Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi walked back some of his controversial comments about the Big Ten after making headlines earlier this week. The coach appeared on a local podcast in the Pittsburgh area, Bazzy’s Black and Gold Banter, where he claimed Pitt would have won the Peach Bowl if quarterback Kenny Pickett had played. In fact, he said Pickett would have been a “21-point difference” and, “Michigan State get their butt kicked,” with Pickett on the field. The Panthers lost to Michigan State 31-21 in that game.
The former Michigan State defensive coordinator continued to double-down.
“If that was one of the best Big Ten teams last year, then let’s go to the Big Ten and win it every year. I don’t want to hear about this Big Ten dominance and SEC dominance.”
Narduzzi Confident of Pitt, ACC
Narduzzi has clarified his comments on the Big Ten Conference during Thursday’s ACC Kickoff. This is what he had to say to ESPN senior writer Andrea Adelson.
“You know, we play some darn good football in the ACC, and I think people forget about it. I’ve coached in the Big Ten for eight years, so I know it. I feel very confident — and, again, it’s not being arrogant. It’s just kind of knowing the landscape and knowing what we played against in the Peach Bowl. That’s just confidence. That’s no disrespect to the Big Ten or Michigan State. It’s just about Pitt and about the ACC. I think ACC football is really, really good, and that’s really the comment there that I was trying to get across.”
Narduzzi Calls Out Former OC
Narduzzi’s comments about former offensive coordinator Mark Whipple also drew some attention, though he has not directly addressed those yet. He said Whipple, now offensive coordinator for Nebraska, was too focused on the passing game and he was, “stubborn.” He specifically mentioned last season’s game against Wake Forest, a 45-21 Panther win.
“Our old offensive coordinator had no desire to run the ball,” Narduzzi said. “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.”
The Panthers actually ran the ball 38 times in that game for 112 yards, despite averaging less than 3 YPC. Pickett threw the ball 33 times for 253 yards and 2 scores, completing more than 60-percent of his attempts.
Pitt had a regular season record of 11-2 going into the Peach Bowl. Its two losses were 56-39 at home against Miami and 44-41 at home against Western Michigan. The Panthers defense surrendered more than 500 yards of total offense against Western Michigan.