Pitt will be under the lights Saturday night, for the second week in a row, but this time, the Panthers will be playing in front of a home crowd — looking to make a statement.
Pitt is keeping it simple against Virginia, wearing gold helmets with a blue Cathedral stripe and blue Pitt script, blue jerseys with gold numbers and gold pants with a blue cathedral stripe down the leg.
Kickoff against Virginia is set for 8 p.m., and the Panthers will be on the ACC Network for the second week in a row.
Despite a loss to SMU, a 48-25 drubbing in Dallas, Texas last weekend, 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.
But Virginia is currently on the slate 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.”
“Keeping it simple” should involve running the ball effectively.
That is asking a lot from the current personnel on the OL.