Pitt Take 5: Panthers seek positive finishing touch to sub-standard season
Pitt’s season ends Saturday in Durham, N.C., against Duke. It’s a game that appeared more difficult Oct. 14 when the Blue Devils were 5-1, with victories against Clemson and N.C. State and a 21-14 loss to Notre Dame. Since then, Duke is 1-4, including close road losses to North Carolina,...
No time to ‘stew’ over loss to Florida, Pitt prepares to confront Oregon State on Friday
It was 11:53 p.m. Wednesday, not long after Pitt’s loss to Florida in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT Tip-off, and coach Jeff Capel gave his players their orders. “I just told the team, ‘Right now, we have about seven more minutes to stew on this, and then we’re going...
Pitt cornerbacks, assistant Archie Collins prepare for ‘sentimental’ finale at Duke
Archie Collins and Marquis Williams have grown up together at Pitt over the past six seasons. It was 2018 when Collins was hired as Pitt’s secondary coach, his first full-time job at a Power 5 school. Williams, a freshman at the time, enrolled with an aggressive demeanor coaches demand from...
Pitt season-opening winning streak ends in loss to Florida
Not only was Florida the better shooting and more experienced team during its 86-71 victory Wednesday night against Pitt in the Preseason NIT Tip-off, but the Gators threw an element at the Panthers that other teams might try to mimic. “Their physicality really wore us down,” Pitt coach Jeff Capel...
Nate Yarnell, Bub Means hope to grow their unspoken bond when Pitt concludes season at Duke
Nate Yarnell and Bub Means grew up 815 miles apart. Yarnell is a piano-playing sophomore from Austin, Texas, who has patiently, quietly waited his turn as Pitt’s quarterback carousel kept spinning. Means, a senior wide receiver, is a 100-mph talker from Lovejoy, Ga., whose legs move fast too, and who...
Pitt assistant Andre Powell keeps running backs grinding through difficult season
When Pitt travels to Durham, N.C., to confront Duke on Saturday, Andre Powell will mark nine full seasons on coach Pat Narduzzi’s staff. They met when both were assistant coaches at Rhode Island in the 1990s, and their career paths crossed again in 2015 when Powell was one of Narduzzi’s...
Confronting Florida in NIT Season Tip-Off presents challenge for Pitt’s big men
One of the most-discussed storylines during the first four games of Pitt’s basketball season has been the growth of big men Federiko Federiko and the Diaz Graham twins, Guillermo and Jorge. Growth, in terms of production on the court and physically, as big men, slightly bigger men than they were...
Pitt will open its 2027 football season in Dublin, Ireland, against Wisconsin
Pitt football will cross the Atlantic Ocean for its 2027 opener. For only the second time in history that dates to 1890, Pitt will play a game outside of the United States. The team will open the 2027 season against the Wisconsin Badgers in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic...
Despite Nate Yarnell’s strong outing, Pitt QB situation unsettled for ’24
Before you can criticize Pat Narduzzi for failing to properly stack his quarterback room since Kenny Pickett’s departure, you have to give him credit for how he rebuilt the position during the first two seasons of his Pitt tenure. • Nathan Peterman — win. He threw five touchdown passes in...
Pitt’s Bub Carrington ‘thinks’ the game before he plays it at a high level
The son of a coach who taught him to “think” the game as much as play it, Pitt freshman point guard Bub Carrington is trying to keep his instant celebrity under control. “Same old,” he said Monday while chatting with reporters at Petersen Events Center. “Class, practice, games. Just trying...
Pitt women’s soccer blanks Memphis, advances to program’s first Elite Eight berth
Pitt women’s soccer team made more history Sunday night, earning its first Elite Eight berth with a 3-0 victory against Memphis in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 in Fayetteville, Ark. Next up for the Panthers will be a date with No. 1 Florida State at 5:30 p.m. Friday in Tallahassee,...
Pitt women’s soccer defeats Arkansas to reach NCAA Tournament Sweet 16
Pitt women’s soccer reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for the second time in school history — and second consecutively — when Ellie Coffield’s header off a corner kick from Sarah Schupansky eluded Arkansas goalkeeper Phoebe Carver to give the Panthers a 4-3 second-round victory Friday night in Fayetteville, Ark....
Pitt basketball improves to 4-0 with 107-56 victory against Jacksonville
The time has come for Pitt’s basketball team to step into the big leagues. So far, coach Jeff Capel likes what he has seen from his rebuilt roster. Four victories in four outings against mid-majors, most recently an easy 107-56 win Friday night against Jacksonville (2-2) in front of a...
Analysis: Pitt’s victory against Boston College doesn’t mask offseason problems Pat Narduzzi must confront
After Pitt finally did what it’s supposed to do — defeat one of the series of mediocre (or worse) teams on its schedule — Donovan McMillon talked about being “terribly sad the season’s ending.” Will he feel the same way after the Duke game Nov. 25 if Pitt’s victory against...
Jaland Lowe, Will Jeffress define teamwork while coming off Pitt’s bench
Jaland Lowe and Will Jeffress have not been starters through the first three games of the season, but Pitt coach Jeff Capel values their contributions as part of his effort to recreate the team that won 24 games last season. In the victory against Florida Gulf Coast, Lowe and Jeffress...
With help from Rodney Hammond, QB Nate Yarnell leads Pitt to victory over Boston College
Unless he calls upon a first-year freshman, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi can’t dig any deeper into his quarterback depth chart than he did Thursday night at Acrisure Stadium. Third-string sophomore Nate Yarnell made his second collegiate start count, leading Pitt (3-8, 2-5 ACC) to a 24-16 victory against Boston College...
Nate Yarnell starts at quarterback for Pitt against Boston College
Sophomore Nate Yarnell started at quarterback for Pitt on Thursday night against Boston College, marking the third different player this season to man that position at the outset of a game. It will be Yarnell’s second career start after leading Pitt to a victory at Western Michigan last season. In...
Pitt seniors take possible last walk across Acrisure Stadium grounds
Several days before Pitt’s last home game of the season Thursday night at Acrisure Stadium, Pat Narduzzi met with his team. It’s a regular weekly meeting, but this one meant a bit more than the others to Narduzzi. He is in the midst of his final days with the team’s...
Jeff Capel concentrating on defense, rebounding as Pitt prepares for Jacksonville
The Pitt Panthers are scoring at 91.7 points a clip through their first three games, but Jeff Capel is making defense and rebounding a “huge point of emphasis” in preparation for Jacksonville. The Dolphins (2-1) were dominant on the boards through their first two games and rank with Pitt (3-0)...
Analysis: Change is coming to Pitt football program, like it or not
After the 2022 season, Pat Narduzzi had the luxury of keeping that desk drawer locked where he stores his list of assistant coach candidates. It would be a big surprise if he doesn’t go looking for the key this offseason. There is always collateral damage when a team has a...
After 11 months of practice, games, Pitt still working to master tackling fundamentals
Pitt’s coaches and strength staff began preparing players for this season not long after Ben Sauls’ field goal sailed through the uprights Dec. 30 in El Paso, Texas, to give the Panthers a victory in the Sun Bowl. There were the early-morning winter workouts in January, adherance to basic fundamentals...
Pitt men’s soccer earns NCAA Tournament berth for 5th straight season
The Pitt men’s soccer team, which has won at least one NCAA Tournament game in each of the last four seasons, will have a chance to continue that streak Thursday night. The Panthers will play host to James Madison at 7 p.m. at Ambrose Urbanic Field in Oakland. Pitt went...
Pitt pulls away from Florida Gulf Coast for home victory
Pitt confronted its most difficult test of the season Monday night at Petersen Events Center. Jeff Capel was eager to see how his team would handle it. The Panthers beat back repeated challenges from a veteran Florida Gulf Coast team and survived – even while shooting poorly from the free-throw...
Tough time for a short week, Pitt gets ready to confront Boston College on Thursday night
The ACC schedule maker — whether it was an unfeeling computer or a human being — led Pitt down two difficult paths this week. First, there is the matter of playing two football games in six days, something that has happened to Pitt only twice under coach Pat Narduzzi. Second,...
Analysis: Questionable quarterback play 1 of Pitt’s many problems
Perhaps the only question worth asking Pat Narduzzi at this point in a season of almost unprecedented misery is this one: Seriously, Pat, have you kept Nick Patti’s number handy? Narduzzi has tried five quarterbacks since Kenny Pickett’s departure with one game remaining in the 2021 season, and only Patti...
