completely be about football. I, for one, am looking forward to that distraction because there are only so many conference speculation articles one man can take before he starts to lose it.

I digress.

Ten days. Real, actual football starts in ten days.

Pat Narduzzi is who he has always been

In the same light about the offseason starting to go a bit sideways and stale, Pitt’s own head coach Pat Narduzzi put fuel to the fire to spice things up…like he so often does. Narduzzi made some disparaging remarks about Mark Whipple, his former offensive coordinator, the same coach that guided one of the best offenses in Pitt history in 2021 and helped groom Kenny Pickett to become a Heisman finalist and first round pick. Here is the full quote from his appearance on the Bazzy’s Black and Gold Banter podcast with Richard Bazzy and 93.7 The Fan’s Colin Dunlap:

“Our old offensive coordinator had no desire to run the ball,” Narduzzi said in the interview about Whipple. “Everybody knew it. He was stubborn. Wake Forest was 118th in run defense and we threw the ball every down. When we ran it, we ran it for 10 yards but that wasn’t good enough.”

Pitt ran the ball 38 times to 34 passing attempts in that commanding 45-21 victory over Wake Forest, if you were wondering. Pitt averaged 8 yards per completion and 2.2 yards per rushing attempt as well. They had arguably the best quarterback and wide receiver in college football last season. Sometimes that’s just how it works out and Pitt had its best season in 40 years largely because of that combination and the offensive coordinator put them in great spots to have success all season long.

But, let’s set the record straight here: Mark Whipple was never going to be Pitt’s offensive coordinator in 2022. Both thoughts are true in that Whipple guided an excellent offense in 2021, but that was always going to be his final season at Pitt.

The expectation was that the veteran coach would retire at the end of the season and move back to his home in Arizona. And even to take this a step further, if Kenny Pickett did not return in 2021, I’m not so sure Whipple likely would have been the offensive coordinator last year either. The QB and OC were tied together and got one more chance, and let’s face it, they crushed it last season.

I do think Whipple's abrupt resignation just days after winning the ACC title was a bit surprising and him not coaching in the bowl game was not the expectation, many thought he to finish the job and coach in the Peach Bowl. Another surprising storyline in all this was him finding a landing spot at Nebraska, but again Mark Whipple not being Pitt’s offensive coordinator this upcoming year certainly is not a shock, it was the expectation.

I don’t really have an explanation for it all other than the head coach and offensive coordinator did not see eye to eye. Whipple catching some strays from his old boss in the middle of July? Yea, I did not see that one coming, but hey Narduzzi always says what is on his mind. That’s kind of his thing, for better or worse.

The head coach wasn’t done, however. In that same podcast, Narduzzi spoke of the Peach Bowl and about his former team, Michigan State, and the entire Big Ten conference for that matter. In fairness, a lot of this particular chatter was centered around if Pickett would have played in the Peach Bowl, and you know what, if the second runner-up in the Heisman race played against one of the worst passing defenses in the country like Michigan State had, Narduzzi probably is not wrong that the outcome likely would have been different.

“You talk about Big Ten and SEC and ACC, If that’s one of the best Big Ten teams, let’s go to the Big Ten and win it every year,” he said on the Bazzy’s Black and Gold Banter podcast. “I don’t want to hear about this Big Ten dominance and SEC dominance.”

That line of speech sounds like a head coach defending the conference his team is in and I'm not sure he is attacking those other leagues necessarily, though we know how that will get painted nationally. I just don’t think he really cares.

The Whipple remarks, the shots at the Big Ten…is any of this a surprise? Not in the least if you have been following along the past eight years.

Pat Narduzzi is unabashedly honest, almost to a fault, and he always has been that way as long as he has been Pitt’s head coach. For instance, remember when Pitt beat Duke last year by 4 scores last season, and he questioned if Duke offensive linemen, Carson van Lynn, a Pitt transfer, was stealing his offensive signals? He later apologized, but in an unfiltered setting the guy is going to say what is on his mind, even about things he probably shouldn’t say.

As someone that covers the team, it is refreshing, or at least entertaining. You always want honest answers, and he gives them and then some. The man certainly is secretive about his practices and the status of injured players, but when he is standing in front of a microphone whether at a press conference or as a guest on a podcast, you never know what he is going to say, but he won’t hide what he is feeling.

Narduzzi’s sideline demeanor has become less animated over the years. He is less standoffish with reporters as well, and now he is really loose and comfortable when giving interviews. It’s great content, there is no doubt about that, and he may find himself on the wrong end of some headlines, but he really is just being himself.

They are coming to your city

Pitt teased a big announcement ahead of ACC Media Days, and it was reveled on Thursday afternoon that Pitt will be hosting College Gameday ahead of the team’s season opener against West Virginia on September 1st.

It is not the traditional Saturday morning on-campus College Gameday with signs and a three hour run time, but rather it will be a one hour special from inside Acrisure Stadium. (I wonder who is bringing the giant Washington State flag into the stadium…). The crew will also have the halftime show from inside the stadium as well.

It will be the third time Pitt has hosted the show, and the first since 2005. The Backyard Brawl normally doesn’t need any extra juice, but there is plenty of it for the upcoming 105th meeting. College football's premier preview show will be in town, the game is televised on ESPN’s flagship station and it will be treated as one of the premier games of college football’s opening weekend. On top of all that, it is the first time Pitt and West Virginia will meet since 2011. Pitt is coming off of its best season in 40 years and will likely be ranked with a team that features double digit returning starters off an ACC Championship squad.

It’s a lot to unpack and the anticipation is building, but for Pitt fans potentially seeing Lee Corso put on Roc’s mascot head in front of packed stadium on national television is quite a way to kick off the 2022 college football season.

TWO QUESTIONS WE HAVE

What were Pitt’s most memorable games at ‘Heinz Field?’

RIP Heinz Field. Hello Acrisure Stadium. In probably one of the more overplayed stories this offseason, at least in Pittsburgh, Pitt’s home stadium (Steelers, too!) lost its naming rights. The Heinz corporation opted not to renew the deal and Acrisure, a Michigan-based company has bought the naming rights to the football stadium in Pittsburgh.

Does anything change? Not really, I think most people will continue to call it Heinz Field. There will still be a 68,000 seat stadium on the North Shore. There will be Pitt games, Steelers games, and Kenny Chesney concerts still.

All is well in my opinion.

So how about the stadium formally known as Heinz Field? Pitt has called it home since 2001. For 21 seasons the Panthers have played 138 games at the stadium on the North Shore with a 90-48 overall record. There have been memorable wins, upsets, tough losses, and some legendary performances along the way. So here are the ten games that stick out to me most when thinking of Pitt’s time playing at Heinz Field.

2003: No. 25 Pitt 31, No. 5 Virginia Tech 28

Pitt’s first time hosting College Gameday was a memorable one. The Panthers took this back-and-forth game when fullback Lousaka Polite plunged through with :54 seconds left.

2004: Pitt 16, No. 21 West Virginia 13

After a 2-2 start, Pitt reeled off six wins in the next seven games to capture the Big East title, including a Thanksgiving night win over West Virginia. The Mountaineers held a 13-9 lead after three quarters, but a Tyler Palko touchdown run set the final.

2008: Pitt 19, West Virginia 15

West Virginia simply could not stop LeSean McCoy. The sophomore sensation rushed for 183 yards and two touchdowns to go a perfect 2-0 in his career against the Mountaineers.

2009: No. 8 Pitt 27, Notre Dame 22

It was a primetime, nationally televised sellout game at Heinz Field. Pitt was ranked in the top-10 and looked legit. Dion Lewis and Jonathan Baldwin both made big-time plays all night long in this triumph over Notre Dame.

2009: No. 5 Cincinnati 45, No. 14 Pitt 44

Sorry, everyone. You can’t list all-time games at Heinz Field without mentioning this one. It was undeniably a great college football game, but Pitt came up one point short despite a Herculean effort from Dion Lewis, who ran the ball 47(!) times for 194 yards and three scores.

2016: Pitt 42, Penn State 39

The return of Pitt-Penn State was an excellent college football game. Pitt ran it down Penn State’s throat with 341 rushing yards in this one, sparked by James Conner. Pitt overwhelmed the Nittany Lions jumping out to a 28-7 lead before holding off a furious Penn State rally and sealing the win on a Ryan Lewis interception.

2017: Pitt 24, No. 2 Miami 14

Pitt had shocked the No. 2 team on the road before, but pulled this upset at home. The Panthers were led by a skinny freshman quarterback Kenny Pickett, who rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another. Pickett of course went on to become Pitt’s all-time leading passer.

2018: Pitt 52, Virginia Tech 22

Pitt did not beat a great Virginia Tech team on this day, but after a slow start to the season the team got on a roll. This game did not clinch the Coastal Division for Pitt, but it put them in the drivers seat. The exclamation point of the day was a 97-yard run by Qadree Ollison.

2019: Pitt 34, No. 15 UCF 34

After a tough loss at Penn State in week three, Pitt came out firing against UCF at home the following week. The lead was short lived, as UCF came back to life in the second half. It was a back and forth game, but Pitt made the biggest play in the end with ‘The Pitt Special’ as Aaron Mathews hit Kenny Pickett for a touchdown pass on a trick play in one of the more memorable Pitt plays at Heinz Field.

2021: No. 23 Pitt 27, Clemson 17

In order to be the best, you have to beat the best. Pitt made an early season statement on the way to winning the ACC for the first time ever with a two score victory over the six-time defending conference champion Clemson in one of the better atmospheres Pitt has ever had at its North Shore home.

What is Pitt’s toughest road game in 2022?

I have been a guest on several podcasts this offseason to help preview Pitt. Naturally most podcasts all run in the same direction, especially these season preview ones. You talk about who is coming back on each side of the ball, you discuss the coach and the state of the program, hit on a hot button issue or two, and run through the schedule. So after examine Pitt’s schedule more and more lately, I wonder…What is Pitt’s toughest road game this season?

I think one of the underrated qualities about Pitt’s 2021 season was the fact that the team went 5-0 in true road games and also captured the ACC title game in Charlotte. The team just seemed to have a good approach on the road, and with the amount of veterans on the team this year I think they can capture that same mentality. Last year presented some difficult road challenges. Pitt had to win in SEC country over Tennessee in front of 80,000 fans in Neyland Stadium. Lane Stadium had been a house of horrors for Pitt in recent years, and Pitt had to go into Blacksburg to take down Virginia Tech.

So what is that road game that is overly concerning this year? I think there are multiple ways of looking at it. There is not a giant intimidating stadium on the list, but some unique challenges that can pose problems along the way.

The Western Michigan game will be sneaky tough. MAC teams don’t get to host power-five teams very often, and with it being announced as a night game already, that can only add to the atmosphere in Kalamazoo. It will be a big deal to that program. The Broncos will be fired up to host Pitt, and they’ll likely have confidence after beating the Panthers a season ago.

The back-to-back late October meetings with Louisville and North Carolina could be tricky. It really depends with what Louisville is doing in the season. Scott Satterfield seems to be on the hot seat and it will be interesting to see the state of that program in October. North Carolina seemingly had Pitt’s number forever, but the Panthers are 2-0 against the Tar Heels with Mack Brown as the head coach, so maybe that was a Larry Fedora thing mores than it being North Carolina.

Virginia tucked between two easy home games — Syracuse and Duke is going to be tough. Brennan Armstrong is a really good quarterback and he gave the Pitt defenses fits last season, and oh yea he was hurt in that game. If he’s at 100% then it will be a challenge.

Obviously Miami’s home stadium isn’t overly intimidating, but Tyler Van Dyke is very good and the Hurricanes simply have owned Pitt through the years. Like with Louisville, a lot of it can hinge on how the season is going for Miami, as they have been known to sort of abandon ship if things aren’t going well no matter who the coach is. Many believe this could be a potential ACC Coastal title game, and if that’s the case, then this could be the toughest of them all.

I asked the question, but I didn’t really provide an answer. All five road games present different challenges for different reasons. There may not be a game in an overly hostile stadium, but the teams they face all bring something different.

ONE PREDICTION

Izzy Abanikanda is a 1,000 yard back this season

All this talk from Pat Narduzzi about the previous offensive coordinator not running the ball enough this week has me thinking: Pitt is probably going to run the ball quite a bit this upcoming season. Seems logical, right? The Panthers did lose the most prolific passer in school history and star wide receiver Jordan Addison is gone as well. So who is Pitt’s top playmaker on offense? Well I tend to think it’s Izzy Abanikanda.

As a sophomore, Abaniknda totaled 9 touchdowns, with seven coming on the ground, one receiving, and also a kickoff return for a score. He produced over 900 yards on offense, and at times looked like a marquee back. He rushed for a career-best 140 yards against Virginia Tech. The Brooklyn native also scored two touchdowns in the ACC Championship game and averaged 6.1 yards per carry on only nine attempts. (I wonder if Abanikanda not getting the ball enough in that game was what Narduzzi was referencing in his podcast appearance earlier this week about the lack of a running game.)

Pitt has some talented wideouts, as the coaches seem very excited about Jared Wayne, Jaden Bradley, Konata Mumpfield, and Bub Means. Sophomore tight end Gavin Bartholomew is a budding star in his own right, and the quarterbacks, either Slovis or Patti, should be able to spread the ball around as well.

I’m not expecting Pitt’s offense to resemble the 2018 offense with all run and little pass. There will be a balance of course, so I don’t want to paint the picture that I think this will be an all running team. I just really think the running game will be more prevalent in 2022 than it was last season, and Abanikanda looks like he can be the guy to make it happen.

Vincent Davis is a steady ball carrier, and Rodney Hammond showed effectiveness as a true freshman. Of course Daniel Carter was one of the stars of the spring. The competition for carries will be tough, but Abanikanda just has a different look about him than the other guys. He was able to get tough yards, but he can run away from people as well. Durability seemed to be a question with him at times, but some of the injuries he sustained were out of his control. He can’t help that Clemson linebackers were taking cheap shots at his head, for instance.

Provided that Abanikanda is healthy, I think he takes an even greater leap in 2022 than the one he took in 2021. If the head coach is hinting that he wants to see more rushing attempts this season, than I think the best back has a very good chance of cracking the 1,000-yard mark.