Analysis: Plenty of gifts from California helped No. 20 Pitt remain undefeated

The speed in Desmond Reid’s legs, the power in Ben Sauls’ left foot and Pat Narduzzi’s risk-taking on fourth down were vital elements in Pitt’s 17-15 victory against California on Saturday.

Give Pitt credit for all three. Those were not gifts. Without them, the Panthers (6-0, 2-0 ACC) would not be one of 11 undefeated teams in the FBS, joining Penn State, Army, Navy, Miami, Indiana, Texas, BYU, Iowa State, Oregon and Liberty. In the aftermath, Pitt moved from No. 22 to No. 20 in the Associated Press poll released Sunday.

(By the way, Pitt and No. 3 Penn State are 6-0 together for the first time since 1981. Is a reunion in the College Football Playoff possible? Dreamers can dream, can’t they?)

Make no mistake, however, Pitt was fortunate in many ways Saturday in a game that easily could have turned into a disastrous loss. Pitt can’t expect similar charity every week.

For example:

• What was California coach Justin Wilcox thinking when he went for the 2-point conversion with a 6-0 lead in the first quarter? If he had kicked the extra point, he could have added another in the fourth quarter, creating a 17-17 tie, instead of the final two-point deficit.

• What if Cal kicker Ryan Coe, a South Fayette graduate who’s been to four schools, hadn’t kicked up a divot on his 40-yard field-goal attempt that went wide right? A few feet to the left and Pitt would have been down a point with less than two minutes to play in a game where the Panthers struggled to find offensive rhythm.

Coe, who missed two field goals in a 14-9 loss to Florida State last month, hit from 39 yards in the second quarter Saturday and he’s now 7 of 14 for the season. Maybe that’s why Wilcox went for the 2-point conversion. Meanwhile, Sauls has a streak of 12 in a row, tying a school record jointly held by Conor Lee (2007) and Chris Ferencik (1995). The difference between victory and defeat turned out to be two big toes, one reliably accurate, one not so much.

• And how does a team win a close game with a time of possession deficit in minutes of 38.5-21.5? Most distressing — aside from Eli Holstein’s two interceptions — was Pitt’s inability to run out the clock in the fourth quarter with the lead and the football. Ahead 17-15, Pitt recorded only one first down during its final two possessions.

Holstein put all the blame on his shoulders.

“I have to play better, obviously, have to do the little things right,” he said. “I have to read the safety, see what they were doing and just make the right decision.”

Narduzzi didn’t like the interceptions, but he praised the accountability shown by his quarterback: “He’s a man. He gets it.”

Holstein was confused by Cal’s defense, not a good sign but not a shock considering he has started only six games and he’s not yet 20.

“They played every coverage in the book,” he said. “They gave me different looks. It was hard to really tell what they were playing in certain situations. I have to react to that. Watch film. Learn from my mistakes.”

The hard, simple truth of the matter is no team or season is perfect. From that perspective, it’s not surprising Pitt didn’t play up to its previous standard. If you thought Pitt was going to continue averaging more than 45 points a game, you’re dreaming more than those people hoping for a Pitt/Penn State CFP matchup in December.

But you’d like to see more than 17 points and 277 total yards, too. The 2023 version of Pitt offense gained more yardage in seven games.

“We’re not going to do what we want to do every game,” Reid said. “The focus wasn’t there. That won’t happen again. We’re undefeated, but we have a lot of work to do.”

Perhaps lost in the angst over the offense is Pitt’s superb defensive effort. Cal (2-3, 0-3 ACC) had 75- and 78-yard scoring drives, but Pitt also sacked quarterback Fernando Mendoza six times. Defensive tackles Sean FitzSimmons and Nick James, both of whom had been injured, are healthy and providing a push in the trenches.

Outside linebacker Rasheem Biles didn’t play because of an injury Narduzzi suggested was minor. The coach said it was a struggle convincing Biles to take the day off.

“Biles probably could have gone,” Narduzzi said. “He was begging, as a matter of fact, whining, complaining almost too aggressively, and again, you’ve got to love that. He wants to play bad.

“The trainers held him out, just wanted to be safe and smart. So he’ll be ready to go (Oct. 24 against Syracuse).”

Meanwhile, Narduzzi hopes injuries suffered Saturday by left offensive tackle Branson Taylor and left guard Ryan Jacoby aren’t serious. They missed most of the game, and maybe their absences had a more significant effect than Narduzzi wanted.

“It had a little bit of a factor. There’s no question about it,” he said. “I think coach (Kade) Bell (offensive coordinator) kind of maybe got a little bit conservative, was just worried how we’d hold up over on that left side.

“But you live and learn, and we’ll watch the videotape and see what happened. But we couldn’t run the ball. We were running the ball pretty good early, then we lost those two guys. Jacoby and Branson are two really good football players on the left side, so that hurt us a little bit.”

Finally, Narduzzi caught himself.

”But I’m not going to make excuses,” he said after making one. “Those next guys up (Terrence Enos and Jason Collier), they’ve got to go make plays and we’ll move on from there.”