Tag: pittsburgh football

Former Ohio State player joins Luke Fickell at Wisconsin

Former Buckeye joins Fickell at Wisconsin #GoBucks

We love following former Ohio State football players and their journeys both on and off the field. A few former Buckeyes have gone into the coaching ranks and found huge success. Ryan Ross joins that list.

Ohio State fans may remember Ross from his days wearing scarlet and gray as a walk-on from 2010 through 2012.

Ross didn’t see much game action as a receiver, but some Buckeye fans may remember him being on the receiving end of a 16-yard Joe Bauserman touchdown during the 2011 spring game. After his playing days, Ross spent time on the Cincinnati staff as a strength and conditioning intern.

Ross spent time in the high school ranks before getting another shot at the Football Bowl Subdivision level with Pittsburgh, where he was named as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. He has been in that role the past two seasons. In 2024, Ross will be back in the Big Ten. He was named the assistant director of strength and conditioning for the Wisconsin Badgers.

Once a Buckeye, always a Buckeye.

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ACC Football Teams Ranked by Returning Production for 2024

A look at each ACC team’s returning production for the upcoming 2024 season.

Forecasting which teams will rise to greatness in college football in any given season can prove challenging. However, a key indicator often lies in the roster’s returning players.

From seasoned fifth-year senior linebackers to up-and-coming junior quarterbacks, the presence of experienced athletes opting to continue with their respective programs can significantly bolster a team’s competitive advantage. This continuity becomes particularly crucial as other teams contend with talent depletion due to NFL draft selections, transfers, or eligibility regulations.

ESPN recently released a list of all 134 FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) teams, with each ACC team naturally being listed. Here is a look at each ACC team’s returning production on offense, defense, and total.

Updated 4/7

A look at Clemson football’s complete 2024 schedule

Here is a look at Clemson football’s entire 2024 schedule.

After a long wait, we finally have a complete look at the Clemson football team’s 2024 schedule.

While we have known who the Tigers will be facing for some time, we now have the date and week for each game. Times are yet to be determined, as many factors go into the time choices for each game. Even so, we know what week each game will take place, so Clemson fans can now plan accordingly.

With the release of the schedule, we put together a week-by-week schedule of our own for you to see who Clemson will face each week and where it will be. Take a look at Clemson’s complete 2024 schedule below.

Updated 3/31

Every ACC football team’s ESPN preseason SP+ ranking

The ACC has some strong teams heading into the 2024 season, according to ESPN’s SP+.

The 2024 college football season is months away, but we all know that football remains on the mind throughout the offseason. 

Early rankings have been released all over the place, with ESPN’s Bill Connelly recently releasing the preseason ESPN SP+ rankings ($$$) for the 2024 season. These SP+ rankings consider multiple key factors regarding a football team, including returning production, recent recruiting, and recent history. A strong model; here is a bit more of what Connelly had to say about the rankings. 

“It’s a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. It is a predictive measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football, not a résumé ranking. Along those same lines, these projections aren’t intended to be a guess at what the AP Top 25 will look like at the end of the season. These are simply early offseason power rankings based on the information we have been able to gather to date.”

Straightforward and to the point, these are power rankings based on what we know right now. So, how do Clemson and the rest of the ACC stack up in the first SP+ rankings for 2024? Check it out below.

Updated 2/16

Every ACC Football Team’s 2024 Recruiting Class Ranking After National Signing Day

Here is a look at every ACC team’s final 2024 recruiting class ranking.

Dabo Swinney and the Clemson coaching staff showcased their recruiting prowess in the 2024 class, adding considerable talent to their roster. However, the burning question remains: how does Clemson’s recruiting effort compare to other ACC powerhouses following National Signing Day?

Today, we delve into the post-National Signing Day landscape, dissecting each ACC football team’s 2024 recruiting team ranking according to 247Sports. While Clemson remains a formidable force in ACC recruiting circles, they find themselves not at the summit for this particular recruiting cycle. Another program is poised for a significant resurgence, and the 2024 class appears to be the catalyst for their potential return to past glory.

From perennial ACC contenders to emerging teams within the conference, let’s examine the 2024 recruiting team ranking for each ACC program, shedding light on the evolving dynamics within the conference.

–Updated 2/13

ACC Football 2024 Team Recruiting Rankings After Early Signing Day

Here is a full look at how the ACC stands in team recruiting rankings after early signing day.

Early signing day was, as it should be for every college football program nationwide, a very busy day.

High school players across the country signed their national letters of intent and secured the next step in their football careers as they prepare to join their new teams. The ACC had some good success on early signing day, with multiple ACC programs landing in the top 25 of class team rankings following the day. 

So, how does the ACC stack up against each other? That’s what we’re going to take a look at today. Here is a look at every ACC team’s 2024 team recruiting ranking according to 247Sports following early signing day.

Updated 12/25

Clemson defensive line transfer staying in the ACC

Clemson defensive line transfer David Ojiegbe is staying in the ACC.

A Clemson transfer defensive lineman has announced where he will be playing football next season and it is in the ACC.

Former Clemson defensive end David Ojiegbe is heading up north as he announced Tuesday that he has committed to Pittsburgh. It’s a big move for Ojiegbe, who will play against the Tigers next season with his new school.

A high-potential freshman, Ojiegbe played 11 snaps over two games and redshirted this season. His snaps came in a debut against Charleston Southern and in Clemson’s matchup against FAU.

Ojiegbe was a four-star recruit in the 2023 class out of St. John’s College (D.C.) High School, committing to Clemson in April 2022. According to 247Sports composite rankings, he was the No.34 edge and No.291 overall player in his class.

Pitt players didn’t seem happy Pat Narduzzi partially blamed them after Notre Dame blowout loss

Some Pittsburgh players aren’t happy Pat Narduzzi seemingly threw them under the bus after losing to Notre Dame.

Pittsburgh football coach Pat Narduzzi might be in a bit of trouble with his locker room after comments in a postgame press conference seemed to indict his current roster.

After the team’s 58-7 disaster against Notre Dame, Narduzzi tried to talk about why his team isn’t in the best situation right now with a 2-6 record and a bowl game completely out of focus.

To Narduzzi, the team hasn’t necessarily replenished the talent it lost from the players who left the program.

“As a football coach, you lose a lot of good players a year ago, you think, as a coach, you’re going to replace them,” Narduzzi told reporters. “We obviously haven’t… Again, it starts with me. … I didn’t do a good enough job coaching today, and put it on me. … We’ve got to make plays.”

The part about not being able to replace the talent that left the program a year ago started to go viral after it was shared by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Noah Hiles.

Well, a number of Pittsburgh’s football players saw the post above and expressed their displeasure in their coach seemingly throwing them under the bus. You can see their responses below.

Narduzzi tried to play damage control with a Twitter post that put the loss on him completely.

However, he will likely have to do more to walk back his comments as a number of his players have now publicly responded to them.

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.

Hidden plays that helped Notre Dame’s win at home against Pittsburgh

Which non-scoring plays stood out to you Irish fans?

[autotag]Notre Dame football[/autotag] routed [autotag]Pittsburgh[/autotag] 58-7 at home on Saturday afternoon, getting a win following a bye week.

The win improves the Irish’s record to 7-2 in the second year of the [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] era, and should make a move north in the next rankings.

It wasn’t a trap game, as it could have been, the Irish taking care of business, scoring the most points on the year. It’s a game that many of us will go back and watch again, multiple highlight plays for Notre Dame.

There were other plays, that we might not remember, but still made a difference in this game. Here are those plays.