Pitt Wasn’t Ready, Didn’t Execute in Brutal Loss to SMU

Pitt didn’t have it from the get-go against No. 20 SMU.

A missed tackle by Rashad Battle on the second play from scrimmage resulted in a 43-yard gain, on a play that should’ve ended short of the sticks. It was a bad play that set the tone for a bad night of football.

Two things are true in this case, Pitt didn’t prepare for the Mustangs throughout the week of practice, and the Panthers certainly didn’t execute on the field at Gerald J. Ford Stadium.

“It starts with me,” Pat Narduzzi said after the game. “I obviously didn’t have our football team ready to go today. We didn’t execute like we have, lot of missed tackles on defense, and we gave up too many explosives. And again, it starts with me and ends with me. I’ll take full responsibility for the loss.

“Apologize to our fans out there, I know we all expected to get it done, it’s hard to win every week. It’s harder on the road, and when you don’t play great, and you don’t coach great, this is what happens.”

A 23-point loss isn’t indicative of the play on the field Saturday night either. Pitt was outcoached, outplayed and outmatched by the Mustangs.

SMU did just about whatever it wanted against Pitt, sure, but the Panthers did themselves no favors. Offensive coordinator Kade Bell couldn’t draw up a play on third down (finishing the night 5-of-17), and the defense allowed eight scoring drives (six touchdown drives) on the way to allowing the most points in a game since getting blown out against Notre Dame last season.

The offensive woes, in particular, have been concerning. And there isn’t an easy fix.

“We gotta go back and look at what we’re doing and coaching and what we’re asking our kids to do and figure it out,” Narduzzi said. “It starts with a good defense, SMU’s defense we know was good stopping the run. Top 25 defense in the country, they’ve been good all year, and we didn’t do a good job. We’re not making plays, and we’re not doing a good enough job coaching.”

Bell tried to scheme up the quick throws for Holstein, which limited opportunities downfield, but should’ve helped build his confidence. It didn’t really. Holstein was antsy, somewhat erratic and continued to look like the game was moving too fast for him. He wasn’t alone.

“We’re just starting slow,” Gavin Bartholomew said after the game. “We’ve got to get the offense going, the defense is helping us out as much as they can, but as an offense and as a unit, we’ve got to keep the ball moving and score points.”

Holstein completed 29-of-48 pass attempts for 248 yards and an interception before the first team was pulled for the second team, but it was a lot of empty yardage. The offensive line consistently crumbled under four-man rushes, and the run game averaged just 3.2 yards per carry.

The offense failed to generate anything through the air or on the ground, and for the first time this season, the defense wasn’t able to make up for it.

There have been games where the offense hasn’t had a good night, and the defense has stepped up. And vice versa. That didn’t happen against the Mustangs.

“We just have to prepare better throughout the week, have better practice habits,” Brandon George said after the game. “They just executed better than us tonight.”

“We were definitely in position to make a lot of those plays, it just comes down to execution. Wrapping up, running our feet, it’s a practice habit thing. We’ll correct it.”

The offense was out of sync again, the defense was gashed through the air and on the ground and even the special teams unit was off. Ben Sauls missed his first field goal of the season, and Caleb Junko averaged 25 yards per punt. The forecasted rain held off in Dallas, but the “rain” still fell.

And when it rained, it poured. The mistakes piled up across all three phases.

“It was one of those things,” Narduzzi said. “Regardless of offense, defense, special teams, we didn’t punt the ball well when we had to punt it … so, it snowballed a little bit. It starts with me, I gotta get our guys better prepared to get it done.”

Pitt didn’t finish in perhaps the biggest game of the Narduzzi era, certainly over the last couple of seasons, but the season isn’t over. Pitt is a 7-1 (3-1 ACC) team that has far exceeded expectations with a young roster. There are four games left this season, and with some help, Pitt could still challenge for an ACC championship — and more.

It was a brutal night for the Panthers in Dallas, but maybe it was the lesson that the team needed. George said it’s back to the drawing board this week before welcoming Virginia to town next weekend.

“I need to go into practice with a better mindset, I need to make sure the guys are on the same page, guys are executing well,” George said. “That goes for everybody with a C on par chest, and we need to make sure everything is in tip-top shape. I think we allowed too much stuff to slip. God has a funny way of humbling everybody, so now we know what’s going on.”