Category: Pitt Panthers

Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi says Panthers ‘didn’t do a good job’ replacing talent, players react

Narduzzi said Pittsburgh lost talent and didn’t do a good job replacing it, a sentiment his players seemed frustrated by.

Pittsburgh lost to Notre Dame 58-7 on Saturday, and Panthers coach Pat Narduzzi teed off on his roster after the game.

“We lost a lot of good players last year,” Narduzzi said. “We thought we’d replace them and we obviously didn’t do a good job of that.”

Narduzzi expanded upon his thoughts more, saying it starts with him and he didn’t coach well enough on Saturday, but the damage was done. His comments ignited a firestorm in his locker room, with players like tight end Gavin Bartholomew, running backs Rodney Hammond and Derrick Davis, and defensive back Ryland Gandy all responding to the quote on social media with varyingly clear displays of frustration.

The coach clarified his comments further on social media after the game.

Narduzzi signed a contract extension through 2030 after the 2021 season, which saw the Panthers win the ACC behind Heisman finalist Kenny Pickett’s quarterback play. His buyout is not currently known, but the USA TODAY Sports database says the Pittsburgh coach is due to make $5,875,817 this season, the 28th-highest-paid coach in the sport.

Report: Pittsburgh benches Jurkovec, expected to start Veilleux next week

Phil Jurkovec, who has 2 TDs and 3 INTs over his past three games, will reportedly no longer be the starter for the Pittsburgh Panthers.

The Pittsburgh Panthers have made a change at quarterback, according to a Wednesday report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Noah Hiles.

The Panthers will trade senior Phil Jurkovec for sophomore Christian Veilleux when they next take the field against Louisville on Oct. 14.

Jurkovec, a three-year starter at Boston College who transferred to Pittsburgh before this season, has struggled so far in 2023. He’s completed a career-low 50.9% of his passes, he’s thrown more interceptions (3) than touchdowns (2) over his last three starts, and he’s been given a QBR below 35 in three of his five games.

Hiles reported Jurkovec told his teammates about the move during a players-only meeting on Wednesday morning.

Veilleux spent the past two seasons at Penn State before he also transferred to Pittsburgh this offseason. He’s thrown 27 passes in this season, completing 12 of them for 145 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.

Best nonconference matchups of the 2023 college football season

The best 20 nonconference games of the 2023 season.

We are under 100 days to the college football season but who is counting anyway? Well, just about everyone is. Teams are gearing up to make a run at the College Football Playoffs and end Georgia’s run of dominance. The Bulldogs are 29-1 over the last two seasons where they won the title in both.

Can anyone step up and prevent them from joining the Minnesota Golden Gophers in college football immortality? Minnesota won three straight titles in the early to mid-1930s. A feat that has seems impossible to repeat, until now. Almost a century later, we could be witnessing history.

Before we get to the CFP, there is plenty more that needs to be addressed. Teams have fall camps, nonconference games, and the run to their respective conference championship games.

In their 100 storylines to follow, CBS Sports ranked the best 20 nonconference matchups of the 2023 college football season. Plenty of eyes will be on the likes of Alabama, Colorado, Texas, and Texas A&M, but who else should we be paying attention to ahead of conference play?

One notable matchup missing is the opening game of the season in Dublin, Ireland, where Notre Dame and Navy are set to meet on the gridiron. That game was among our must-see games in each week of the 2023 college football season.

Check out the list from CBS Sports:

Kickoff time, Network announced for Notre Dame vs Pitt

The Fighting Irish and Panthers have all the details set for their late October battle.

The time and television assignment for Notre Dame and Pittsburgh’s late October showdown has been set.

On October 28, the two historic rivals will play at 3:30 pm EST with the game televised nationally on NBC as well as streamed on the Peacock app.

The NBC television comes as no surprise as Notre Dame has a television deal with the network that pays the Fighting Irish over $22 million per year and runs through 2025. The network also recently become one of the networks in the Big Ten’s new television deal and will carry the conference’s prime-time game each week starting with Penn State and West Virginia on September 2.

Notre Dame and Pittsburgh will meet for the 72nd time all-time in their history. The Fighting Irish hold a 49-21-1 lead in the series and have won each of the last three matchups in 2015, 2018, and 2020. Since 2001, Notre Dame has won 10 of the 14 matchups. The Panthers’ last victory in the series came in 2013, a 28-21 win in Pittsburgh.

The Fighting Irish are entering their second season under head coach Marcus Freeman. In year one of the Freeman era, the Fighting Irish battened through a tough start to their season to go 9-4 on the year.

Pittsburgh, on the other hand, looked for another strong season to follow up their ACC Championship winning season in 2021. But much like Notre Dame, they fought through an up-and-down start and recovered well to go 9-4 on the season.

Both teams enter 2023 with high expectations though Notre Dame certainly will be the one with the bigger hype surrounding them entering the season. It’s been a strong offseason for Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish which included bringing in former Wake Forest star quarterback Sam Hartman.

Get more Notre Dame news, analysis, and opinions on Fighting Irish Wire