As far as the Panthers were concerned Saturday morning, they might as well have been at Heinz Field preparing to face Youngstown State or an ACC opponent rather than their own teammates. At least that’s what first-year coach Pat Narduzzi wanted as he did his best to create a real game-day feel for his coaches and players heading into their first of two training camp scrimmages.
Heck, Narduzzi said he even tried to dress a little spiffier for the occasion.
“It’s game day. it’s a game-day atmosphere for our kids,” Narduzzi said before his first training camp scrimmage as a head coach. “Expect our kids to mentally lock in and get ready for a game. It’s our only chance to do that. These are graded harder than a regular scrimmage. … This is the game, and we expect our guys to go out today and just like we prepared them in the spring for the scrimmages, you know, it’s showtime. And it’s time for our guys to go out there and really show what they do on a game day and we expect to see that in the games come this fall when the season starts September 5th.”
Narduzzi added that at this point, some players will naturally have a bit more urgency than others -- those who are fighting for jobs, weren’t here in the spring, etc. -- but at the same time, being so much closer to the regular season, training camp scrimmages can bring out the best in everybody.
“I think for some guys who maybe think they got a spot already in the spring, it’s not as critical. I think not only the top-end guys that think they’re the starters right now -- and I always say ‘think,’ because you know what, everybody should still be worried about their job, I hope. But there’s some guys, I think we all know who they are, that may be starters, and some of those guys, in the spring, just want to get through the spring and stay healthy, but I think now guys are saying, ‘I want to make sure that I show up on game day and I’m ready to go and that I make the university proud.’ ”
For instance, a player like Tyler Boyd who clearly knows where he stands (and, in his case, won’t even be playing in Week 1) could perhaps lack motivation in this scenario, but it seems that’s far from the case.
Chalk that up to the coaching staff’s goal-oriented approach that began the moment they took over.
“They like it, I think. I was in the training room this morning just walking around with the guys and Tyler Boyd says, ‘Coach, you might as well just give us the [winners’] blue jerseys for the rest of fall camp,’ which is good. They’re talking,” Narduzzi said.
As it turned out, Boyd is at least right so far: The offense won the scrimmage, based on the scoring system Narduzzi has installed (it rewards the defense for big plays such as pass breakups, interceptions, forced fumbles, etc.), but the general consensus afterward was that it took a while to make a dent in the defense.
“We were kind of struggling a little bit to start, but then we had a huge play, a long touchdown pass to Scott Orndoff on the sideline that really boosted our offense and got us going, so I think that was the highlight,” said quarterback Chad Voytik, who completed just 11 of 25 passes, but for 183 yards and two touchdowns to one interception.
The 62-yard scoring connection to Orndoff, which was the only catch for the junior tight end, might’ve been the biggest play of the day, but the defense apparently had its fair share, as well.
Most notable, according to safety Reggie Mitchell, was a pick-six from walk-on Bucknell transfer Matt Steinbeck. The official stats from Pitt have it as a 15-yard touchdown return for the senior Steinbeck, a North Allegheny graduate who played safety at Bucknell but is now an outside linebacker, per Mitchell.
“We did not win the jerseys, but it was a good day,” said defensive coordinator Josh Conklin. “I felt like we came out and I thought the guys early on executed really well. You can definitely tell the difference just as far as how we’re moving around. I think we’re moving fast. our first group, really our ‘one-and-a-halves’ are really playing pretty solid, going against really good competition obviously with Tyler Boyd and James Conner, which is putting pressure on you all the time, so I’m pleased with where we’re at. We’ve got a long way to go, but the good news is I think we’ve got 21 days to go before Youngstown State, so we’ll keep putting the pieces of the puzzle together here.”
For the record, the ‘one-and-a-halves’ as Conklin called them include those guys who are fighting for starting spots -- sometimes working with the first team, sometimes the second team.
As for Conklin’s counterpart on the other side of the ball, offensive coordinator Jim Chaney was happy for his group to win the blue jerseys, but said it wasn’t always pretty.
“Evidently, we did. I’m not sure how Pat scores all that stuff sometimes, but he has a plan and he does it, so I’m happy that we won,” Chaney said. “It was an interesting day. I was beginning to wonder if we were ever going to get a first down out there, my goodness, we started awfully slow. The defense was just having their way with us til about halftime, and then we came around and made some plays and the kids played with a lot of calm as the practice went on.”
Chaney liked the “resiliency” from his offense, as they didn’t panic after their slow start, though he wasn’t exactly happy with the ground game. The outside running has been adequate, he said, but the interior game not so much.
“But I don’t think we need to cancel any practices,” he joked, later saying, “We’re going there. It’s just going to take time. We’ve got a lot of things to improve, but I’m pleased with where we sit here today one week in, and I’m awfully thankful there’s 21 more days before we play.”
There’s that number 21 again, highlighted by both coordinators. I think that tells you that the overall takeaway from scrimmage No. 1 was predictably up and down.
Perhaps what’s encouraging -- or at least as encouraging as a situation can be in an intrasquad scrimmage -- is that everyone agreed the defense came out strong, eventually gave way to what proved last year to be a potent offense, but then picked things up again and fought back.
A final scrimmage take from Voytik: “I think we have the talent, not to say the defense doesn’t, but I think if we control the game like we should, then we should be able to win it each time.”
And from the other side of things, Mitchell, who sees himself and his defensive teammates taking the blue jerseys from the offense again soon: “They’ve got them now, but we’re going to have them next week. Next time we scrimmage, we’re going to get them back.”
Other practice notes continued in next post...
Heck, Narduzzi said he even tried to dress a little spiffier for the occasion.
“It’s game day. it’s a game-day atmosphere for our kids,” Narduzzi said before his first training camp scrimmage as a head coach. “Expect our kids to mentally lock in and get ready for a game. It’s our only chance to do that. These are graded harder than a regular scrimmage. … This is the game, and we expect our guys to go out today and just like we prepared them in the spring for the scrimmages, you know, it’s showtime. And it’s time for our guys to go out there and really show what they do on a game day and we expect to see that in the games come this fall when the season starts September 5th.”
Narduzzi added that at this point, some players will naturally have a bit more urgency than others -- those who are fighting for jobs, weren’t here in the spring, etc. -- but at the same time, being so much closer to the regular season, training camp scrimmages can bring out the best in everybody.
“I think for some guys who maybe think they got a spot already in the spring, it’s not as critical. I think not only the top-end guys that think they’re the starters right now -- and I always say ‘think,’ because you know what, everybody should still be worried about their job, I hope. But there’s some guys, I think we all know who they are, that may be starters, and some of those guys, in the spring, just want to get through the spring and stay healthy, but I think now guys are saying, ‘I want to make sure that I show up on game day and I’m ready to go and that I make the university proud.’ ”
For instance, a player like Tyler Boyd who clearly knows where he stands (and, in his case, won’t even be playing in Week 1) could perhaps lack motivation in this scenario, but it seems that’s far from the case.
Chalk that up to the coaching staff’s goal-oriented approach that began the moment they took over.
“They like it, I think. I was in the training room this morning just walking around with the guys and Tyler Boyd says, ‘Coach, you might as well just give us the [winners’] blue jerseys for the rest of fall camp,’ which is good. They’re talking,” Narduzzi said.
As it turned out, Boyd is at least right so far: The offense won the scrimmage, based on the scoring system Narduzzi has installed (it rewards the defense for big plays such as pass breakups, interceptions, forced fumbles, etc.), but the general consensus afterward was that it took a while to make a dent in the defense.
“We were kind of struggling a little bit to start, but then we had a huge play, a long touchdown pass to Scott Orndoff on the sideline that really boosted our offense and got us going, so I think that was the highlight,” said quarterback Chad Voytik, who completed just 11 of 25 passes, but for 183 yards and two touchdowns to one interception.
The 62-yard scoring connection to Orndoff, which was the only catch for the junior tight end, might’ve been the biggest play of the day, but the defense apparently had its fair share, as well.
Most notable, according to safety Reggie Mitchell, was a pick-six from walk-on Bucknell transfer Matt Steinbeck. The official stats from Pitt have it as a 15-yard touchdown return for the senior Steinbeck, a North Allegheny graduate who played safety at Bucknell but is now an outside linebacker, per Mitchell.
“We did not win the jerseys, but it was a good day,” said defensive coordinator Josh Conklin. “I felt like we came out and I thought the guys early on executed really well. You can definitely tell the difference just as far as how we’re moving around. I think we’re moving fast. our first group, really our ‘one-and-a-halves’ are really playing pretty solid, going against really good competition obviously with Tyler Boyd and James Conner, which is putting pressure on you all the time, so I’m pleased with where we’re at. We’ve got a long way to go, but the good news is I think we’ve got 21 days to go before Youngstown State, so we’ll keep putting the pieces of the puzzle together here.”
For the record, the ‘one-and-a-halves’ as Conklin called them include those guys who are fighting for starting spots -- sometimes working with the first team, sometimes the second team.
As for Conklin’s counterpart on the other side of the ball, offensive coordinator Jim Chaney was happy for his group to win the blue jerseys, but said it wasn’t always pretty.
“Evidently, we did. I’m not sure how Pat scores all that stuff sometimes, but he has a plan and he does it, so I’m happy that we won,” Chaney said. “It was an interesting day. I was beginning to wonder if we were ever going to get a first down out there, my goodness, we started awfully slow. The defense was just having their way with us til about halftime, and then we came around and made some plays and the kids played with a lot of calm as the practice went on.”
Chaney liked the “resiliency” from his offense, as they didn’t panic after their slow start, though he wasn’t exactly happy with the ground game. The outside running has been adequate, he said, but the interior game not so much.
“But I don’t think we need to cancel any practices,” he joked, later saying, “We’re going there. It’s just going to take time. We’ve got a lot of things to improve, but I’m pleased with where we sit here today one week in, and I’m awfully thankful there’s 21 more days before we play.”
There’s that number 21 again, highlighted by both coordinators. I think that tells you that the overall takeaway from scrimmage No. 1 was predictably up and down.
Perhaps what’s encouraging -- or at least as encouraging as a situation can be in an intrasquad scrimmage -- is that everyone agreed the defense came out strong, eventually gave way to what proved last year to be a potent offense, but then picked things up again and fought back.
A final scrimmage take from Voytik: “I think we have the talent, not to say the defense doesn’t, but I think if we control the game like we should, then we should be able to win it each time.”
And from the other side of things, Mitchell, who sees himself and his defensive teammates taking the blue jerseys from the offense again soon: “They’ve got them now, but we’re going to have them next week. Next time we scrimmage, we’re going to get them back.”
Other practice notes continued in next post...
