Pitt may have fallen in the AP and Coaches Polls after a loss to SMU, but those polls don’t matter anymore. The only poll with relevance now is the College Football Playoff Poll.
Pitt checked in at No. 18 in the first poll of the season, the third-ranked team from the ACC. It’s a good spot for the Panthers, a spot that has placed the Panthers firmly in the mix in both the ACC and the CFP race.
CFP Chairman Warde Manuel, who is also the Director of Athletics at Michigan, detailed why the Panthers have earned more respect from the selection committee than the national voters.
“Well, seven wins to open the season, to start out with, including a win at Cincinnati and their win against Syracuse in a dominant fashion,” Manuel said. “Their first loss of the season was last week against No. 13 SMU. That freshman quarterback I think is Eli Holstein, has been impressive, throwing over 2,000 yards and 15 plus touchdowns. It’s just an impressive team that Pat Narduzzi has put together.
“We look forward to seeing how they play. But their opening run was really impressive to the committee, and even with the loss, the loss that they have is to No. 13 SMU.”
Despite the loss to SMU, a 48-25 drubbing in Dallas, Texas, Pitt is still a one-loss squad that has largely handled its business. The Panthers need some help in the ACC to reach the conference title game, but with games against Clemson and Louisville on the schedule, there’s an opportunity to impress.
Virginia is up next for the Panthers.
It’s a bounce-back opportunity for the Panthers, following the first loss of the season — in devastating fashion. A loss is one thing, and the season certainly isn’t over, but SMU beat the brakes off the Panthers. It wasn’t close.
If Pitt is truly rebound this season, with four games remaining on the schedule, it will start against Virginia. Pat Narduzzi is confident in a bounce back this weekend.
“When I walked into the team meeting last night — every team is different a little bit different after 10 years,” Narduzzi said Monday at his weekly presser. “This is a quieter team, which means it hurt a little bit, which is good. If we come in here, they’re having fun, looking at videos on their phone, stuff like that, it’s like, really? To me, you can tell a lot by what your team does coming in after a loss.
“I think it hurt them. I don’t think they were happy. They were quiet on the plane, on the bus on the way back, which is a good thing. I want them to be hurt. You better be hurt. We all work too hard to have a negative outcome. There better be some pain involved. When it hurts a little bit, it means something to you. We’ll bounce back this week, I’m sure of it.”
Kickoff against Virginia is set for 8 p.m. at Acrisure Stadium, and there are two ranked matchups left this season against Clemson and Louisville.
