Pitt is just five wins away from bowl eligibility after a Week 1 win against Kent State, and a national analyst predicts the Panthers will qualify for a bowl game.
Brett McMurphy of Action Network updated his initial bowl projections following the first week (minus Florida State-Boston College tonight), but his initial Pitt projection hasn’t changed. He still slates the Panthers to face off against FAU in the Boca Raton Bowl in Boca Raton, Fla. on Dec. 18. Action Network has moved Pitt to an early 5.5-point favorite.
McMurphy still projects Miami to win the ACC, but after a Week 1 loss, he’s dropped Virginia Tech from his Playoff projection.
The Boca Raton Bowl, which has been in service since 2014, was initially set up to serve as a tie-in for MAC and Conference-USA programs. But in the years since, it’s featured C-USA, MAC, AAC and ACC schools.
The most recent edition of the Boca Raton Bowl featured USF and Syracuse, which was a 45-0 drubbing by the Bulls.
Pitt is coming off a 55-24 season-opening win against Kent State, and with a strong debut, Eli Holstein has cemented himself as the starting quarterback entering Week 2 against Cincinnati. He ran the new up-tempo offense effectively, leading the Panthers to their most points since 2021. But there’s still work to be done.
The same can be said about a defensive performance that left Narduzzi wanting more — even with two forced turnovers, five sacks and 12 tackles for loss.
“Well, had a good day yesterday just reviewing the tape with the guys and just going over the good, the bad and the ugly, as you do every Sunday,” Narduzzi said Monday at There’s always good and bad and ugly. You have to go back and watch the videotape.
“A lot of self-inflicted wounds. I told our guys that the good thing is you saw adversity out there. After one series in the third quarter, it’s 28-21 and there’s adversity, which is always good to fight through that, but self-inflicted adversity. I talked about a couple of them last night. The momentum changes of games, the Desmond Reid punt return for a touchdown was a big momentum change for us. It’s like, okay, we’re going to knock them out, but then we let them come back in the game because of what we do.”
Pitt is back in action this weekend against Cincinnati at Nippert Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.
The preseason love for VA Tech every year is mind boggling
Add, Miami and UNC to that list as well.