Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 11

A couple of years have passed since Pitt played a game with the significance of its confrontation Saturday with SMU in Dallas. It’s a prime-time 8 p.m. matchup between ranked schools (No. 18 Pitt and No. 20 SMU) and the Panthers’ first as a Top 25 team versus a Top...

Pat Narduzzi doesn’t remember the Kent State/Rutgers game played Oct. 27, 2012, in Piscataway, N.J. Nor did the game register in his consciousness that day. He was too busy in Madison, Wisc., preparing Michigan State’s defense for its 16-13 overtime upset of No. 25 Wisconsin. But what happened to Rutgers...

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi told reporters to “wait and see” when he was asked how quarterback Eli Holstein was feeling after leaving the Syracuse game in the fourth quarter with an injury Thursday night and not returning. The wait turned out to be less than three days. Narduzzi announced on...

No one — fan, coach, player or Associated Press Top 25 voter — expected Pitt to keep up the offensive pace it set over the season’s first five games. The Panthers averaged more than five touchdowns (total: 26) and 522.2 yards per game (7.5 per play). The schedule wasn’t particularly...

Pitt’s defense toyed with Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord last week, and Randy Bates called it “a good day.” Five interceptions. Three pick-6s. Four sacks. Holding the opponent under 25 points for the fourth consecutive game. Good, but … “I think we had a lot more in us, quite frankly,” said...

When the subject of Eli Holstein’s health first was presented to Pat Narduzzi on Monday at his weekly news conference, it was half of a two-part question. Guess which half Pitt’s coach conveniently ignored. Right. The one with Holstein’s name in it. A few minutes later, he was reminded he...

A month ago, one of the most iconic players in SMU history was speaking to coach Rhett Lashlee. Craig James said Lashlee’s Mustangs reminded him of another SMU team he knew well. He was referring to SMU of the 1980s when James teamed with Eric Dickerson to form the Pony...

In college athletics’ new age of NIL and immediate eligibility for transfers, success can work both ways. No one knows that better than Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi, whose team is 7-0 and a serious contender for its second ACC championship in four years. Interviewed on CBS Sports Radio and Sirius...

New Year’s Day morning, 1983, dawned cold and rainy in Dallas, but Tom Flynn had seen worse. He grew up in Western Pennsylvania and had played in similar conditions at Penn Hills High School and Pitt. Later, he played in snowstorms with the Green Bay Packers. Truth be told, the...

Ben Sauls has a confession to make. Despite the enthusiasm and energy inside Acrisure Stadium, the high hopes surrounding the undefeated Pitt team and what can be called one of the best vantage points in the house, he doesn’t watch the games. At least half the time, anyway. It’s all...

Not only do Pitt’s linebackers harass quarterbacks with their athleticism, step boldly into passing lanes and attack like sharks (which is what they want to be called), but now they’re also starting to take personally what they perceive as nationwide disrespect. Everything came together in what turned into one fine...

Larry Fitzgerald was always in control as a Pitt football player. Yet his emotions nearly got the best of him Thursday night when he was honored on the Acrisure Stadium turf where two decades ago he exhibited such impressive body control. He played in only 26 games over two seasons...

Pitt introduced Allen Greene as its next athletic director Wednesday morning, and the theme was as clear as a bank statement. Money. Blunt, honest and to the point, Jeff Capel said as much when asked what he might ask of Greene if the two men sat down to discuss what...

Pitt’s game against Syracuse on Thursday night marks the Panthers’ last game before the crucial month of November, and everyone knows this is the time of year when the best teams emerge to claim their place among the sport’s elite. Is Pitt among them? The College Football Playoff committee, which...

Pitt’s game against Point Park on Tuesday night was only an exhibition. There were more empty seats inside Petersen Events Center than those that were filled, the arena lacked most of the energy it has generated for ACC games the past two seasons and the decision — a 93-62 Pitt...

Pitt hasn’t played a game since Oct. 12, which means Pat Narduzzi, his staff and players have had nearly two weeks to prepare for the Syracuse game coming up Thursday night at Acrisure Stadium. Part of the prep was spent watching Pitt turn the football over four times and Syracuse...

The life of a tight end often can be cloaked in anonymity, with true celebrity difficult to attain. Travis Kelce excluded, of course. Pitt tight ends coach Jacob Bronowski did nothing to dispel that notion when he decided to put crowbars on players’ desks before a meeting Sunday. The idea,...

Syracuse’s Kyle McCord gains yards through the air better than most quarterbacks, and his 19 touchdown passes are proof that he can move an offense forward. He’s second in the nation in yards per game (360) — only 2.6 behind the leader, Miami’s Cameron Ward — and fourth in completions...

Those players returning to Pitt’s basketball team for the 2024-25 season were not surprised Bub Carrington left for the NBA after one season. Especially when it became almost immediately apparent Carrington was destined to be a first-round choice. No one panicked, either, even as Carrington left while Blake Hinson also...

Perhaps no game from 2023 capsulizes the misery Pitt players and coaches felt better than the 28-13 loss to Syracuse on Nov. 11 at Yankee Stadium. Not only did the defeat complete the second four-game losing streak of the season, but it dropped the Panthers to 2-8 for the first...

In the wake of the resignation of another high-profile ACC basketball coach Friday, Pitt football coach Pat Narduzzi said college athletics will survive. “It’s never going to go anywhere,” he said Friday. “It’s who’s going to hang in there long enough to continue to ride the waves, right?” The waves...

Pat Narduzzi wasn’t on the search committee, and he said he did not have input into Allen Greene becoming Pitt’s next athletic director — his next boss. But when the Pitt head coach sits down with Greene in the coming days, it will be a getting reacquainted meeting — not...

Just for fun and to pass the time during Pitt’s open (don’t call it a bye) week, let’s set up a fake scenario of two Pitt fans before the season sitting at the bar at Cupka’s Cafe on the South Side drinking Crown and Coke. Man 1: “Hey, how do...

Pitt is ranked seventh in the ACC preseason poll, and Panthers senior guard Ishmael Leggett was named to the All-ACC second team, according to voting from a panel of 54 voters released Tuesday. Leggett averaged 12.3 points, 5.5 rebounds (No. 1 among all conference guards), 1.9 assists, and 1.3 steals...

If you need proof that a year is a long time, merely turn to Pitt football and see how matters surrounding the program have changed. Here are some numbers that illustrate the dramatic shift in fortunes for the 6-0 and No. 20-ranked Panthers: 2-4/6-0 — Pitt was 2-4 after six...