Pitt ‘Not Holding Back’ Against Kent State in Season Opener

All of the built-up offseason angst and animosity will be somewhat relieved on Saturday when the Pitt Panthers take the field against Kent State.

It’s a fresh start for a Pitt team that is hoping to erase the memories from last fall and it comes against a Kent State team that lost all but one game a year ago and is situated at the bottom of ESPN’s College Football Power Index.

Like any coach, Pat Narduzzi is focused on what his team can do to take care of business on Saturday.

“I think these openers, sometimes you can worry about the opponent. I told the guys yesterday, I don’t care if we’re playing Georgia or we’re playing Kent State; the focus has to be on what we do,” he said at his press conference on Monday.

“It doesn’t come down to what they do. I told them yesterday after practice again, it’s what we do as a football player, as a team, as a unit, offensively, defensively and special teams. To me, that’s the critical thing is focus on us. Don’t worry about the opponent. If we go out there and play the game we’re supposed to play, I think we’ll walk off the field happy,” he added.

Pitt will roll out its new-look offense for the first time, and Narduzzi said the offensive unit will not divert from anything.

“We’re not holding back,” he said. “We’re going to play football, going to win a football game. [Kent State] will play their best game of the year. I can promise you that. They will come in here cranked up, two hours down the road, and they will play their best game of the season.”

It comes with good reasoning because the Panthers are still undecided on their quarterback situation, meaning both redshirt junior incumbent Nate Yarnell and redshirt freshman Alabama transfer Eli Holstein will receive their fair share of snaps.

“We feel like Nate and Eli both are guys that we consider starters, so those two have competed their tails off all camp, and we’ll go out there and go … The plan right now is to play both those guys on Saturday and let the competition begin on the field,” Narduzzi said.

Playing both quarterbacks does not come as much of an advantage as Kent State has most likely already game-planned for Yarnell and Holstein.

“Not really,” Narduzzi said if it gives them an advantage on playing two quarterbacks. “Sometimes in different positions but not for that one. That’s not the reason; I can guarantee you that. Because they’re preparing for both of them. Even though they probably don’t have much tape on Eli, they’re preparing for both of them probably, just like we’re preparing for two of their quarterbacks.

Once the offense trots out on the field Saturday, it will be up to offensive coordinator Kade Bell on how much of the offense he wants to unleash. Even with months of work, the Panthers have yet to play against anyone but themselves, so it would behoove them to work as much of their offense into the Week 1 game plan.

Since early spring, Narduzzi has overseen Bell’s coaching and he has embraced the new style.

“Kade is enthusiastic. He coaches the same way every day. He’s consistent. I can’t say he’s anything but a ball coach, a coach’s kid. Just love everything about him right now. We’ll find out when the games come. But he’s a ball coach. He’s into it. He’s got great plans. I like the way he game plans. That’s something that comes up new. Every day there’s something new you learn about him. I can’t go through the list, but just watching the way he game plans, he game plans different than other guys that I’ve been around throughout the years,” Narduzzi said.

Bell won’t be the only new coordinator, however, calling plays on Saturday. Kent State’s offensive coordinator Mark Carney and defensive coordinator Kody Morgan both were promoted over the offseason.

“Carney and Morgan both will be calling their first game as coordinators, so it’ll be a little bit hard to know kind of what you’re going to get either way. That’s why it’s even more important that the focus comes on us. It doesn’t matter what they give us, we have to just go out and execute. If it’s a run, execute the run. If we’re going to blitz them, then let’s be really good at the blitz and keep things as simple as possible, let our guys play hard, play fast,” Narduzzi said.

Pitt is 8-1 in season-opening games under Narduzzi and 33-5 all-time against Mid-American Conference opponents. On Saturday, Pitt will unveil its reshaped offense in hopes of starting the season off with a statement victory.