Pitt notebook: Transfer Lyndon Cooper gains edge over Terrence Moore at center
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Everybody wants to talk about quarterbacks at Pitt’s training camp, but there’s a position battle at center that looks to be reaching a resolution.
Coach Pat Narduzzi said Lyndon Cooper has a late lead over junior Terrence Moore.
”I think we’re getting close (to naming a starter),” he said Wednesday morning. “Lyndon Cooper has the lead on that spot, I would say.”
Cooper, a transfer from N.C. State, made three starts at guard and two at center for the Wolfpack last year. Moore started the final nine games for Pitt at center.
“I feel like we made each other better,” said Cooper, a junior.
Cooper (6-foot-2, 310 pounds) won a pancake competition with his teammates that has nothing to do with breakfast. Over the course of camp, he was credited with 26 pancake blocks — described as dropping a defender to the ground by any legal means necessary — to Moore’s 25.
“The guy has to fall,” Cooper said, mentioning that the prize was a syrup bottle.
Cooper said his mobility and understanding of defenses — “Being able to see what’s happening before it comes,” — have helped him transition to his new team. He makes a call on the line, but he said it’s a simple process.
“It’s not like I’m sitting there analyzing the whole defense. I make my one call and everybody’s on the same page,” he said.
Narduzzi said Moore is cross-training at guard and center while competing for a starting job at both spots.
“He thinks he can play tackle, as well,” Narduzzi said.
Sophomore B.J.Williams (6-4, 315), who made six starts last year, is competing with redshirt freshman Ryan Carretta at right guard.
“B.J. Williams has had a nice camp. He’s gotten better along the way,” the coach said. “Carretta has really done a great job. We need to stay healthy, but we have some guys to fill in there.”
Carretta (6-5, 305) said the move from high school — where he was first-team All-Ohio at St. Charles Prep — to college has been “very humbling.”
“You’re not as good as you might think,” he said. “It makes you want to work harder.”
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It’s almost time
There are only a few days left in camp before classes start Monday and coaches and players start to think seriously about Kent State and the opener Aug. 31. Narduzzi said they have started preliminary preparations, but they will begin digging deeper Sunday.
The coach said he got some groans at the Wednesday morning meeting when he talked about the remaining camp practice schedule.
“They’re to that point in camp where you get that,” he said. “I said, ‘I don’t want to hear your (groans). We’re going to work. We have to get 3% better. We have a lot of stuff to correct.’ ”
No quarterback clarity
Narduzzi had no new information on the competition between quarterbacks Nate Yarnell and Eli Holstein.
“I’m worried about practice (Wednesday) in pads and making sure I get these guys to give me everything they’ve got,” he said, setting his priorities for the day. “They’ve both been outstanding. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed in anything you see out there.
“We’re looking for that consistency. One day, one’s really, really good and the other one’s good. The next day the other one’s really, really good and the other one’s good. We want them to be great all the time.”
Narduzzi doesn’t appear to be in a hurry to name a starter. He doesn’t mind keeping the opponent guessing.
“We’ll see some more things as we go through game plan week and how they pick up the game plan (for Kent State),” he said. “How do they adjust against a different defense. That’s going to be the key for everybody.“
Freshmen LBs make impact
The coach had praise for first-year freshman linebackers Cam Lindsey (Aliquippa), Davin Brewton and Jeremiah Marcelin.
“At this point in camp, you can always go, ‘Golly, maybe we made a mistake there.’ There’s no mistake there,” Narduzzi said. “All three of those guys are dudes.”