Pitt is no longer ranked in the College Football Playoff Poll following back-to-back losses.
Pitt dropped from No. 18 to unranked in the CFP Poll following losses to No. 14 SMU and Virginia. The Panthers also dropped out of the AP and Coaches Polls this week.
Miami is still the highest ranked team in the ACC, ranked ninth but seeded fourth, and SMU (14), Louisville (19) and Clemson (20) are all ranked.
Pitt is coming off its worst performance of the season against Virginia. The Panthers came out flat, failed to adjust and went out with a whimper against Virginia. Pat Narduzzi blamed himself for the second weekend in a row.
“It starts with me, starts with our coaches putting our kids in position to make plays,” Narduzzi said Saturday night. “We had way too many penalties in the first half offensively. Again, we got iPads. So I’m seeing a lot of things on iPads. But we lost as a team. Again, it starts with me. I’ve got to do a better job getting our guys prepared. I thought we had a great week of practice, but Virginia came in with a week off and did a nice job.”
The Panthers dropped to 7-2 (3-2 ACC) with the loss to Virginia, a Cavaliers squad that entered as a 7.5-point underdog, and the record doesn’t do a good job highlighting the hole they’ve fallen into over the last month.
But there’s no time to waste. Clemson is coming to town for a big matchup, and Narduzzi recognizes that the Tigers are still the gold standard.
“We closed that last night,” Narduzzi said Monday at his weekly presser. “We’re heading on to Clemson, maybe the best football team we’ve played this year. I shouldn’t say maybe. They are. They’re 315 across the line on their defensive line. They’ve got some big dudes. They’re athletic, a bunch of first rounders on defense and offense.”
Pitt vs. Clemson is scheduled to kick off at Acrisure Stadium at noon on Saturday on ESPN.
