Pitt notebook: On 2nd glance, quarterback Kedon Slovis, pass catchers stepped up when it mattered
No one is ignoring the reality of Pitt’s opening game. Defeating West Virginia, 38-31, was a relief, but the performance wasn’t good enough for those invested in the program. “There are some things we have to clean up,” senior wide receiver Jared Wayne said. Yet, he added, “Anytime you score...
ACC gets September shot to boost reputation in marquee games
DURHAM, N.C. — Duke coach Mike Elko has been around college football long enough to know how the season’s opening month can shape the perception of a league’s strength. That’s important in the weeks ahead for the Atlantic Coast Conference. The league won — or survived, in some cases —...
First Call: Steelers legends to be featured in ‘A Football Life’; Bengals’ Tyler Boyd on facing Steelers without Big Ben
There is some major media news surrounding a Pittsburgh personality. Tyler Boyd talks about facing his hometown team without Big Ben. Joey Porter’s son is opening eyes at Penn State. And NFL Films is featuring two Steelers legends. All that in Wednesday’s “First Call.” New gig Plum’s Pat McAfee has...
Pitt defense hopes to keep pace with Tennessee’s up-tempo offense
By Pat Narduzzi’s stopwatch, Tennessee will snap the football between 7 and 12 seconds after the end of the previous play about 75% of the time Saturday. Operating against that tempo, Pitt strong safety Brandon Hill might have enough time to get in place, size up the opposing players, steal...
Pitt remains No. 17 in Associated Press Top 25 poll
Pitt’s dramatic, come-from-behind victory against West Virginia on Thursday night didn’t impress the Associated Press Top 25 voters enough to move the Panthers off their preseason ranking. Pitt (1-0) remained 17th in the nation in the poll released Tuesday afternoon, the first this season that reflects outcomes on the field....
Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi embraces status as underdog against Tennessee
Let’s check the facts surrounding Pitt’s next game, a Saturday visit by Tennessee to Acrisure Stadium, representing the first time an SEC team has played in Pittsburgh. Pitt won the ACC championship last season, finished 13th in the final Associated Press poll, opened 2022 at No. 17, and followed up...
Pitt notebook: Brandon Hill’s mom appreciates Pat Narduzzi’s secrecy on injuries
In his eight seasons at Pitt, Pat Narduzzi has been reluctant to offer details or even discuss injured players, not unlike any coach who’s ever worn a whistle. At least two injury issues emerged Thursday night when defensive end Deslin Alexandre and running back Rodney Hammond Jr. left the West...
Locally born and bred, J. Audley Pierce coached Tennessee’s 1st football team
Mac Lynch doesn’t know how his great-grandfather became a football coach, his name rightfully etched among such Tennessee notables as Robert Neyland, Doug Dickey, Johnny Majors, Phillip Fulmer and current coach Josh Heupel, who will bring his team to Acrisure Stadium on Saturday. But you could look it up: Joseph...
Euphoric night ends well for Pitt, but now it’s time to fix what went wrong
After Pitt fans set aside the hate they have for West Virginia and wiped away those tears of joy triggered by the 38-31 victory, they should face the truth: There are issues that need to be addressed with this football team. The Backyard Brawl on Thursday night had the feel...
Penn State-Purdue tops Backyard Brawl in national TV ratings
Fox’s coverage of the Penn State-Purdue game drew bigger national television ratings than ESPN’s broadcast of the Backyard Brawl between Pitt and West Virginia on Thursday night. According to showbuzzdaily.com, the Penn State-Purdue game drew 3.512 million viewers while the Pitt-West Virginia game drew 3.152 million viewers. The Pitt-West Virginia...
Top 5 biggest crowds in Pittsburgh sports history
Traffic tie-ups well before rush hour, tailgate parties springing up at many parking spots on the North Shore and a record crowd inside Acrisure Stadium made the renewal of the Backyard Brawl special. More so for victorious Pitt than West Virginia, considering that the Mountaineers led by seven deep into...
Pitt notebook: WVU coach Neal Brown defends 4th-quarter punt, would do it again
The game was sitting there for the West Virginia Mountaineers to secure in their travel bags, hit the country roads and return to Morgantown with a shocking upset. But Neal Brown decided to punt. With 6 minutes, 17 seconds left and WVU leading No. 17 Pitt, 31-24, on Thursday night...
Tim Benz: YAC drives comeback as Pitt passes first post-Pickett test
The image of Kenny Pickett was hovering over Pitt’s season opener Thursday night. Literally. During the first timeout against West Virginia, the former Heisman Trophy candidate was in one of Acrisure Stadium’s open-end rotundas, unfurling the team’s 2021 ACC title banner as a crowd of 70,622 wildly applauded. All new...
Pitt rallies late to secure 38-31 victory against West Virginia in Backyard BrawlVideo
Dave Wannstedt’s words carried across the room and into M.J. Devonshire’s head long before Pitt put a lock on what became an improbable Backyard Brawl victory, 38-31, against West Virginia. “He said it: ‘Somebody is always going to be legendary and it could be you,’ ” Devonshire said of the...
Before Brawl, Tony Dorsett lends a hand in Pitt’s recruiting efforts
The Pitt sideline at Acrisure Stadium was teeming with recruits and recruiters before the West Virginia-Pitt game Thursday night. One guy — an unofficial Pitt recruiter — stood out among the crowd. Tony Dorsett, who is Pitt’s only Heisman Trophy winner, was engaged in an animated conversation with Austintown Fitch...
ESPN’s Rece Davis, Desmond Howard relish college rivalries like the Backyard Brawl
Never more so than now has money been in the face of a casual college football fan. Of course, across collegiate athletics, dollar signs were always the straw that stirred the drink. But nowadays, the differences between the business models of college football and say, the NFL or NBA, have...
ACC preview: No. 4 Clemson aims for return to top of leagueVideo
Fourth-ranked Clemson is determined to follow a year of change with a return to the top of the
ACC. The Tigers saw their six-year run as champions snapped last year, then the Tigers lost coordinators on both sides of the ball to head-coaching jobs. Yet Dabo Swinney’s team is favored...
Veteran QBs have ACC set for season of big offensive totals
Devin Leary hasn’t forgotten lessons that came as a first-year starting quarterback struggling just to consistently complete passes, much less avoid turnovers and move North Carolina State’s offense. “I think one of the biggest things is pretty obvious,” the fifth-year QB said. “It’s hard to win games.” Things look much...
Backyard Brawl: Memories of 13-9 in ’07 with Pitt’s Chris McKillop — ‘We played a perfect game’
When it comes to Chris McKillop’s freshman year as a Pitt Panther, there is at least one aspect of coach Walt Harris’ daily practices that the defensive lineman will never forget. “Walt Harris had a ‘West Virginia’ period,” McKillop said during Wednesday’s “Breakfast With Benz” podcast. “In an 18-period practice....
Pitt Take 5: Panthers vs. Mountaineers has the feel of a college reunion
The Backyard Brawl returns to Pittsburgh on Thursday night for the first time since 2010, and it almost sounds like a football game wrapped around a college reunion. Former Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt will address the current players at their pregame meal, and will share hugs and old stories with...
After 10 seasons without a Brawl, Pitt, WVU find natural rival right down the road
The night the Backyard Brawl faded away, Pitt quarterback Tino Sunseri was sacked 10 times in a 21-20 West Virginia victory in Morgantown. Panthers coach Todd Graham said the loss “devastated” him. That was Nov. 25, 2011. The schools separated by 75 miles of Interstate 79 haven’t met since. The...
Backyard Brawl: WVU players ‘recognize their legacy could be authored on Thursday night’
Jed Drenning knows how West Virginia football fans talk about the Backyard Brawl. He was a backup quarterback for the Mountaineers, and he has been part of their game-day broadcast crew for 20 years. Those games are spoken about in snapshots. In individual moments. In specific final scores. “Where were...
Dave Wannstedt eager to greet old Pitt pals, tell current players what Backyard Brawl means to him
The Backyard Brawl will be contested Thursday night at Acrisure Stadium, but its significance – and the game’s outcome – will resonate far beyond the North Shore. You’d have a hard time convincing Dave Wannstedt otherwise. The former Pitt player and head coach has been designated the Panthers’ honorary captain...
Pitt notebook: Izzy Abanikanda tops depth chart at running back
It’s only a two-letter word, but “or” speaks volumes when Pat Narduzzi places it next to a player’s name on the Pitt depth chart. It means no one has stepped forward to claim the starting job and the competition will continue. That said, it was a mild surprise when Narduzzi...
Pat Narduzzi calls on Dave Wannstedt to speak to Pitt’s players about Backyard Brawl
When Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi played at Rhode Island, the football team’s chief rival was Brown, an Ivy League school 30 miles to the north. “That was your big rivalry? Really?” he said, recalling his collegiate days Monday during the first of his weekly chats with reporters. He learned quickly...
