It depends on your perspective. Put Pitt's resume on a team that started the season in the top 10 — say, Michigan State or Baylor — and nobody would be talking about building a statue of the coach. Tearing one down, maybe, but not putting one up.
They'd be yelling, “You lost to the only good team you played, the only one with a winning record!” Or, “You beat Youngstown State by a touchdown, which beat Robert Morris by a touchdown, and barely beat a bunch of other bad teams? “What, are we supposed to throw a parade because you nipped Syracuse at the buzzer?”
Well, maybe. Yes. Because this isn't Michigan State, or Baylor, or any such place. There is no recent record of sustained success here. This is The Land of 6-6, where snatching defeat from the jaws of victory — against good teams, bad teams, any teams, sad teams — has become an art form perfected over decades of tinkering.
This is a place where you constantly get quotes like the following, from the previous coach (no statue yet) after a tough loss to North Carolina last season: “Guys put it out there but didn't find a way to get a victory.” No, they didn't. But now, suddenly, they do. Nearly every week. The new coach has seriously energized the program.
“Pitt” Narduzzi is 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the ACC. His team is rising, rather than wilting, in fourth quarters. It's back in the polls for the first time since 2010 (a season that turned tortuous by its merciful end). What an unexpected sight to see the Panthers sitting at No. 23 in the AP Poll. I had them pegged for 4-3 going into the North Carolina game, and that was before James Conner went down.
So yes, there is reason to rejoice. This is a fun story. It has people asking fun questions, such as, will Pitt break the top 15 if it wins its next two games? Nobody could argue that Narduzzi has done a terrific job. With the notable exception of a late-game turtling at the Iowa 42, he has done just about everything right. That fake punt at Syracuse was a monster move.
However — and I really don't mean to be a buzz kill of any kind here — don't we have to see Pitt beat a winning team before we put the finishing touches on the Narduzzi statue?
I asked Narduzzi, three days before a monumental visit from North Carolina, what he would say to those who wonder if the Panthers are for real. I liked his answer. “We'll find out (Thursday), I guess, right?” he said.
My foolproof definition of “for real,” by the way, would be winning the Coastal Division. Like the latter-stage Big East, the Coastal is there for whoever wants it. There is no great team. And my sense is that Pitt is for real, because the defense looks so vastly different now that it's being coached, because Nate Peterman is a major upgrade at quarterback and because Narduzzi seemingly has transformed the mindset.
It's just that I have to see it to believe it, and the fact is, none of Pitt's six victims has a winning record at the moment. Rather, they have a combined 17 wins and 27 losses. The major college teams Pitt has beaten have combined to go 9-23 against other major college competition (though it certainly helped the resume when Georgia Tech rose up and beat Florida State a week after Pitt won at Georgia Tech).
College football history is littered with teams that looked great until the schedule turned. I'd put North Carolina in a similar wait-and-see category as Pitt. The Tar Heels have played not one but two FCS teams on the way to a 6-1 record. Will Pitt's newfangled defense find a way to control quarterback Marquise Williams, who has toyed with the Panthers the past two years? That is the kind question I want to see answered.
Pitt's schedule takes a decided turn in the weeks ahead. After North Carolina, No. 9 Notre Dame pays a visit. Then comes a possible de facto Coastal title game Nov. 14 at Duke. The big-boy games are here. The Panthers seem well girded. “I think we're a darn good football team,” Narduzzi said. We'll find out Thursday, I guess. Right?
Joe Starkey co-hosts a show 2 to 6 p.m. weekdays on 93.7 FM. Reach him at jraystarkey@gmail.com.
http://triblive.com/sports/college/pitt/9326565-74/pitt-teams-narduzzi
They'd be yelling, “You lost to the only good team you played, the only one with a winning record!” Or, “You beat Youngstown State by a touchdown, which beat Robert Morris by a touchdown, and barely beat a bunch of other bad teams? “What, are we supposed to throw a parade because you nipped Syracuse at the buzzer?”
Well, maybe. Yes. Because this isn't Michigan State, or Baylor, or any such place. There is no recent record of sustained success here. This is The Land of 6-6, where snatching defeat from the jaws of victory — against good teams, bad teams, any teams, sad teams — has become an art form perfected over decades of tinkering.
This is a place where you constantly get quotes like the following, from the previous coach (no statue yet) after a tough loss to North Carolina last season: “Guys put it out there but didn't find a way to get a victory.” No, they didn't. But now, suddenly, they do. Nearly every week. The new coach has seriously energized the program.
“Pitt” Narduzzi is 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the ACC. His team is rising, rather than wilting, in fourth quarters. It's back in the polls for the first time since 2010 (a season that turned tortuous by its merciful end). What an unexpected sight to see the Panthers sitting at No. 23 in the AP Poll. I had them pegged for 4-3 going into the North Carolina game, and that was before James Conner went down.
So yes, there is reason to rejoice. This is a fun story. It has people asking fun questions, such as, will Pitt break the top 15 if it wins its next two games? Nobody could argue that Narduzzi has done a terrific job. With the notable exception of a late-game turtling at the Iowa 42, he has done just about everything right. That fake punt at Syracuse was a monster move.
However — and I really don't mean to be a buzz kill of any kind here — don't we have to see Pitt beat a winning team before we put the finishing touches on the Narduzzi statue?
I asked Narduzzi, three days before a monumental visit from North Carolina, what he would say to those who wonder if the Panthers are for real. I liked his answer. “We'll find out (Thursday), I guess, right?” he said.
My foolproof definition of “for real,” by the way, would be winning the Coastal Division. Like the latter-stage Big East, the Coastal is there for whoever wants it. There is no great team. And my sense is that Pitt is for real, because the defense looks so vastly different now that it's being coached, because Nate Peterman is a major upgrade at quarterback and because Narduzzi seemingly has transformed the mindset.
It's just that I have to see it to believe it, and the fact is, none of Pitt's six victims has a winning record at the moment. Rather, they have a combined 17 wins and 27 losses. The major college teams Pitt has beaten have combined to go 9-23 against other major college competition (though it certainly helped the resume when Georgia Tech rose up and beat Florida State a week after Pitt won at Georgia Tech).
College football history is littered with teams that looked great until the schedule turned. I'd put North Carolina in a similar wait-and-see category as Pitt. The Tar Heels have played not one but two FCS teams on the way to a 6-1 record. Will Pitt's newfangled defense find a way to control quarterback Marquise Williams, who has toyed with the Panthers the past two years? That is the kind question I want to see answered.
Pitt's schedule takes a decided turn in the weeks ahead. After North Carolina, No. 9 Notre Dame pays a visit. Then comes a possible de facto Coastal title game Nov. 14 at Duke. The big-boy games are here. The Panthers seem well girded. “I think we're a darn good football team,” Narduzzi said. We'll find out Thursday, I guess. Right?
Joe Starkey co-hosts a show 2 to 6 p.m. weekdays on 93.7 FM. Reach him at jraystarkey@gmail.com.
http://triblive.com/sports/college/pitt/9326565-74/pitt-teams-narduzzi
