Tag: Pitt Football

College Football News Preview 2020: Pitt Panthers

College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Pitt Panthers season with what you need to know.

College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Pitt Panthers season with what you need to know.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Pitt Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

2019 Record: 8-5 overall, 4-4 in ACC
Head Coach: Pat Narduzzi, 6th year, 36-29
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 34
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 49
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 56

No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.

5. College Football News Preview 2020: Pitt Panthers Offense 3 Things To Know

– Thank you, defense. Pitt scored the fewest points per game since the 1996 team that went 4-7, and yet it tied for the most games won in a season since 2009.

Under offensive coordinator Mark Whipple – the former UMass head coach – the offense didn’t have the same rushing spark of previous seasons, the passing game stalled a bit too often, and scoring was like pulling teeth at times – the team failed to score more than 35 in any game and scored more than 20 just three times.

But the change to more of a passing game did work – the air attack was better.

The blocking wasn’t a total disaster, but it wasn’t all that great. That might change this year with a veteran unit that could be sneaky good with all five starters expected back around all-star center Jimmy Morrissey and guard Bryce Hargrove.

CFN in 60 Video: Pitt Panthers Preview
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– Kenny Pickett only seems like he has been around since the Johnny Majors – sky point – era. The senior quarterback has been fine, and he threw for a lot of yards – close to 3,100 – but he only threw 13 touchdown passes with nine picks, while not doing all that much for the running game. However, he can get hot, throwing for over 300 yards five times including in three of the last four games.

He’s still the guy, but sophomore Nick Patti is a decent backup who could push for work, and Arizona State transfer Joey Yellen is coming in – even though he’s most likely in the mix for the 2021 starting job.

Leading receiver Maurice Ffrench is done, but senior Taysir Mack is a solid veteran who can be the new No. 1 guy, and there’s enough talent coming back to be okay. The addition of Florida transfer tight end Lucas Krull could be a huge help to fill the hole.

– The running game went from ripping off 3,191 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2018 to 1,544 yards and 11 scores last year. V’Lique Carter transferred out, but the top three running backs return, starting with senior AJ Davis coming off a 530-yard, four score season. He’s the 215-pound pounder, while 5-8, 175-pound sophomore Vincent Davis provides a little more splash after leading the team with five rushing scores.

NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Pitt Panthers Defense 3 Things To Know

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

Legendary College Football Player/Coach Johnny Majors Dies at 85

College football hall of fame player and national champion coach Johnny Majors has died at 85 years old. Learn more about Majors here.

College Football Hall of Famer Johnny Majors has died at the age of 85.  Majors was a legendary tailback at Tennessee before a coaching career that led him to Iowa State and Pitt before eventually ending up coaching at Tennessee.

Majors was a Tennessee football legend, twice winning the SEC Player of the Year Award and finishing second in the Heisman Trophy voting to Paul Hornung of Notre Dame in 1956.

After a brief stint in the Canadian Football League, Majors got into coaching as a graduate assistant at Tennessee before stops as an assistant at Mississippi State and Arkansas.

In 1968 he earned his first head coaching job at Iowa State where he went 24-30-1 in five seasons, earning bowl berths in his last two years there.

He took the Pitt job in 1973 and led them to three bowl games in four years, culminating in a national championship after a 12-0 season in 1976.

Majors then returned to Tennessee where he coached the Volunteers from 1977 to 1992, going 116-62-8 along the way and winning three SEC Championships as well as a pair of Sugar Bowl wins and a Cotton Bowl victory as well.  After being forced to step down in 1992, Majors

Majors returned to Pitt from 1993 through 1996 but failed to find the same success, going just 12-32 in his second stint with the Panthers.

In terms of a Notre Dame connection, Majors wasn’t just the first runner-up in Hornung’s Heisman season but also coached against the Irish nine different times, going 2-3 in his two stints with Pitt and 2-2 during his time at Tennessee.

Majors is said to have spent his final hours doing something he very much enjoyed, looking out over the Tennessee River.

For more information on Johnny Majors check out our friends at VolsWire who will have coverage throughout the coming days.

Meet Dane Jackson, Pitt’s stud of a CB prospect

Check out Draft Wire’s exclusive interview with Pittsburgh cornerback Dane Jackson

Today’s NFL requires cornerbacks that possess unshakable confidence, a short memory, and the ball skills to take full advantage when opposing quarterbacks make the mistake of challenging them.

One player who checks all of those boxes in the 2020 NFL draft class? Pitt’s Dane Jackson.

Jackson recently spoke exclusively with Draft Wire about his experience at the Senior Bowl, which receivers were the toughest to face throughout his college career, and what kind of impact he’s going to make at the next level.

JM: What was your experience like at the Senior Bowl?

DJ: It was a great experience. It was fun to be around some of the best players in all of college football. This a very strong senior class in my opinion. I enjoyed competing against them all week long. I can’t complain about the experience. It was great.

JM: I imagine that you went out there with the thought of achieving something or proving something. Do you feel like you were successful?

DJ: I just wanted to prove that I could play at the highest level. I went out there and competed against the man across from me. We had some of the best receivers in college football out there. That’s what playing cornerback is all about. You have to go out there on a snap-by-snap basis and compete with the guy across from you. I went out there and laid it all on the line. I never let up.

Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

JM: You had 12 pass break-ups during the 2019 season. What is it about your game that allows you to be around the ball so often?

DJ: It’s all about me being aggressive. I just have a good feel for when the ball is in the air. I’m able to get my hands in there and break up the pass. As a cornerback, my job is to not allow the receiver to catch the ball. It’s that simple.

JM: Do you have a preference regarding what coverage scheme you’re mainly utilized in at the next level?

DJ: The primary coverage I played in throughout my entire five years at Pittsburgh was press man. That’s what I’m most accustomed to. I’m not necessarily saying that I prefer that, but that’s probably what I’m most comfortable in.

JM: If you’re headed into the NFL with most of your experience at one form of coverage, press man is the one. You can’t survive in this league if you can’t play man.

DJ: Right, I fully agree with that (laughs). I think my experience in press man is going to serve me well going forward.

Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports

JM: Who are some of the best receivers you’ve ever covered throughout your time at Pittsburgh?

DJ: I would have to say Gabriel Davis from UCF. He’s in this draft class as well. I’d have to point to my former teammate at Pittsburgh, Tyler Boyd. He’s with the Cincinnati Bengals now and he’s been very successful. I was just a freshmen but he was super tough to go up against in practice. Dyami Brown from North Carolina was tough.

JM: The NFL Scouting Combine is fast approaching. Are you looking forward to any drills in particular?

DJ: I wouldn’t point out anything in particular. I’m trying to go out there and be the best version of myself in every drill I compete in. I plan on going out there and leaving it all out there. I’m trying to compete.

JM: What are three traits a successful cornerback must possess in your opinion?

DJ: You need to have a short memory if you’re gonna play this position at a high level. A receiver is gonna make a play from time-to-time. You do everything in your power to stop that from happening but that’s how the game goes. There’s a lot of great receivers out there and you’re gonna have to play against them. I also feel that you have to be aggressive and you have to be a ball-hawk. Those traits would be number two and three for me.

Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports

JM: What’s the best lesson any coach ever taught you?

DJ: I think the best lesson I was ever taught at Pittsburgh was that it’s never about what you’ve done in the past. You have to live and play in the present. That’s what’s gonna get you where you need to go.

JM: How do you cover a bigger receiver differently than you would a smaller, shiftier guy?

DJ: You have to get your hands on them as quickly as possible. Some of those bigger guys like to push off and be physical with you. You need to get your hands on them and control their movements.

JM: What kind of impact is Dane Jackson gonna make at the next level?

DJ: I’m an aggressive corner. I’m a winner and I’m not afraid to tackle. I love coming up in the run game and making a tackle. I don’t shy away from contact. Whichever team drafts me is adding a very hard worker to their franchise.

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Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi hilariously tried to ‘squash’ Michigan State rumors

Narduzzi said his phone was “blowing up” after Mark Dantonio retired.

While the news of Mark Dantonio retiring as Michigan State’s head coach shocked the college football world Tuesday, questions and rumors about his replacement immediately followed.

Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell is reportedly the frontrunner for the job — although he said Wednesday that he’s “talked to nobody” at Michigan State — but Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi’s name has also been in the mix. Narduzzi was the Spartans’ (incredibly successful) defensive coordinator for eight seasons under Dantonio, and it’s long been speculated that he’d return to East Lansing at some point in the future.

Well, Narduzzi attempted to silence any speculation about possibly plans to leave the Panthers during his National Signing Day press conference Wednesday and with this perfect video on Twitter from The Wolf of Wall Street.

During his NSD press conference — Pitt’s 2020 class is ranked No. 44, one spot behind the Spartans’ — Narduzzi said he had a feeling he’d get questions about taking over at Michigan State after his “phone was blowing up [Tuesday] night.” He explained he was as surprised as everyone else to hear about Dantonio’s sudden departure.

Narduzzi did, in fact, get several questions about leaving Pitt and repeatedly said he has no plans to go anywhere. He said, via ASAP Sports:

“Rumors are rumors. Speculation… I can’t tell you what’s going on in the outside world. I don’t know what’s happening up there. Obviously it’s fresh. …

“The rumor, squash them, whatever you want to call it. I got decisions to make, too. I’m here at Pitt. I want to be here at Pitt. That’s where I’m going to be.”

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