PITTSBURGH — Pat Narduzzi is in his ninth season coaching Pitt football, well into his third decade as a collegiate coach, and he’s never seen anything like Gavin Bartholomew’s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
When Gavin Bartholomew was flagged for an unsportsmanlike penalty call well after the conclusion of a play in the third quarter, as Bartholomew walked on the Pitt sideline, it certainly was a major turning point in the course of the contest.
“We got a penalty on the sideline when our quarterback got hit late cutting out of bounds,” Narduzzi said after the game. “Whatever, guys were talking. I’ve never seen a penalty called on the sideline when there’s 40 guys on the sideline, but you have to overcome all those things. You have to shut your mouth and play the game of football.”
Pitt went from a 4th-and-4 at the 26-yard line, well within Ben Sauls’ field goal range, to a 4th-and-19 at the 41, which ultimately resulted in a 21-yard punt from Caleb Junko. And the ‘Noles wound up driving 80 yards in 11 plays to turn a 3-point lead into a 10-point lead.
Related: ‘It Was Bull’: Veilleux Disagrees With Unsportsmanlike Call
The 10-point swing was costly for Pitt at the end of the day. Pat Narduzzi said he wasn’t given an explanation for the call, but he said Bartholomew didn’t say anything.
“Gavin didn’t say anything to the officials,” Narduzzi said. “So, they were talking about happy birthday or something. I don’t know what, but it wasn’t one person. It wasn’t Gavin. I think maybe that’s who they called it on, but just chippy like on any sideline. I’ve never seen it called before. I don’t get it. I’ve seen a lot of things.”
The officials didn’t clarify anything to Narduzzi, and courtesy of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Noah Hiles, ACC supervisor of officiating Al Riveron said, “That’s an unsportsmanlike conduct, which is a judgment call by an official, so we’re gonna leave it at that.”
Pitt ultimately lost to Florida State 24-7, the official rulings doing Pitt no favors, but the offensive ineptitude hurting even worse.
The Panthers failed to convert a single third down, turned the ball over three times and mustered just a single touchdown for the second game in a row. It was the second straight top-15 matchup, but Pitt’s offense under Frank Cignetti Jr. failed miserably once again. And that’s been a problem all season.
And will continue as long as his there!
There is no way the ACC was going to let Pitt ruin FSUs national title run….. Not that FSU needed much help.
They’ll need it against Northern Alabama in two weeks! Brutal scheduling there!
Thanks for focusing on the important things with the game, Pat.
I thought it was important. Seems shady AF to me and the ACC should be called out on it.
So that was not important? I guess the facemask on the long pass was equally unimportant? This league has a big problem with the officiating.
Anyone who watched that game saw a bias officiating crew. There were several FSU holding plays not called and multiple PIs by Pitt called (like every game). The worst was the neck/hip toss 3 yds out of bounds not called.
Who does hold the refs accountable, because it is getting worse every year across the country! Watch ohio State for 10 min and see what I’m talking about. Almost as bad as watching Notre Dame 25 years ago.
H2P!
The officiating in this league is beyond bad. You can say all you want, but with all the gambling going on, officials are missing way too many calls and instant replay, which was supposed to help the game has not.
It’s regarding the ACC officiating. They have always whistled dixie.