It hasn’t been a good week for the Pitt football program. In fact, it’s been downright awful.
The volume of negativity that has been unleashed is something they haven’t faced in a few years. Pitt have been winners of 22 of their last 30 games over the past two seasons. So any criticism, aside from a game here and there, has been minor.
All of that previous good will is certainly gone now with a surprising 1-2 start and coming off back-to-back dreadful performances against rivals Cincinnati and West Virginia, two teams they have no business losing to.
The center of 99% of the criticism has been the trio of head coach Pat Narduzzi, sixth year quarterback Phil Jurkovec and offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti, Jr. The scene at Acrisure Stadium Saturday night should be interesting considering this will be the first home game since Jurkovec’s and Narduzzi’s comments about the home fans booing.
All signs point towards the unhappiness continuing as they take on No. 17 North Carolina and will be facing one of the top quarterbacks in the entire country in Drake Maye.
But that’s what make sports so great and betting so difficult because you just never know what’s going to happen.
The oddsmakers have had North Carolina as favorites all week, starting at -5.5 and now rising up to -7. Despite the external pressure to do so, Narduzzi is sticking with Jurkovec, Pitt’s offensive line, which has struggled all year, is banged up and the wide receivers have been inconsistent at best. Plus, did I mention they’ll be going up against a likely Heisman finalist in Maye!
Nothing gives you any hope that Pitt is going to win this game, let alone keep it close. No person in their right mind believes Pitt will win this primetime game. Right?
I’ll take that bet. I’m not sure why but I just have a feeling that Pitt is going to play up to their preseason expectations, play their best game of the season and somehow will find a way to win this game.
Despite what the outside perception of Narduzzi is, his players like him and play hard for him. While he has areas in coaching that he struggles with, motivating and playing mental games with his players isn’t one of them.
Considering his dislike for the media in general, I can only imagine the things Narduzzi has said and shown his players over the last six days to try and get them extra motivated. Using the,”Us against the world,” mentality, “They don’t respect you”, “Look what they wrote,” etc.
He’ll never admit it but trust me, he definitely used it throughout the week.
Forget about that, the bigger reason I think Pitt will pull a surprise tonight is the pride that’s in that locker room and that they’re embarrassed about the results of the last two weeks.  This program is filled with winners and players that have won a lot of games and they know the effort against Cincinnati and West Virginia isn’t indicative of who they are.
One thing that still has to surface for this 2023 team is finding out who the field leaders are. Who are going to be ‘The Dudes” on this team.  In the past it’s been quarterback Kenny Pickett, linebacker SirVocea Dennis, defensive lineman Calijah Kancey, etc.
This year’s “Dude” has yet to step up and if Pitt is going to have any chance tonight to upset the Tar Heels someone must do so.
Will it be junior running back Rodney Hammond, junior wide receiver Konata Mumpfield, senior defensive lineman Dayon Hayes, redshirt senior cornerback MJ Devonshire, junior safety Donovan McMillan or even Jurkovec? Despite what we’ve seen in his first three games at Pitt, that’s still a possibility.
Chances are, this column will just be fodder for Pitt fans to laugh at, but I don’t think they’ll have the opportunity to do so. Unlike some people, this opinion isn’t given for click bait, I truly believe Pitt will play their best game of the season tonight and get 2023 back on track.
FINAL SCORE: Pitt 27 North Carolina 24
I somewhat agree. I can’t see us playing any worse than we’ve seen already. One or two plays may make the difference. I’m hopeful. H2P !
Hopeful for a win, but realistic too…a 30+ point loss
Until they change their play calling and the line blocks better they will keep losing. I hope you are right. I just don’t think you are.
Slovis looking sharp today. Obviously Cignetti was wrong, Slovis was not the problem, Cignetti is.
Shame on Narduzzi for letting Cignetti run Slovis out of town.
You are correct. Slovis has played well all year. The Cignetti 1973 offense no longer is relevant.
They destroyed us last year. This year is likely to be even worse.
Please prove me wrong Panthers, but based on what I’ve seen from this offense so far, I can’t see them outscoring the 17th ranked team in the country.
Only hope is for Maye to turn the ball over a few times (which his has done this season) and the defense does most of the scoring.
There run has ended.. QB is bad but team is just has bad .. don’t see it Hope for a game !
How wrote this is insane. Only way Pitt win it has to be some type of miracle and I don’t see that happening.
Pitt has 1 game a year where they actually hang with a ranked team. Maybe this is the 2023 edition.
Word is, this will be a run heavy night. We shall see what happens.
Pitt will win IF, and only if, there is a QB change, and Cignetti opens up his playbook and takes some shots downfield and gets his TE’s involved. But we all know Jerkovec will stay the QB, and Cignetti will continue to be a failure.
Slovis looking sharp today. Obviously Cignetti was wrong, Slovis was not the problem, Cignetti is.
Shame on Narduzzi for letting Cignetti run Slovis out of town.
Pitt just needs a q.b to not help the opponent. If we have that, we always have a chance.
This guy better get another job.
To make a statement like this after what we’ve seen this season shows he hasn’t watched at all
Sorry..Can’t see how this team can be counted on to win any games the rest of the year.Total disaster