Pitt has one of the most unconventional depth charts in the country this week. Here's a look at the changes the staff made on offense, defense and special teams.
There was really only one change made on the offensive two-deep, and it happened on the offensive line, where the coaches listed Matt Goncalves as the starting left tackle and Gabe Houy as the starting right tackle.
That was a change from the last few weeks, when Goncalves and Houy were listed as “OR” starters at right tackle and Branson Taylor was listed as the starting left tackle. Despite that listing, Goncalves started the last three games at left tackle and figures to continue in that role going forward.
Taylor is now listed as Goncalves’ backup at left tackle, while freshman Ryan Baer, who was the backup left tackle previously, is now listed as the backup right tackle.
On defense, the only change the coaches made was to remove junior Dayon Hayes. Hayes was arrested on misdemeanor assault charges late Sunday. Pat Narduzzi said Monday that Hayes would be subject to internal discipline pending the outcome of his legal situation, but it is unknown if he will play this weekend at Virginia.
Perhaps the most interesting development on the two-deep this week was at punter, where Pitt has made the unprecedented move of listing three players as “OR” starters. That list includes redshirt sophomore Cam Guess, freshman Sam Vander Haar and redshirt freshman Caleb Junko. All three punted in Saturday’s win over Syracuse, with Vander Haar punting first and last - the last being a perfectly-placed kick late in the fourth quarter that was downed at the Syracuse 1.
"Sam came in, did a nice job on that last sky punt," Narduzzi said Monday. "Not where we want it to be as far as the direction, but did a nice job putting one at the 1. We'd like the other one to be inside the 10. That's his role right now. We'll see how those other guys do with that this week. We'll see.
"Then when you look at Cam and you look at Junko, both of them have legs. We're going to find out what they do this week, so it's an 'OR' right now. Maybe Sam Vander Haar goes out there and kills it this week, but it's an 'OR,' and there's a battle going on there, as I think we all see."
Narduzzi added that he and the coaching staff believe they will have an idea of who their punter for 2023 is by the end of this season.
