Saturday night was not only an embarrassing game for Pitt football but more so it was worrisome, a serious reason to be concerned about the future.
I’m not being dramatic or overreacting to one game, I’m just being real. Changes need to be made and if people are too stubborn not to, it could be a real, real, real long season. Even if those changes are made this year, there’s evidence to suggest long-term issues exist.
As I was watching that painful game, I had one thing going through my mind. You hear all the time about how coaches (college and pro) spend hours upon hours, sometimes sleeping, in the facility getting ready for their upcoming opponent. I sure hope that wasn’t the case with Pat Narduzzi and Frank Cignetti, Jr. because that was one of the worst offensive game plans that I’ve seen in watching 40+ years of football.
In reality, Pitt had no offensive strategy aside from trying to hide and not use Phil Jurkovec. Think about that for a second. Pitt is playing the Backyard Brawl, one of, if not the most meaningful, you have a redshirt senior quarterback that’s started games for Notre Dame and Boston College and you’re afraid or don’t have enough confidence in him to throw the ball.
All the hours of preparation and that’s the best that Narduzzi and Cignetti could come up with. They owe an apology to the team, especially to the defense because there’s no way to defend that.
Earlier I mentioned changes and there’s one that needs to happen but likely won’t because Narduzzi won’t want to look wrong.
I realize that there’s ALOT of things wrong with this offense right now and to quote a Hall of Fame Coach, “Their problems are many and they are great”. The offensive coordinator is really bad, the wide receivers are equally as bad, and the offensive line is underperforming and are starting a couple of players that shouldn’t be on the field.
Aside from that, everything looks good for the Panthers offense.
However, everything starts with the quarterback and to be blunt, for whatever the reason, Jurkovec just isn’t good enough. Despite what is being said, everyone knows that, and Narduzzi needs to swallow his pride and start Christian Veilleux this Saturday against North Carolina.
I’m not saying that he’s going to immediately light up the scoreboard because this would be his first real opportunity at being a full-time starter. However, it’s impossible for him to be worse than Jurkovec.
Personally, I feel bad because this was supposed to be a nice story of Jurkovec coming home to lead Pitt to some wins in his last season of college football. Instead, this has turned into a nightmare and considering the overall team issues, along with the upcoming schedule, this has a chance to turn ugly.
Narduzzi was in this exact situation a year ago with Kedon Slovis and despite his struggles, refused to bench him, which potentially cost Pitt a chance to win the Coastal Division. By the way, with his new team BYU, Slovis is now 3-0 after beating Arkansas last night on the road. Was Slovis the problem? That’s a column for another day.
Back to the issue at hand.
Will he do the same thing again this year with Jurkovec? My guess is yes. The team motto at Pitt is ‘We Not Me’ but unfortunately, Narduzzi’s ego and stubbornness most likely won’t allow him to make the obvious move, the right move for the team (WE) and bench Jurkovec.
I want to be very clear. I’m not putting this mess all on Jurkovec because that wouldn’t be fair, and it wouldn’t be accurate.
I’d endorse benching a couple of their wide receivers because in two years, they’ve shown they aren’t very good. Dave Borbely has two lineman that shouldn’t be starting. Thank God he had Izzy Abanikanda to hand the ball off to because who knows what this offense would’ve been last year. In two seasons, Cignetti has been a complete failure and incapable of evaluating and properly using his personel. To make things worse, his play-calling has been worse.
Despite all of that, everything revolves around the quarterback and right now Pitt’s starting quarterback isn’t capable of getting the job done.
In order to try and save this season, Veilleux needs to start, and it needs to happen this Saturday.
Well here’s the deal, if Nard forces a change it’s showing up Cigs, since he was the one instrumental in bringing Jerko here and forcing out Slovis (who throws 100 times better than Jerko, btw). Will Nard do that to another long-time and 2nd gen member of the Coaching Fraternity ? I doubt it. Maybe they’ll fake an injury, to get Jerko on the Pine(s), Wouldn’t that be Rich.
I hate myself for enjoying your pun lol
Cignetti needs fired today. You can see it starts there. He had running an offense that North Allegheny could stop. Jurkovec is not getting it done. Pickett, Abanikanda, Addison, Wayne and yes even Shockley Jacques Louis are gone and the cupboard is bare. 3-9 will be a miracle at this point. It is amazing that these sons of football coaches are too stubborn to admit they need to start over and will not.
1-11 is very possible and that is not overreaction
Absolutely
Lyke and Narduzzi have betrayed the players , fans, staff and university. They have allowed a con man Frank Cignetti destroy this team. They let this con man put the blame on Slovis last year.
Narduzzi should be fired for being conned by Cignetti and allowing Cig to ruin a formally good team. Narduzzi is OBVIOUSLY incompetent or he is too much of a pussy to fire Cignetti.
Probably the latter
Just to be clear on two things: First Whipple had the blueprint to run an effective offense in CFB and Narduzzi took it and tore it to shreds. 2nd, Narduzzi ruined Slovis by getting him decapitated at the end the Tenn 1st half. Slovis was fine prior to that. That was the single worst HC call I’ve ever witnessed as a Pitt fan. Slovis is a topic for another day. And 3rd, Means dropped a TD last year against WVU and a pass that turned the Tennessee game completely around. But these are the guys getting playing time and you… Read more »
Well said and 100 percent correct
well said. Phil looks old, slow, slightly out of shape and weak. Sometimes coming home to all the butt kissers who tell him how great he was in high school goes to your head and you don’t work as hard? He should not start the rest of the year but you don’t expect miracles from Christian with this awful OL. He will be running for his health all game.
Duzz wants to build his team with old transfers, won’t work long term.
Yes, he looks like he is on the 2020 Ben Roethlisberger diet.
Lot’s of great points. Underwood really needs to be looked at for lack of development for the WR. Maybe he can recruit a bit, but from the looks of it he can’t coach a lick. Players can’t catch and never fight/win any 50/50 balls
He’s going to be loyal to a guy that finally agrees to play for him, after 5 years, for one last shot at what? The NFL? Not a chance. A chance to finally win? Not a chance. Jurkovec is one guy on a squad of 85. There are plenty of upperclassmen on this team that have committed to the program from day 1. There are a lot of 18 year old freshmen that committed to this program from the beginning of their college careers. His responsibility to to EVERY player on this team, and if that means benching your carpetbagger,… Read more »
1. CV needs to start vs UNC
2. Cignetti is now on the hot seat and needs to develop game plans based on CV Zander a porous OL
3. Remember the definition of insanity. if PN doesnt do something different with the offense put him on the burner with Cignetti
Excellent points, all. I get that they wanted to give him a shot. But sadly, he’s had it. Move on. Mechanically, his issues are deep, and not correctable, mid-season. His tunnel vision may actually be his single biggest issue. His head never moves, and his shoulders never rotate. He picks his primary, stares him down, and throws into coverage, or flat out misses. There was a point, last night, in which he had a solid downfield completion, and the broadcast had a slow motion replay of Jurkovec. He never stopped staring directly at his intended target. I’m not sure he… Read more »
TERRIBLE: Narduzzi get you head out of your ass…. Bench the QB.. FC short lease….
At this point the best thing that could happen to Pitt is that Dantonio hires Narduzzi to take over for Mel Tucker at MSU.
Mike you hit the nail on the head.. and changing quarterbacks might not work, but it can’t be any worse than this kid who is having a mental break down on the field.. but the main problem is the OC coach and game planning? They went back to Stone Age with that game plan last night.
We are finding out it wasn’t the quarterback last year but OC. hold on fellas it’s gonna be ugly this year.!
Bring back Mark Whipple!
Let’s just hope that MSU wants Narduzzi back.
I read a Narduzzi quote from after the game that he doesn’t make knee jerk reactions and replace players till he watches the film. What film did he watch after the Cincy game? He benched Collier and O’Brien in the last two weeks and did not have an issue with that. What is he seeing that the rest of the football viewing world sees. Jurkovec’s stats don’t lie. As others have said he looks slow, doesn’t throw a catchable ball and seems to be me that the receivers don’t want to play for him. Lastly, as a recruit why come… Read more »
Nate Yarnell has always performed well whenever he plays for Pitt. It’s puzzling to me why he is the 3rd string qb.
I totally agree. It’s time for Pitt to stop playing with these 1 year quarterbacks and start developing in house. Even the WVU fans at the game were telling us that they have a bad team but our quarterback was worse than there whole team. Nate Yarnell deserves to be the quarterback and maybe let him call his own plays. He can’t be any worse than what it is now.
Mike,
You are wrong on where the problems start. They start with Cignetti, who is the reason we had to settle for Jurkovec.
Boston College was not shedding any tears when the both of them exited there program.
Cignetti was strolling around the stadium and taking photos before the game instead of getting locked in. Players are on social media before game. This is a total clown show and it starts and ends with Narduzzi.
According to the Pittsburgh media, Jurkovec was supposed to have been Pitt’s biggest recruiting loss in a generation, when he chose Notre Dame out of high school. Then it was supposed to have been a disaster for Narduzzi that he chose to transfer to BC instead of Pitt (because Pitt had Kenny Pickett). I’m not sure the Pittsburgh media has any handle on college football, or especially, recruiting. Obviously Cignetti is the worst OC Narduzzi has ever hired. But Tino Sunseri and Kedon Slovis were MUCH better performers under him than Jurkovec has been. There is an opening for Narduzzi… Read more »
You are obviously correct Aaron. But Heather Lyke will have to force Narduzzi to make a move on Cignetti. Cignetti has something on Narduzzi.
Eat sh%t Pitt.
WVU isn’t going anywhere either but towards the bottom of the Big-10. Neal Brown is a joke.
So after another game when no adjustments were made on an already awful game plan and duzz has to “watch the tape” to see what everyone knows isn’t it time to blow it up? Duzz is what he is…a 7 win coach who will occasionally catch a 10 win season when the conference is down. HE:
This was the biggest game of your year and you were scared of your QB throwing the ball. Awful to watch and feel bad for the defense
Isn’t this the coach that said that Christian Veilleux would now see a real offense. And that PSU won’t play PITT because they are afraid of them?
For a second I thought you just listed all of Mine Tomlin’s characteristics
Great article. Pitt’s offense is, well, offensive. Really, really abhorrent. The Good: The RB’s (who have the propensity to be very good with the right OC) The TE’s (same as above) The Bad (and Ugly): Starting QB Starting WR’s Starting OL (the propensity to be good perhaps) The King of Bad & Ugly: Offensive Coordinator The Defense has shown that they can rise to the occasion. Easily the best Pitt player of the game: Donovan McMillon (who the coaches actually believed didn’t deserve to be a starter)… McMillon was extremely impressive and played Lights Out. He impressed last week against… Read more »
And to add more salt to the wound… Cincinnati, with their so-called monster D-line lost to Miami of Ohio… in Cincinnati; Slovis is now 3-0 after beating a strong Arkansas team; Boston College has a stud QB that came within a hair of beating #3 Florida State (the BC fans must be laughing and looking at Pitt as suckers). Narduzzi (and Lyke), I really hope that you are reading this. Connect the dots, the pattern is not a fluke. Cignetti needs to go and the QB position also needs to be changed immediately in order to salvage the season, plus… Read more »
Narduzzi is on the verge of destroying this program. What recruit(specifically WR and QB) will want to commit to a program, that instead of developing you and giving you a chance is going to hit the portal to not only bring in players to start over you but also show those players unwavering loyalty even when they aren’t getting it done? If you’re a transfer(again, specifically QB and WR) why would you come to a program that has shown an inability to use you correctly and help you develop? If you’re a player in a position other than QB why… Read more »
Well said. What you have predicted has already commenced. My head is still spinning as to why Kenny Minchey decommitted from Pitt so he could join a Notre Dame team that has Hartman as their starter and a 5-Star QB recruit ready to take the reigns from him. Bigger picture, Pitt has failed to recruit a stud QB. Even previously struggling teams, such as Duke, North Carolina and, now even Boston College, has been able to recruit top-QB’s (not too mention Penn State). Even the WVU freshman QB was highly recruited and showed a lot of moxy to finish off… Read more »