Pitt gets back to work after a fall from the nation's undefeated teams

Pat Narduzzi couldn’t hide from his family. Even after Mass, his demeanor was miserable Sunday morning.

“My kids said I was miserable in the morning before I left (for the office), after church,” he said Monday, less than 48 hours after Pitt’s first loss of the season.

But he said his mood didn’t last long. He didn’t have time or the willingness to deal with misery. There was work to do in advance of the next game Saturday against Virginia at Acrisure Stadium (8 p.m. kickoff). Lots of work, actually, for a Pitt team looking to fix the problems that surfaced Saturday night in a 48-25 loss to SMU.

“You get into work mode, you’re ready to go,” Narduzzi told reporters at his regular Monday news conference. “I’m usually miserable, you know? Maybe win or lose, I’m miserable.”

He was smiling when he said that, but it’s also believable. Coaches are never satisfied in mid-season, and Narduzzi had plenty of reasons not to smile.

ACC power rankings, Week 10
1. Miami ⛓️
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3. Louisville ????
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5. Clemson ????
6. Syracuse ????
7. Virginia Tech ????
8. Georgia Tech ????
9. Duke ????
10. UNC ????
11. Virginia ????
12. Wake ????????
13. NC State ????
14. Cal ????‍????
15. BC ????
16. Stanford ????
17. FSU ????

— Andrea Adelson (@aadelsonESPN) November 4, 2024

All of a sudden, scars of battle — and we’re not just talking about injuries — have surfaced on the Panthers, who were 7-0 and ranked No. 18 in the nation before the trip to Dallas.

Quarterback Eli Holstein’s performance has fallen off now that Pitt is in the midst of conference play. The difference is clear.

In four nonconference games to start the season, he completed 67.7% of his passes (88 of 130) for 1,186 yards, 12 touchdowns and two interceptions.

In ACC play against North Carolina, California, Syracuse and SMU, his completion percentage dropped to 59.3% (79 of 133), with 870 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions.

That’s to be expected because Pitt isn’t playing Kent State and Youngstown State anymore. To be fair, the Panthers also defeated Big 12 schools Cincinnati (5-3) and West Virginia (4-4) in nonconference.

Also, Holstein remains one of college football’s top producing quarterbacks, ranked 23rd in touchdowns (17) and average passing yards (257).

Holstein has not finished the past two games — once for an injury and Saturday to protect him from unnecessary hits late in a blowout loss — but Narduzzi was surprised Monday when a reporter brought up the quarterback question.

Question: “If I were to assume that you’re not changing quarterbacks this week, would I be right?”

Narduzzi: “Yeah, you’re right. I have to forget that you asked that question.”

Question: “When you made Eli the starter back in August, what were the kind of things you needed to do to maybe mitigate his inexperience?”

Narduzzi: “He’s a redshirt freshman. I think everybody forgets. I can’t even believe you asked the first question. I’m a little disappointed in you.”

Setting aside his opinion of the first question, Narduzzi continued.

“When you win,” he said, “Eli is going to be the (ACC) rookie of the week (five times, quarterback of the week once). When you lose, which obviously it’s our first, it’s not on Eli. We didn’t protect him well enough, run the ball well enough. We played a really good (SMU) defense.”

He also said SMU threw some surprises at Holstein.

“I’ll say this: The last three weeks what we practice, we don’t see on game day. We’re not seeing the same thing, guys. It’s totally different. That doesn’t help Eli. Practice stuff all week, have a great Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, then Saturday you see something totally different. We’re going to have to prepare two game plans (for Virginia).”

Part of the problem Saturday was a simple matter of Pitt playing a defense that is one of the best in the nation — No. 5 against the run, allowing an average of only 90 yards per game.

“Let me tell you, they’re talented up front. They had some dudes that could rush the quarterback,” said Narduzzi, who by this time was done talking about SMU.

“I don’t want to make excuses because all they are is excuses,” he said. “We got to get it done as coaches, got to get it done as players. That’s the expectation. They have a good football team, and we didn’t play as good. (I) won’t be surprised if (SMU) is in the (ACC) championship game this year.”

Speaking of that game in Charlotte, N.C., on Dec. 7, Pitt needs some help to get there. Miami and SMU, both undefeated in the conference, will play for the championship if they win each of their three remaining games.

Short of a championship, Pitt (7-1, 3-1) still can finish with an impressive record, even if the Panthers only win two of their final four games. A record of 9-3 would not satisfy Narduzzi, but it would be the complete opposite of 2023 (3-9).

For the record, the loss to SMU didn’t cost Pitt all of its standing around the ACC or nation. ESPN.com slotted the Panthers No. 4 in its ACC power rankings, behind Miami, SMU and Louisville, but ahead of Clemson. Associated Press Top 25 pollsters dropped Pitt only to No. 23, and The Athletic lists Pitt No. 20, third among ACC schools.

And the ACC Network put the Panthers in prime time Saturday for the second consecutive week.

Said Narduzzi: “We have a chance to go back on that network and show who Pitt really is.”