Pitt Take 5: GameAbove Sports Bowl matters for 1 day, then it’s time to prepare for 2025
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A nonconference game played the day after Christmas against a MAC opponent seems almost beside the point, but the GameAbove Sports Bowl between Pitt and Toledo will be staged, anyway, at 2 p.m. Thursday at Detroit’s Ford Field.
A Pitt victory would end its five-game losing streak, but not the problems that led to it. A loss adds to the misery of a team that hasn’t won a game since a week before Halloween.
The idea that a bowl victory creates momentum for next season is overstated. Pitt won the Sun in 2022 and followed up with a 3-9 season.
No matter the final score, 2025 will be a pivotal season for a program that is 10-14 since that rousing victory against UCLA in El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 30, 2022.
Big offseason for the coach, too, in his attempt to build a better roster. It starts almost immediately with winter conditioning in January.
Meanwhile, here are a few end-of-the-season thoughts:
1. Quarterback quandary
Other than remarking two weeks ago that he was “hoping” and “praying” for Eli Holstein to show up in Detroit with a sound body, Narduzzi has said little about Pitt’s quarterback situation.
Injuries limited Holstein to 43 completions in 76 pass attempts for 420 yards, zero touchdowns and two interceptions in his final three games. He hasn’t played from start to finish since the California game Oct. 12. What’s the worth of playing him in a bowl game when there’s the risk of aggravating the injury?
Narduzzi did say walk-on David Lynch is the backup, now that scholarship quarterbacks Nate Yarnell and Ty Dieffenbach are in the process of transferring. Holstein traveled with the team to Detroit, but if he can’t go, Lynch would start.
Inserting freshman Julian Dugger of Penn Hills under center wouldn’t be a bad idea at some point Thursday. After all, these bowl practices and games should be used as avenues for younger players to learn their craft and impress their coaches.
2. Rockets in the air
Pitt is a seven-point favorite but needs to be prepared for Toledo’s passing game.
Junior quarterback Tucker Gleason, a transfer from Georgia Tech, is second in the MAC with 22 touchdown passes and third in average aerial yards per game (223.4). His receivers have been productive, led by first-team All-MAC performers Jerjuan Newton (64 receptions, 949 yards, 11 touchdowns) and Junior Vandeross III (73/763/4).
The Rockets won at Mississippi State, 41-17, and defeated MAC regular-season co-champion Miami (Ohio), 30-20. Toledo (7-5, 4-4 MAC) already had clinched its 15th consecutive non-losing season — third-longest in the FBS — when it lost its past two games, 24-7, to co-champion Ohio and 21-14 in overtime at Akron (4-8, 3-5).
3. Opportunity in the air, too
Konata Mumpfield declared for the 2025 NFL Draft, which opens an opportunity for sophomore Kenny Johnson to take over the leadership role among wide receivers. He was third in receptions (44) and yards receiving (520) to Mumpfield and running back Desmond Reid this season. Pitt will need his leadership and pass-catching skills in 2025, complemented by a transfer or two.
Five years ago, Jared Wayne, then a freshman wide receiver, caught a touchdown pass during Pitt’s come-from-behind victory against Eastern Michigan in the Quick Lane Bowl — also at Ford Field. Wayne ended up ninth on Pitt’s all-time yards receiving list (2,038). Pitt hopes Johnson follows the same path.
Other names to watch Thursday are two freshmen, wide receiver Tyreek Robinson and tight end Malachi Thomas.
Robinson’s stats have been limited to one catch for 20 yards and six kickoff returns for 132, but he might get further opportunities against Toledo. Thomas caught two passes for 22 yards and a touchdown, and he has drawn praise from coaches since summer camp.
4. Pitt’s bowl history
Pitt’s bowl history dates to 1928, a 7-6 loss to Stanford in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. Practice was less organized for that game than Narduzzi’s carefully structured schedule today.
The team traveled by train, and whenever it stopped, players and coaches deboarded, ate lunch and practiced in that town, entertaining townsfolk in Dodge City, Kan., Albuquerque, N.M., and Winslow, Ariz.
Pitt played in four Rose Bowls, including losses to USC in 1930 (48-14) and 1933 (35-0). For the fourth in 1937, coach Jock Sutherland was determined to break the losing streak so the team spent two weeks on the West coast before defeating Washington, 21-0. Sutherland used each player on the roster so everyone could say they played for a victorious team in the Rose Bowl.
5. Some Pitt bowl trivia
The GameAbove Bowl will be Pitt’s seventh in 10 years under Narduzzi, who is 2-4 in the previous six. The school opted out of a bowl opportunity in 2020 at the end of the covid season.
After its final Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 1937, Pitt didn’t play in another bowl until Jan. 2, 1956, when Bobby Grier became the first Black man to play in the Sugar Bowl. The school’s longest streak of bowl appearances is nine from 1975-1983 (6-3) and 2008-2016 (3-6).