Pitt Football
Storylines to Follow as Pitt Concludes 2023 Season Against Duke
Published
5 months agoon
It’s finally here. Pitt has arrived at the final game of the 2023 season, and while there aren’t any postseason hopes, there is plenty of pride in play.
Pitt has a lot of questions that still need to be answered heading into the 2023 season, and while those questions cannot be answered in a single game, this game does help.
Pitt is kicking off against Duke on the road at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C. Saturday, the first noon kickoff of the season, and there’s plenty to watch despite the lack of stakes. And, of course, it’s the final chance to watch Pitt play in 2023, so that’s something.
So, for the final time this season, here are the storylines ahead of Pitt facing off against Duke.
Pitt Will Miss Two Starters Against Duke
While there’s just one game left in the 2023 season, Pat Narduzzi announced that two Pitt starters are out for the season due to injuries.
Gavin Bartholomew and Devin Danielson will not play in the season finale against Duke this weekend, Narduzzi announced Monday at his weekly press conference.
“Just make an announcement that Gavin Bartholomew and Devin Danielson are out for the year,” Narduzzi said. “Obviously it’s one more game left, but both will be not with us this weekend, as well. It’s sad to see for both those guys. Obviously, with Danielson being such a tough dude, he’s never hurt, and you never thought his senior year, his sixth year would end like it did, and Gavin, obviously lost a major weapon.”
Two Pitt Starters Will Not Play in Season Finale Against Duke
Pat Narduzzi Likes the Pitt QB Room… Right Now
Pitt has brought in three transfer quarterbacks over the last two offseasons, and it’s possible that the quarterback best suited to run the offense has been in Pittsburgh the entire time.
It’s a much smaller sample size for Nate Yarnell, with just one start against a middling Boston College squad, but he’s delivered when called upon in each of his opportunities. And Pat Narduzzi, who decided to insert Yarnell into the lineup before the Boston College game, is OK with the quarterbacks room.
For now.
“I like it right now, but again, that can change quickly,” Narduzzi said Monday at his weekly press conference. “Again, you look at Christian is a really good quarterback that’s talented, and we’ll continue to work with him, and obviously Nate had a heck of a weekend, and we want him to have another great weekend to back that up. Ty Dieffenbach, don’t forget about him.”
Pat’s Points: Tough Decisions, One More Win and Finding That Consistency
It had been a while since Pitt came into the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on Sunday and watched winning game film — not since the upset win against Louisville in early October.
“It was good to come in here on a Sunday after a victory,” Narduzzi said Monday at his weekly press conference. “A hard-fought victory where you felt like you hit on all cylinders in all three phases. You didn’t mess the game up, you didn’t shoot yourself in the foot and got a win. I think it’s a great lesson for our guys.”
Pitt has one game left on the 2023 schedule, with a chance to clinch a fourth win of the second and the only win streak of the season, and it will come in the form of the Duke Blue Devils — which will come after the Thanksgiving holiday Thursday.
“Being that it’s Thanksgiving week — Happy Thanksgiving to everybody out here — I can say this: I’m grateful and thankful for the guys in this room with the attitude that they have every day when they come to work, whether it’s after a win or after a loss,” Narduzzi said.
“Feel blessed to get to coach these guys every day. The attitude, the persistence, going through adversity and these guys keep coming back for more. They try to get it right. The same thing with the coaches — they try to get it right, so I appreciate them.”
Pat’s Points: One More Pitt Win, Tough Decisions and Consistency at QB
Pat Narduzzi Says He’s Had No Contact With MSU Athletic Department
Pat Narduzzi has been linked to Michigan State since the Spartans officially fired head coach Mel Tucker for cause in September, which opened up an attractive head coaching vacancy in the Big Ten.
Michigan State has been linked to a number of potential candidates over the last two months, seemingly inching closer to other candidates, but Narduzzi’s MSU ties continue to loom over the situation.
And in an interview with Roddy Jones on ACC Radio, Narduzzi was asked straight up if he had been in contact with Michigan State.
“I’ll say this, the last time — I’ve turned it down a couple of times,” Narduzzi told Jones. “But I have absolutely no contact with them at all. So, there’s been no contact at all with anybody from their athletic department, so we’ll just kinda keep it at that, I guess.”
Pat Narduzzi Says He’s Had No Contact With Michigan State Athletic Department
Pitt Offseason Begins Immediately After the Duke Game
It hasn’t been a good year for offensive coordinators in Pittsburgh this season — or in Pennsylvania as a whole.
Penn State fired offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich with a few games left in the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers fired offensive coordinator Matt Canada with seven games left in the season — as the team sits in the seventh and final playoff spot in the AFC.
Pitt hasn’t — and won’t — made any coaching changes in-season, but the season is a few days from coming to an end — right around 3:30ish on Saturday afternoon. And there’s an expectation that Pat Narduzzi will make some changes to the offensive staff.
Pitt plays Saturday afternoon in Durham, N.C. and will be back in Pittsburgh sometime Saturday night. The focus will shift immediately to recruiting for the Pitt staff, but it seems likely that Pitt will have some new faces on the coaching staff when Signing Day rolls around in just under a month.
“First thing we’ll get into is recruiting, so we’re going to hit the road,” Pat Narduzzi said Monday at his weekly press conference. “Postseason evaluation, little by little we’ll get to that, but the first thing is the Signing Day is up in December, and we’ll work towards that. But as coaches, we’re evaluating every day, and that never stops.”
Donovan McMillon Wants to be the Next Great Pitt Defensive Back
Donovan McMillon received just 15 snaps against Wofford in the season opener, finally receiving more snaps as the score got more and more out of hand. He was primarily the reserve option behind Javon McIntyre and P.J. O’Brien Jr., still learning the defensive playbook after arriving from Florida over the offseason.
He waited his turn, and it didn’t take long for his name to be called, as he just about tripled his snaps against Cincinnati in Week 2.
McMillon waited his turn, and it’s somewhat similar to how Nate Yarnell has waited his turn this season.
“I think that’s what Duzz and everyone preaches, that we as a whole team, we wait for our moment and when it comes up, we shine with it,” McMillon said Thursday night. “There’s no bad-mouthing other people, you might not play the whole season but when it’s time for our name to be called, you get up there and you make that play. So I think that shows really good character for (Yarnell).”
Donovan McMillon Wants to be the Next Great Pitt Defensive Back
Nate Yarnell Made Sure to Share MVP Honors This Week
Rodney Hammond Jr. stepped down off the platform deep inside the bowels of Acrisure Stadium and dapped up the grinning 6-foot-6 kid waiting his turn to speak.
The tall, skinny kid standing at the ready didn’t have a beard the last time he faced the media following a football game, but his name was uttered with the same sort of reverence. Hammond proclaimed him the “MVP” as the two quickly embraced, giving up the stage for the quarterback who has now gone 2-0 in career starts at Pitt.
But Nate Yarnell certainly will not accept that MVP moniker himself. It’s a team game.
“They say that, but I relied on those guys so much tonight,” Yarnell said Thursday night following Pitt’s win against Boston College. “Offensive line played absolutely fantastic, Rodney had a great game, and obviously sealed it at the end with the long run, I was really excited watching him run that in. Defense stepped up, big stops there to end the game. They’re calling me MVP, but I definitely relied upon them a lot.”
He was cool and composed in the pocket, he threw with touch and anticipation, and most importantly, his sound decision-making didn’t lead to any turnovers against the Eagles’ defense. It was like night and day seeing how Yarnell worked through his progressions to hit wide receivers in stride and move the chains.
‘Grateful for the Opportunity’: Pitt QB Nate Yarnell Can’t Claim MVP Honors
Rodney Hammond Jr. Showed What Pitt Has Been Missing
Pat Narduzzi was right on the money about one thing Thursday night. Whether it’s Rodney Hammond Jr. or Izzy Abanikanda (or C’Bo Flemister or Daniel Carter, in this case), rushing success will be non-existent if there’s no blocking upfront.
If a running back is hit in the backfield, it doesn’t bode well for his success.
But and this is a major, major but, there currently isn’t a Pitt running back better suited for making defenders miss than Hammond. And he showcased that in a major way against Boston College.
The Pitt offensive scheme hasn’t exactly done its running backs any sort of favors this season. But if there’s one running back at Pitt who is capable of actually being a difference-maker, it’s Hammond. So, what took so long to get him going? Why hasn’t he been a legitimate part of the offensive game plan? Hammond himself just wants to do the best with what he’s given.
“However many carries they wanna give me, I’m gonna take it and I’m gonna do whatever I gotta do with it,” Hammond said Thursday night after the win. “If I get one carry, I’m gonna do my best with that one carry.”
Rodney Hammond Jr. Showed Exactly What Pitt Has Been Missing
Dayon Hayes Has Unfinished Business at Pitt
It hasn’t been the easiest season for Dayon Hayes and the Pitt defense, not as the unit has played well enough to win and not been supported by its counterpart, certainly, but Hayes himself has also been unable to finish.
Hayes, who did not walk on Senior Night, entered Thursday night with two sacks. He racked up two first half sacks on the way to a thoroughly dominant performance.
“It felt good,” Hayes said following the win. “It took forever, I was in a drought lately, but it felt good to get that quarterback.”
He finished the night with six tackles (five solo), three tackles for loss, two sacks, two pass breakups and a quarterback hit — and it may be just the launchpad he needs for one more season. Does Hayes have unfinished business at Pitt?
“Yeah, I do,” he said with a grin. “I ain’t leaving yet.”
‘I Ain’t Leaving Yet’: Dayon Hayes Signals Return to Pitt in 2024
Narduzzi saying he hasn’t had any contact with MSU doesn’t mean his agent hasn’t. His star has obviously dimmed given the team’s performance this season, and MSU may be wise to bring in a complete outsider anyway because of all the off-the-field troubles in their athletic department. So we’ll see. I personally don’t want to see him go, but I don’t think it would be the end of the world if he did.