Pitt has two games left this season (in the regular season), and Pat Narduzzi expressed his excitement to get down to Louisville and bounce back.
Pitt is breaking out its classic road uniforms for a matchup against Louisville, wearing gold helmets with a blue Cathedral stripe and blue Pitt script, white jerseys with blue numbers traced by gold and blue pants with a gold cathedral stripe down the leg.
Pitt and Louisville are set for a 4 p.m. kickoff at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium, with an ESPN2 broadcast.
Pitt is 11-9 all-time against Louisville, dating back to a 27-6 win in the first meeting in 1976. It’s been a series of runs all time. Pitt won the first four meetings; Louisville won the next seven meetings between 1990-2007 and Pitt has won seven of the last nine meetings.
Pitt won the second most recent matchup 23-20 in 2020, a performance in which Kenny Pickett threw for 220 yards and two touchdowns, and the defense forced three Cunningham interceptions, Louisville won the last matchup in Louisville in 2022 off a poor performance from former quarterback Kedon Slovis and the Panthers upset then-No. 14 Louisville at Acrisure Stadium last season.
Louisville is 6-4 (4-3 ACC) is coming off a brutal loss to Stanford, 38-35, off a late game-winning field goal. The loss will very likely drop the Cardinals from the College Football Playoff Poll.
Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough is still in the midst of a strong final season, after transferring in from Texas Tech, and running back Isaac Brown is one of the most versatile players in college football as a true freshman.
Pitt is coming off its third straight loss of the season, falling to No. 20 Clemson at Acrisure Stadium. It was a frustrating, mistake-filled afternoon in which the Panthers had a victory within reach and let it slip away.
Pat Narduzzi, as he’s done all season, said the Panthers will bounce back with two games remaining on the schedule.
“Yeah, they’re not going to lose confidence after what they did out there today,” Narduzzi said Saturday. “We’ve got a good football team in there and we played a good football team. They aren’t crappy. We’ve got a darned good football team, and we just keep our heads up. We’ve got two more guaranteed games and then we’ll move on from there.
“We’ve got a really good Louisville team on the road, and then we’ve got to pick up the pieces, and our guys will do that. They were great in the locker room afterwards. It’s the game of football. It’s what we do.”
Pitt is still undecided at quarterback, despite Eli Holstein being cleared to return to game action.
Pitt will win. I am definitely taking the 8 points.