September 3 (Villanova) - After a disappointing 6-5 campaign in 2015, Villanova came to Heinz Field a determined 3 touchdown underdog. Year 2 of the Narduzzi era kicked off as Pitt took the field in their brand new uniforms (blue jersey and gold pants/helmets). In a stroke of genius, each fan was given a blue seatback cover to place over the nearest empty seat. They were also encouraged to bring the covers with them to each game. Attendance was announced at 54,000 but the Labor Day weekend led to about 8,000-10,000 no-shows. Reinforcing his claim that they will always be Pitt Men, Narduzzi had Justin Moody and George Hill lead the team onto the field.
An early Villanova touchdown and 45 unanswered Pitt points led to a rather easy 45-7 victory. James Conner led a stable of 5 running backs who collectively rushed for 329 yards. Nate Peterman threw for 272 yards and 3 touchdowns as Matt Canada’s offense opened to guarded optimism. The loss of Tyler Boyd apparently forced Peterman to see the entire field as 10 different players caught passes. Chawntez Moss, Keyshon Camp, Damar Hamlin, Amir Watts and Ruben Flowers all saw the field as true Freshmen. (1-0)
September 10 (Penn State) - Sixteen years in the making, the rivalry finally resumed. Fresh off a rather easy win over Kent State, Penn State took the field to a chorus of boos led by The Panther Pitt who were all treated to Pitt script t-shirts upon entering the stadium. Chuck Bonasorte made a killing selling “Joe Knew” t-shirts outside the stadium as they were prominently worn throughout the stadium by many reveling Pitt fans. Pitt’s ticket distribution strategy appeared effective as no more than 10,000 PSU fans were in the stands.
Pitt warmed up in the same uniform combination as a week earlier but after going back to the locker room they returned to the field in all blue uniforms (including helmet). The fans loved the new look as the roar was reportedly heard outside the Lasch Building some 150 miles away. A plane carrying a #412Crew banner flew overhead to welcome the 2016 recruits to the Pitt family. A few hundred recruits were on hand for the SRO game and reminiscent of Penguin home playoff games a huge TV screen was set up across the river in Point State Park for another several thousand fans to watch the game nearby.
A 14-14 halftime tie turned into a 38-14 romp as Pitt’s halftime adjustments and 215 yards from James Conner not only proved too much for Penn State but also further exposed James Franklin for the dreadful game day coach he is. In his post-game press conference Franklin downplayed the beating his team just took and instead focused on 2018 when the program will “finally be out from under the crippling sanctions”…and he will be back home in Langhorne coaching Neshaminy High School. (2-0)
September 17 (@ Oklahoma State) – Coming off easy wins over Southeastern Louisiana and Central Michigan, Oklahoma State faced a Pitt team who appeared to still be hung over from their big win 7 days earlier. Pitt played themselves into a turnover filled 27-3 halftime deficit with 2 Peterman interceptions and a Dontez Ford fumble in the red zone. Not even a frantic 4th quarter comeback was enough as they left Stillwater with a 30-24 defeat.
When asked about the big win over Pitt, Mike Gundy was more interested in talking about his full-grown mullet that he debuted at the Big 12 Media Days in July. “So, what do you guys think? Now it’s a true mullet…it’s down to my shoulders and has some curl to it.”
A silver lining in the loss was the coming out parties for Rueben Flowers and Henry Miller. Flowers caught a bomb for one touchdown and won a jump ball in the end zone for another while Miller had 2 interceptions playing alongside Damar Hamlin and filling in for an injured Avonte Maddox. (2-1)
September 24 (@ North Carolina) – If there was any doubt how Pitt would react to an early season loss it was quickly answered as they methodically drove the opening kickoff 82 yards in 16 plays. Pitt was a 7 point underdog but never looked back as a 3-0 UNC (including wins against Georgia and Illinois) looked uncharacteristically lost at times as Pitt’s suffocating defense and multi-faceted offense came together for an impressive 24-3 shellacking. The score was not indicative of the truly lopsided contest. After gaining only 23 yards, Heisman hopeful Elijah Hood was pulled from the game early in the 4th quarter on orders from his agent.
Conner had 177 yards on only 15 carries and Ruben Flowers had 2 more jump-ball touchdowns to seemingly become Peterman’s go-to option in the red zone. Six sacks (3 by Price and 3 by Hendrix) and 2 fumble recoveries highlighted a dominant defensive effort. (3-1)
October 1 (Marshall) – An angry 2-1 Marshall team came to Heinz Field fresh off an embarrassing loss to Louisville a week earlier but it didn’t seem to matter as Pitt again shut down a respectable offense with an unrelenting pass rush that was complimented by two freshman shutdown DBs (Hamlin and Miller). The front 4 of Price, Watts, Camp and Hendrix put future opponents on notice as they are beginning to prove to be a bit too much for under matched O-lines. The offense continued to keep defenses guessing as Conner, Hall and Ollison each had over 100 yards and Dontez Ford’s 12 receptions for 180 showed that he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with.
The 38-13 win gave a near capacity Heinz Field crowd a glimpse at just how bright the future is for Pitt football. And for the second time this season at Heinz Field, unrelenting “We Are” chants were eventually answered in the end with “Losers!” (4-1)
October 8 (Georgia Tech) – Clearly disappointing the homecoming crowd, the team warmed-up in the same all-blue uniforms they had worn before and not the throwback ones as advertised. However, they came back out from the tunnel to a deafening roar as they donned their brand new throwback uniforms and were led onto the field by Tony Dorsett wearing his original tear-away home jersey. The team was greeted at midfield by nearly half of the 40th Anniversary National Championship team and the 1976 championship trophy. Not to be outdone, Theresa Rosa donned her old cheerleading outfit and joined her throwback-attired squad at mid-field.
As with last year’s game it took a series of halftime adjustments to finally slow down the Georgia Tech triple-option attack. Consecutive losses to Clemson and Miami may have also taken it’s toll on Tech as Pitt owned the second half and turned a 17-3 halftime deficit into a 31-24 victory.
With the score tied 24-24 midway through the 4th quarter and Nate Peterman sitting out a play over losing his helmet after a sack, Ben DiNucci threw a 64 yard touchdown to Maurice Ffrench who proved just too Ffast for Tech DBs. (5-1)
October 15 (@ Virginia) – For most of the game Pitt looked like a typical Homecoming opponent, but in the end a feisty 3-2 Virginia team just couldn’t hang on. Pitt squeaked out a 17-16 win as Chris Blewitt split the uprights on a 46 yard field goal as time ran out. This game was both encouraging and frustrating as they fought through a flat performance to secure the win, however, it was troubling to see nearly every aspect of the game underachieve.
After sitting out the Georgia Tech game with a nagging injury, Conner was the lone bright spot rushing for 185 yards and 2 touchdowns. Man-child Jordan Whitehead was all over the field registering 18 tackles (4 for a loss), 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery. (6-1)
(Continued on Part 2)
An early Villanova touchdown and 45 unanswered Pitt points led to a rather easy 45-7 victory. James Conner led a stable of 5 running backs who collectively rushed for 329 yards. Nate Peterman threw for 272 yards and 3 touchdowns as Matt Canada’s offense opened to guarded optimism. The loss of Tyler Boyd apparently forced Peterman to see the entire field as 10 different players caught passes. Chawntez Moss, Keyshon Camp, Damar Hamlin, Amir Watts and Ruben Flowers all saw the field as true Freshmen. (1-0)
September 10 (Penn State) - Sixteen years in the making, the rivalry finally resumed. Fresh off a rather easy win over Kent State, Penn State took the field to a chorus of boos led by The Panther Pitt who were all treated to Pitt script t-shirts upon entering the stadium. Chuck Bonasorte made a killing selling “Joe Knew” t-shirts outside the stadium as they were prominently worn throughout the stadium by many reveling Pitt fans. Pitt’s ticket distribution strategy appeared effective as no more than 10,000 PSU fans were in the stands.
Pitt warmed up in the same uniform combination as a week earlier but after going back to the locker room they returned to the field in all blue uniforms (including helmet). The fans loved the new look as the roar was reportedly heard outside the Lasch Building some 150 miles away. A plane carrying a #412Crew banner flew overhead to welcome the 2016 recruits to the Pitt family. A few hundred recruits were on hand for the SRO game and reminiscent of Penguin home playoff games a huge TV screen was set up across the river in Point State Park for another several thousand fans to watch the game nearby.
A 14-14 halftime tie turned into a 38-14 romp as Pitt’s halftime adjustments and 215 yards from James Conner not only proved too much for Penn State but also further exposed James Franklin for the dreadful game day coach he is. In his post-game press conference Franklin downplayed the beating his team just took and instead focused on 2018 when the program will “finally be out from under the crippling sanctions”…and he will be back home in Langhorne coaching Neshaminy High School. (2-0)
September 17 (@ Oklahoma State) – Coming off easy wins over Southeastern Louisiana and Central Michigan, Oklahoma State faced a Pitt team who appeared to still be hung over from their big win 7 days earlier. Pitt played themselves into a turnover filled 27-3 halftime deficit with 2 Peterman interceptions and a Dontez Ford fumble in the red zone. Not even a frantic 4th quarter comeback was enough as they left Stillwater with a 30-24 defeat.
When asked about the big win over Pitt, Mike Gundy was more interested in talking about his full-grown mullet that he debuted at the Big 12 Media Days in July. “So, what do you guys think? Now it’s a true mullet…it’s down to my shoulders and has some curl to it.”
A silver lining in the loss was the coming out parties for Rueben Flowers and Henry Miller. Flowers caught a bomb for one touchdown and won a jump ball in the end zone for another while Miller had 2 interceptions playing alongside Damar Hamlin and filling in for an injured Avonte Maddox. (2-1)
September 24 (@ North Carolina) – If there was any doubt how Pitt would react to an early season loss it was quickly answered as they methodically drove the opening kickoff 82 yards in 16 plays. Pitt was a 7 point underdog but never looked back as a 3-0 UNC (including wins against Georgia and Illinois) looked uncharacteristically lost at times as Pitt’s suffocating defense and multi-faceted offense came together for an impressive 24-3 shellacking. The score was not indicative of the truly lopsided contest. After gaining only 23 yards, Heisman hopeful Elijah Hood was pulled from the game early in the 4th quarter on orders from his agent.
Conner had 177 yards on only 15 carries and Ruben Flowers had 2 more jump-ball touchdowns to seemingly become Peterman’s go-to option in the red zone. Six sacks (3 by Price and 3 by Hendrix) and 2 fumble recoveries highlighted a dominant defensive effort. (3-1)
October 1 (Marshall) – An angry 2-1 Marshall team came to Heinz Field fresh off an embarrassing loss to Louisville a week earlier but it didn’t seem to matter as Pitt again shut down a respectable offense with an unrelenting pass rush that was complimented by two freshman shutdown DBs (Hamlin and Miller). The front 4 of Price, Watts, Camp and Hendrix put future opponents on notice as they are beginning to prove to be a bit too much for under matched O-lines. The offense continued to keep defenses guessing as Conner, Hall and Ollison each had over 100 yards and Dontez Ford’s 12 receptions for 180 showed that he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with.
The 38-13 win gave a near capacity Heinz Field crowd a glimpse at just how bright the future is for Pitt football. And for the second time this season at Heinz Field, unrelenting “We Are” chants were eventually answered in the end with “Losers!” (4-1)
October 8 (Georgia Tech) – Clearly disappointing the homecoming crowd, the team warmed-up in the same all-blue uniforms they had worn before and not the throwback ones as advertised. However, they came back out from the tunnel to a deafening roar as they donned their brand new throwback uniforms and were led onto the field by Tony Dorsett wearing his original tear-away home jersey. The team was greeted at midfield by nearly half of the 40th Anniversary National Championship team and the 1976 championship trophy. Not to be outdone, Theresa Rosa donned her old cheerleading outfit and joined her throwback-attired squad at mid-field.
As with last year’s game it took a series of halftime adjustments to finally slow down the Georgia Tech triple-option attack. Consecutive losses to Clemson and Miami may have also taken it’s toll on Tech as Pitt owned the second half and turned a 17-3 halftime deficit into a 31-24 victory.
With the score tied 24-24 midway through the 4th quarter and Nate Peterman sitting out a play over losing his helmet after a sack, Ben DiNucci threw a 64 yard touchdown to Maurice Ffrench who proved just too Ffast for Tech DBs. (5-1)
October 15 (@ Virginia) – For most of the game Pitt looked like a typical Homecoming opponent, but in the end a feisty 3-2 Virginia team just couldn’t hang on. Pitt squeaked out a 17-16 win as Chris Blewitt split the uprights on a 46 yard field goal as time ran out. This game was both encouraging and frustrating as they fought through a flat performance to secure the win, however, it was troubling to see nearly every aspect of the game underachieve.
After sitting out the Georgia Tech game with a nagging injury, Conner was the lone bright spot rushing for 185 yards and 2 touchdowns. Man-child Jordan Whitehead was all over the field registering 18 tackles (4 for a loss), 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery. (6-1)
(Continued on Part 2)
