Across the Beat: Getting to know Pittsburgh

Duke goes from facing one team at the bottom of the ACC standings capable of playing better than its record indicates to facing … a team at the bottom of the ACC standings capable of playing better than its record indicates.

Pittsburgh is 3-8, having endured two four-game losing streaks this season. The Panthers are closing out a rare down year for coach Pat Narduzzi — it’s the most losses he’s had in a nine-year tenure — but still have wins against a team headed to Charlotte next week (Louisville) and one of the league’s biggest overachievers (Boston College).

To get to know Pitt better, we’ve enlisted the help of Jim Hammett from Panther-lair, which is part of the Rivals network.

Here is our five-part Q&A:

1. I like to start these with a simple vibe check and realize the tone here is going to be similar to when we did one of these in mid-October, before Pitt’s game at Wake Forest. What is the feeling with this Pitt team coming off of last week’s win over Boston College?

Answer: I think most Pitt fans are resigned to the fact that this 2023 season is going to end up as a failure across the board whether it ends at 3-9 or 4-8, but I think there is some belief that ending the year with two wins can at least lessen the blow somewhat and give the program some momentum to end the season, or at least it helps with perception slightly.

This is going to be an important offseason coming up for the Pitt program and everyone knows it and I think more people are anxious for that process to start maybe more so than Saturday’s game. Narduzzi has not made any in-season changes to his staff, but with Pitt sitting on the 111th ranked offense in total yards this season, it feels like change is inevitably on the horizon.

Second-year offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. just really has not been able to establish much of anything this year and it directly cost the team a lot of wins. So, I think the vibe around Pitt is that there is a belief the team can beat Duke on Saturday and it would be a feel-good way to end the year, but more concern right now seems to be what lies ahead after the season.

2. So, uhh … Nate Yarnell? Where did he come from and what does he do different than Phil Jurkovec and/or Christian Veilleux?

Answer: Nate Yarnell was always the, ‘Don’t forget about him’ guy in the quarterback conversation. Yarnell is a redshirt sophomore and actually had one start to his name prior to this season. After a pair of early season injuries, Yarnell was called on to start Pitt’s game against Western Michigan in 2022. Pitt used a heavy ground attack and basic game plan that day, but he still threw for 179 yards and a touchdown in that start.

Yarnell was the only quarterback from 2022 to return in 2023, but was immediately passed on the depth chart by the two transfers. After Jurkovec and Veilleux each got five starts and both posted 1-4 records, Pitt gave Yarnell a shot last week. Much like his 2022 start, he did not overwhelm anyone but played solid football and did not commit any turnovers going 11-for-19 for 207 yards and a passing and rushing touchdown.

I think solid, competent quarterback play is all this team was ever really looking for and in one start Yarnell was able to provide that. Yarnell is a big dude, checking in at 6-6 and showed some ability to move around and extend plays. His best attribute might be making the safe and smart play, but there are definitely some tools to his game to like.

3. Pitt’s 197 rushing yards against BC were the most since totaling 217 against Wofford in the season opener. What went right on the ground against the Eagles that seems to have been missing all season?

Answer: Your guess is as good as mine. It is hard to picture a Narduzzi-coached team with Cignetti as offensive coordinator that this would be a bad rushing offense, but that has been one of the things holding the team back this season. Pitt had one of the best running backs in the country last season in Izzy Abanikanda and the common belief was that Rodney Hammond would step into that role and be able to soften the blow of his departure.

Hammond just has not been able to get going much this season, but did finally break out with 145 yards and a score against Boston College. The third-year back always was a good compliment to Abanikanda, so many figured he could step into the lead role, but the transition has not worked out that way and I would not say it is his fault either.

Pitt has probably rotated running backs more than it should have this year and more carries should have gone Hammond’s way, but also the offensive line has been a mess. Pitt has started nine offensive line combinations in 11 games with guys constantly in and out of the lineup, plus some key guys like Matt Goncalves missing the majority of the season.

4. Pitt’s defense has been … what, exactly, this season? Some of these box scores look like typical Pat Narduzzi games, while others make me think inconsistency has been the only constant on that side of the ball.

Answer: Pitt has been a strange defense this season. The Panthers are normally good against the run, but teams have managed to gash them this season unlike anything we have seen in the past four to five seasons. Syracuse ripped off 380 yards against them earlier this month. It’s been strange in that regard and uncommon to say the least.

While things like that have been inconsistent performances like that throughout the season, they still have games where they make a lot of plays and have done some good things against tough competition. Pitt held Florida State to a season-low in points with 24, it held North Carolina to 373 yards, well under its season average of 515. So, they can still make things difficult on opponents.

Pitt lost some star power off of last year’s team with guys like Calijah Kancey and SirVocea Dennis hitting the NFL. This group still has a lot of solid players, but maybe lacks the high-end talent it had last year. They will still blitz a lot and take chances and can produce game altering plays, but probably a little more susceptible to the run than usual.

5. Looking big picture, it seems like Narduzzi is back next season. What has to happen between now and then for Pitt to turn this thing around?

Answer: As I mentioned, the offseason seems like the biggest topic around the Pitt program right now. Pitt really dropped as a program where it felt like they had an opportunity to rise in the past two years. It’s hard not to pinpoint a lot of the recent failures on the offensive side of the ball and some of the decisions Pitt has made.

It turns out Cignetti was a poor hire to replace Mark Whipple. Narduzzi valued having a veteran coach who could step right in with a veteran team, but instead of maintaining a high-level offensive attack, Pitt went backwards in 2022 and it spiraled out of control quickly this season. Pitt fans want to see a change at coordinator and it’s hard to see Cignetti returning.

Pitt’s other failures the past two years have been guessing wrong at quarterback. Narduzzi brought in Kedon Slovis before even hiring Cignetti, but he did not work out well in 2022 and struggled again this season for BYU. Jurkovec was injury-prone in his final two seasons, but Pitt taking him as a reclamation project did not work out either.

So, in addition to finding a new offensive coordinator, there is a big quarterback decision to make. Can Yarnell or Veilleux be a viable starter in 2024 or will they need to bring in a transfer yet again?