Pitt did not fare well in its out-of-conference schedule in 2023, going 1-3 and being outscored 108-79, and Pat Narduzzi admitted that the “tougher” schedule may have backfired.
In an appearance on the ACC Network, while he was on the road recruiting in New Jersey (doing his hit at a pizza shop in Jersey City), Narduzzi talked about entering the 2024 season with four straight non-conference games. And of course, a non-conference schedule that featured three Power Five opponents last season was a point of conversation.
“I felt like it backfired a little bit last year on us, to be honest with you,” Narduzzi said. “You wanna play great opponents, and you want to win.
“And we went down to Morgantown and didn’t pull that thing out, they had 10 points off a short field, a couple of times off turnovers, and we don’t come out of Morgantown with a win, and I think the kid’s kind of start to lose their confidence and their mojo a little bit, so it can backfire on you.”
Pitt knocked off Wofford in the season opener, dispatching a hapless Terriers squad 45-7, and it’s not unfair to say that it was perhaps the most optimistic moment of the 2023 season.
Pitt dropped back-to-back Big 12 games against Cincinnati and West Virginia (with both contests plagued by extremely poor quarterback play and missed offensive opportunities), and the Panthers were unable to recover.
A mid-season non-conference match-up against a ranked Notre Dame squad resulted in an embarrassing 58-7 loss that kind of summed up the entire season. It was an abject disaster, a season-long performance that will not — and cannot — be tolerated a second time.
Narduzzi — and the entire Pitt team, he said — is well aware of the importance of a fast start in non-conference play in 2024.
“We’d like to start off 4-0 and then get rolling into the ACC, and then I think it really matters after that,” Narduzzi said. “You get rolling and you have some confidence as a football. We lacked that last year, and it’s something you’ve got to gain this year. And I think our kids have learned from the 2023 season.”
Pitt will only play two Power Four out-of-conference games in 2024. Cincinnati in Cincinnati, and West Virginia at home. There will be a Group of Five matchup against Kent State to start the season, and the final tune-up before ACC play kicks off will come against an FCS squad in Youngstown State.
“The first thing I see is we got four games then we’ve got an open week. And then we get into the heavy part of our conference schedule after that. So, we got two open weeks in the schedule, and I’m excited about all the teams we get to play. It starts in that opener against Kent State at Acrisure Stadium.”
Pitt currently has a non-conference schedule in 2025 that will feature West Virginia and Notre Dame, and over the next few years, WVU, Wisconsin (in Dublin, Ireland), UConn and Richmond will be on the schedule.
2024 Pitt Schedule
Week 1: Saturday, Aug. 31 – Kent State at Acrisure Stadium
Week 2: Saturday, Sept. 7 – Cincinnati at Nippert Stadium
Week 3: Saturday, Sept. 14 — West Virginia at Acrisure Stadium
Week 4: Saturday, Sept. 21 – Youngstown State at Acrisure Stadium
Week 5: Saturday, Sept. 28 — Bye Week
Week 6: Saturday, Oct. 5 – North Carolina at Kenan Memorial Stadium
Week 7: Saturday, Oct. 12 – Cal at Acrisure Stadium
Week 8: Saturday, Oct. 19 – Bye Week
Week 9: Thursday, Oct. 24 – Syracuse at Acrisure Stadium
Week 10: Saturday, Nov. 2 – SMU at Gerald J. Ford Stadium
Week 11: Saturday, Nov. 9 – Virginia at Acrisure Stadium
Week 12: Saturday, Nov. 16 – Clemson at Acrisure Stadium
Week 13: Saturday, Nov. 23 – Louisville at L&N Stadium
Week 14: Saturday, Nov. 30 — Boston College at Alumni Stadium
Want to improve non-conference results, DROP WV! Even if they lose, they injury enough starters that they WIN. Or at most schedule them as the last game of the season. Someone is going to point to the ACC schedule as say you can’t do that. Tell Clemson who plays in state rival South Carolina the last game of the season.
I don’t think it was the non-conference schedule that did it in Panthers last season. It was having Jurkovic as starter along with the social media influencer Cignetti calling the plays. Should have beat Cincinnati and West Virginia, the Notre Dame was after Pitt lost to Wake Forrest because of the controversial slide; CV was the starter but clearly didn’t have what it took after he was exposed by Wake. I’m not saying they would have beat Notre Dame but maybe kept it respectable.